By Alex Webbe
Ruby Q/Palm City (Diego Cossio, Joaquin Panelo, Tommy Biddle and Joey Casey) received two goals by handicap from a talent-laden 20-goal Daniel & Henry polo team (Ruben Gracida, Jason Crowder, Memo Gracida and Stevie Orthwein) and wasted little time in running it up to a3-0 lead with a single penalty goal from Tommy Biddle.
Stevie Orthwein scored from the field to get Daniel & Henry on the scoreboard, 3-1. Ruby Q/Palm City responded with four straight goals as Joey Casey scored from the field followed by a penalty goal from Biddle. Diego Cossio added two more goals from the field for Ruby Q/Palm City and Daniel & Henry found themselves trailing 7-1.
A penalty conversion from Orthwein opened the third chukker followed by a goal from the field from Ruben Gracida. Biddle answered for Ruby Q/Palm City with a penalty conversion but Memo Gracida closed out the chukker with his first goal of the day. At the end of the first half, Ruby Q/Palm City held a comfortable 8-4 advantage.
Daniel & Henry tightened their defense in the second half, shutting out the Ruby Q/Palm City attack. Daniel & Henry picked up a penalty goal in the fourth and a goal from the field in the fifth (both from Orthwein), cutting the Ruby Q/Palm City lead to two goals, 8-6, with one chukker left in regulation time.
Biddle and Orthwein exchanged penalty goals in the sixth with Ruby Q/Palm City guarding a 9-7 edge. Orthwein cut the Ruby Q/Palm City lead to a single goal, 9-8 as the pace continued to climb. Biddle scored his fifth goal of the match to extend Ruby Q/Palm City’s lead to two goals again, 10-8, as time was running out for Daniel & Henry. With under two minutes left in the game Daniel & Henry took control of the ball and charged down the field toward the Ruby Q/Palm City goal posts with Orthwein scoring for the seventh time in the game. With Daniel & Henry trying to stage one more rally, time expired and Ruby Q/Palm City rode off with the 10-9 victory.
Orthwein led all scoring with seven goals. Teammates Ruben Gracida and Memo Gracida scored single goals in a losing effort.
Biddle set the pace for Ruby Q/Palm City with five goals. Cossio scored twice and Casey added a goal in the win. Ruby Q/Palm City received two goals by handicap.
Competition continues in the 2012 USPA North America Cup on Friday, November 2 with Audi (Marc Ganzi, Carlitos Gracida, Nic Roldan and Carlos Gracida) meeting the 2011 defending championship Flat Out team (Esteban Panelo, Brandon Phillips, Mariano Gonzalez and Paul Knapp) in a 2 PM contest at the Grand Champions Polo Club.