Jones stars in Audi win in Colee
Memorial Cup finals
By Alex Webbe
Dawn Jones
scored three first chukker goals as Audi rolled to an 1108 win over Newport in
the finals of the 2011 USPA Kay Colee Memorial Cup Sunday at the Grand
Champions Polo Club in Wellington.
Jones,
substituting for the injured Melissa Ganzi (shoulder) powered Audi to a 13-8 win
over Elangeni Ranch on Friday to earn a spot in Sunday’s finals with a
tournament high eight goals. Jones opened the first chukker of the finals
with three consecutive goals for Audi, scoring twice from the field and once on
a penalty shot.
Newport
received one goal by handicap but watched Jones score the first three goal of
the opening chukker. Seven-goaler Jota Chavanne
got Newport back into it as he added a goal from the field and a penalty goal to
end the first period in a 3-3 tie.
Jones put
Audi back on top with her fourth goal of the day to open the second chukker followed
by a goal from teammate Juan Bollini.
Chavanne answered for Newport with a pair of goals, but a final score
from Joey Casey kept Audi ahead by a narrow 6-5 margin.
Audi took
control of the third chukker picking up two goals from 6-goaler Jason Crowder
and a final goal from Bollini. Shutout
defense kept Newport off of the scoreboard and Audi rode off the field with an
impressive 9-5 halftime lead.
Fourth
chukker goals from Chavanne and Gene Goldstein went unanswered as Newport tried
to play their way back into the game.
Audi continued to lead, but the margin was cut to two goals, 9-7.
A second
consecutive period of lights out defense by Newport and a single goal from J.
J. Celis had Newport knocking on the door.
With one chukker left to play, Newport trailed 9-8.
Bollini scored the first two goals of the
sixth chukker (one on a penalty shot and one from the field) while the Audi
team shut down offensive run after offensive run by Newport. The final bell sounded with Audi on the
winning end of an 11-8 score.
Jones and
Bollini led the Audi team with four goals apiece. Crowder added a pair of goals and Casey added
one for the win.
Chavanne
scored five times for Newport. Celis and
Goldstein recorded single goals and the team received one goal by handicap.
Bollini was
named MVP for his efforts and X-Box,
a four-year-old Bay stallion, ridden by Dawn Jones and owned by Halo Polo, was
named Best Playing Pony.
ELANGENI REANCH WINS CONSOLATION
ROUND-ROBIN
After losing
its opening game of the tournament, Elangeni Ranch scored wins over Grand
Champions (3-2) and Piaget (4-3) to take top honors in Sunday’s three-team
round-robin consolation match at the Grand Champions Polo Club.
Elangeni Ranch
was spotted one goal by handicap and picked up single goals from Timmy Sharma
and Diego Cossio while holding Grand Champions to goals from Ashley Van Metre
and Kris Kampsen for a 3-2 win.
With Elangeni
Ranch sitting down for three chukkers, Grand champions and Piaget battled to a
6-6 tie.
Paul Knapp
scored the opening goal of the second match-up to give Piaget the early 1-0
lead. Three goals from Van Metre and a
single goal from Walter Scherb ended the first chukker with Grand Champions
leading 3-2. A goal from Nic Roldan had
Piaget trailing 4-2 after the first period.
Goals from
Marc Ganzi and Nic Roldan got Piaget back into it in, knotting it up at
4-4. Kampsen closed out the scoring with
a goal to keep Grand Champions ahead, 5-4.
Kampsen
stretched the Grand Champions lead to a pair of goals, picking up the first
goal of the period, but Piaget wasn’t ready to throw in the towel.
Ganzi
brought Piaget to within a goal followed by a last second score from Paul Knapp
for a 6-6 draw.
With one win
in hand, all Elangeni Ranch had to do was down Piaget for the win.
Knapp scored
the opening goal of the final three chukkers of the round-robin while the Piaget
defense held Elangeni Ranch scoreless. Elangeni
Ranch received one goal by handicap, however, and the first chukker ended in a
1-1 tie.
Leo
Mandelbaum scored Piaget’s second goal of the game to open the second frame,
but Elangeni Ranch answered with a pair of goals from Timmy Sharma and a single
goal from Diego Cossio for a 4-2 advantage.
Piaget held Elangeni
Ranch scoreless for the final chukker, but was held to a single penalty goal
from Ganzi for the final 4-3 score and the Elangeni Ranch victory.