Newport and Elangeni Ranch in Sun Cup Finals
By Alex Webbe
Newport scored an 11-6 win over Piaget to open the weekend’s 2010 Sun Cup Invitational at the Grand Champions Polo Club in Wellington while Elangeni Ranch scored successive wins over Pony Express (6-2) and Cinque Terre (5-4) to set up Sunday’s tournament finals.
Newport got four goals from both team captain Gene Goldstein and Argentine 7-goaler Michel Dorignac to down Piaget 11-6 in the tournament’s Friday morning contest.
A pair of goals from Lucas Lalor and a gal from Goldstein in the opening chukker put Newport on top early, with a 3-1 lead, as it built up a 6-3 halftime advantage.
Lalor ended the first half with three goals while Goldstein accounted for two goals and Dorignac added a goal.
Joey Casey scored twice in the opening three chukkers with team captain Melissa Ganzi scoring a goal in the second chukker.
Melissa Ganzi’s fourth chukker goal was all the offense produced as both teams concentrated on defense as the second half opened.
Ganzi’s third and fourth goals of the game in the fifth were countered by two goals from Dorignac and another goal from Goldstein. Newport left the field at the end of five chukkers of play with a comfortable 9-6 advantage.
Newport took it to another level in the final chukker, getting field goals from both Dorignac and Goldstein while holding Piaget scoreless in the 11-6 victory.
ELANGENI RANCH EARNS FINAL BERTH
J. J. Celis converted five penalty shots for Elangeni Ranch in the course of the afternoon’s round-robin with Pony Express and Cinque Terre to earn the right to meet Newport in Sunday’s finals of the 2010 Sun Cup Invitational.
Sugar Erskine added four goals to the team’s totals for the afternoon while teammate Diego Cossio accounted for a pair of goals on the day. Team captain Brian Street was credited with stellar defense as the team held Pony Express to two goals over the course of three chukkers. Cinque scored four times against Elangeni Ranch, but couldn’t take the game from the hard-riding foursome.
Sunny Hale scored in the first chukker and Brad Scherer added the only other Pony Express goal of the game in the second chukker as Elangeni rode over them in a 6-2 bout.
In the course of the win, Celis converted three penalty shots; Erskine scored twice from the field; and Cossio added a well-placed 90-yard shot at goal in the opening chukker.
Cinque Terre kept its hopes alive with a 5-3 win over Pony Express behind three penalty goals from Celis and a pair of goals from Erskine in the round-robin’s second round of the day.
Cinque Terre broke a 2-2 opening chukker tie to take a 4-2 lead on the strength of goals from Marc Ganzi and Alessandro Bazzoni.
Ganzi made it 5-2 with his second goal of the match before Bob Daniels carried the ball over 150 yards for the final goal in the closing chukker. Cinque Terre would have to knock off Elangeni Ranch, however, to earn a spot in the finals.
Bazzoni scored the opening goal of the match-up, but Elangeni Ranch answered with three goals in the second chukker for a 3-2 edge. Celis added two penalty conversions in the final chukker while Cinque Terre got a pair of goals from Kris Kampsen (substituting for the injured Nic Roldan), giving the game and the final berth to Elangeni Ranch in a 5-4 win.
The finals of the 2010 Sun Cup Invitational are slated to be played at 9 am followed by an 11 am round-robin.