Virginia native and teen-age phenom Isabella Wolf scored a game high eight goals in leading Piaget White to a fast-paced 13-10 win over Elangeni Ranch in the opening match of The Memorial Tournament, presented by Piaget Friday morning at the Grand Champions Polo Club in Wellington, Florida.

Wolf drew first blood in the USPA sanctioned tournament with a goal in the first chukker, but Elangeni Ranch took a 2-1 lead into the second chukker, getting spotted a pair of goals by handicap.

Diego Cossio put Elangeni Ranch up 3-1 with his first goal of the game in second chukker action but Piaget White’s Juan Bollini scored twice to knot it up at 3-3 to end the chukker.

Ten-goaler Lolo Castagnola converted a penalty shot to open the third period for a brief 4-3 Piaget White lead, but Elangeni Ranch was just warming up.  Goals from Cossio and Kris Kampsen put Elangeni Ranch on top at halftime with a 5-4 advantage.

The fourth chukker was all Piaget White, however as a miserly defense kept Elangeni Ranch off of the scoreboard.  Single goals from team captain Melissa Ganzi and Castagnola were complimented by three goals from Wolf as Piaget White took a 0-5 lead.

Wolf added three more goals in the fifth chukker while Elangeni Ranch was held to a pair of goals from Kampsen, and Piaget White extended its lead to five goals, 12-7.

Elangeni Ranch staged a last chukker rally, scoring three straight goals (two from Kampsen and one from Del Walton) to cut the Piaget White lead to two, but that would be as close as they would get.

Castagnola took the ensuing throw-in and drove it down the field to Ganzi who delivered a pinpoint pass to a streaking Wolf.  The shot was true, and Piaget White left the field with an opening round 13-10 win.

Wolf led all scorers with eight goals.  Teammates Castagnola and Bollini added two goals apiece and Ganzi scored once in the win.

Kampsen led the Elangeni Ranch attack with five goals.  Cossio scored twice and Walton added a goal.

PIAGET BLACK WINS ROUND-ROBIN

Piaget Black scored consecutive 4-2 wins over Port Mayaca and Newport Friday afternoon to capture the afternoon’s round-robin segment of the double elimination tournament.

In the opening round of round-robin play, Newport got five goals from Michel Dorignac as it rolled over Port Mayaca 8-5 in the afternoon’s first three chukkers of play.

Port Mayaca’s Sugar Erskine scored four goals in the last two chukkers of play, but a more effective Newport attack took an early 4-1 lead and answered Port Mayaca’s last four scores, goal for goal.

In the second round of the round-robin, Piaget Black took the field and dealt Port Mayaca its second straight loss. Breaking a 2-2 tie in the final chukker with a pair of goals from 9-goaler Nic Roldan for the 4-2 win, setting up the final round of play with an undefeated Newport foursome.

Piaget Black shut down the Newport offense in the opening chukker of the round-robin’s final three periods while registering goals from Leo Mandelbaum and Nic Roldan. 

Michel Dorignac got Newport on the scoreboard in the second chukker with a penalty goal, but Roldan kept Piaget black on top, 3-1 at the end of the round’s second chukker.   Marc Ganzi nearly stretched the Piaget Black lead to three goals, but the final horn sounded just seconds before his shot carried through the goalposts.

Dorignac’ s second goal of the contest was all the offense Newport could muster against a hard-riding Piaget Black foursome in the last chukker.  Marc Ganzi drove the ball through the Newport goal posts for the final goal and the 4-2 victory.

Newport’s Dorignac ended the round-robin with seven goals, but Piaget Black scored two straight wins to emerge victorious in the first day of play.

Competition is scheduled to continue on Sunday, May 30^th with a showdown between Piaget Black and Piaget White at 9 am.  At 11 am, Newport, Port Mayaca and Elangeni Ranch will take part in the tournament’s second round-robin. 

The consolation round-robin and tournament finals are slated to be played on Monday, June 1^st, with the round-robin scheduled for a 9 am start and the finals set for 11 am.