The polo ball never stops rolling at the Grand Champions Polo club and Saturday’s USPA Interscholastic action at the Polo West Arena in Wellington is just another illustration of the depth of the polo program that the club offers.
In the opening match of the day Palm Beach Polo (Landon Daniels, Benji Daniels and Guillermo Maia) dominated the four chukker match against the Grand Champions Girls (Alyssa Tranchilla, Riley Ganzi and Rachel Kelly) soring a 6-1 win.
Benji Daniels scored the only goal of the first chukker as the Palm Beach Polo team controlled the ball for much of the opening chukker.
Landon Daniels and scored his first goal of the game in second period with Benji Daniels recording his second of the day for a 3-0 first half lead. The Grand Champions Girls pressed the attack but were unable to break through the Palm Beach Polo defense for the second straight chukker.
Benji Daniels continued to wield a winning mallet in the third period, adding his third goal of the game. The Palm Beach Polo defense was too much for the Grand Champions Girls to handle as they fell behind, 4-0.
Consecutive goals from Benji Daniels and Landon Daniels extended the Palm Beach Polo led to four goals, 6-0 when the Grand Champions Girls came up with their first goal of the game. Rachel Kelly got the Grand Champions Girls on the scoreboard with the final goal of a 6-1 Palm Beach Polo victory.
Benji Daniels scored four times with brother Landon Daniels adding two goals in the win. Rachel Kelly was credited with the only goal of the game by the Grand Champions Girls.
Grand Champions Open 8, The Polo School 4
The Grand Champions Open team (Santos Bollini, Grant Ganzi and Matias Gonzalez) made an impressive debut two weeks ago in the Polo West Arena when they rang up a 15-2 win over the Grand Champions Girls. On Saturday they extended their dominance in the competition in an 8-4 win over The Polo School (Lucas Escobar, Christian Weisz, Juanse Olivera and Nico Escobar).
Matias Gonzalez got the party started with the opening goal of the game followed by a goal from Grant Ganzi. The Polo School was unable to penetrate the Grand Champions Open defense and fell behind 2-0 after the first chukker.
Nico Escobar finally got The Polo School on the scoreboard, 2-1 before Gonzalez took charge of the game. Three consecutive goals stretched the Grand Champions Open lead to 5-1. Juanse Olivera scored the last goal of the game but it was the Grand Champions Open team with the 5-2 halftime lead.
The Polo School stepped up their defensive efforts in the third chukker, holding Grand Champions Open scoreless for the first time all day. A single goal from Nico Escobar ended the chukker with Grand Champions Open holding on to a 5-3 edge with one chukker left to play in regulation time.
Gonzalez went on a scoring binge again in the fourth chukker, adding three more goals. Olivera scored The Polo School’s only goal of the period as Grand Champions Open rode away with the 8-4 win.
Gonzalez scored seven of his team’s eight goals on the day. Grant Ganzi added the other goal in the win. Juanse Olivera and Nico Escobar supplied the only offense punch for The Polo School, picking up two goals apiece in the 8-4 Grand Champions Open win.