By Alex Webbe
Spirits weren’t dampened at the Grand Champions Polo Club in the opening round of the 2012 Pedro Morrison Memorial Cup in spite of the light rain, as Newport/Ruby Q (Brian Street, Diego Cossio, Nic Roldan and Gene Goldstein) scored an opening 6-5 win over Piaget (Melissa Ganzi, J. J. Celis, Juan Bollini and Joey Casey) followed by and Equine Law (Joaquin Panelo, Tommy Biddle, Ruben Gracida and Avery Chapman) 4-2 triumph over Newport/Ruby Q before the skies opened up and the final three chukkers (Piaget vs. Equine Law).
Melissa Ganzi scored the first goal of the game to give Piaget a 1-0 lead before Newport/Ruby Q responded with three consecutive goals (Gene Goldstein, Nic Roldan and Diego Cossio) to end the first chukker of the round-robin with a 3-1 advantage.
J. J. Celis converted two penalty shots for goals in the second chukker, but Cossio’s second goal of the day kept Newport/Ruby Q on top, 4-3.
Goals from Celis and Juan Bollini in the third chukker gave Piaget a 5-6 lead, but Roldan scored twice, the last coming in the final seconds of play to salvage a 6-5 win.
EQUINE LAW 4, RUBY Q 2
Tommy Biddle got Equine Law started in the opening chukker with a pair of goals from the field while Newport/Ruby Q was held scoreless for the first time all day.
Roldan scored from the field and Goldstein added a penalty goal to tie it up at 2-2, but Chapman ended the period with a penalty goal and a 3-2 Equine Law lead.
Biddle’s third goal of the game provided all of the scoring in the final chukker as the light rain intensified as the final horn sounded.
Heavy rains postponed the final and deciding leg of the round-robin between Piaget and Equine Law. The three chukkers are scheduled to be made up on Friday, October 19 at 11 am at the Palm city Polo club fields in Boca Raton.
The second qualifying round-robin of the tournament is scheduled to be played at 4pm at Grand Champions Polo Club in Wellington.