Newport and Elangeni Ranch score wins in USPA Fall Classic
By Alex Webbe
The teams fought toa 5-5 halftime tie before a six goal second half lifted Elangeni Ranch to an11-8 win over Audi in the opening round of the USPA Fall Classic hosted byGrand Champions Polo Club.
Audireceived one goal by handicap and moved out to an early 3-0 lead picking up apenalty goal from Luis Escobar and a goal from the field from Melissa Ganziwhile shutting out the Elangeni Ranch attack in the opening chukker.
A reversalof fortune found Elangeni Ranch scoring three consecutive goals while the Audioffense was unable to score. A goal fromJota Chavanne and a pair of goals from Diego Cossio had the teams all even at3-3 after the first two chukkers.
Hector Galindoscored consecutive goals in the third for a 5-3 Elangeni Ranch lead, but Audistormed back. Goals from Juan Bolliniand Ganzi ended the first half with the score deadlocked at 5-5.
Galindo andBollini exchanged goals in the fourth (6-6) and the score remained tied at 7-7after the fifth with Chavanne scoring for Elangeni Ranch and Ganzi scoring herthird goal of the game for Audi.
Chavanneconverted a penalty shot for a goal in the sixth chukker but Bollini answeredwith a goal for Audi to keep it all even at 8-8. Two straight goals from Galindo, including adelicately-sliced backhander from the backline and a run through the Audidefense, put Elangeni Ranch up by two, 10-8. A final goal from Chavanne closed out the scoring in the 11-8 ElangeniRanch win.
Galindo ledall scoring with five goals. Chavannescored four times and Cossio added two for the Elangeni Ranch victory.
Ganzi andBollini scored three goals apiece. Escobar scored once and Audi received one goal by handicap.
NEWPORT 12, PIAGET 11
A soreshoulder slowed down Piaget 8-goaler Nic Roldan in the first two chukkers ofplay as Newport tallied consecutive goals from Paul Knapp, Brandon Phillips andPite Merlos before Sugar Erskine finally got Piaget on the scoreboard with agoal from the field. After the firstseven minutes of play Newport held a 3-1 advantage.
NatalieBaecher opened the second chukker with a goal, but Knapp responded with a pairof goals and Brandon Phillips closed out the chukker with his second goal ofthe game and a 6-2 lead.
Sidelined bythe sore shoulder, Leo Mandelbaum substituted for Roldan as play continued.
Phillipsconverted a penalty shot for a goal and added another from the field forNewport. Gene Goldstein scored his firstgoal of the day as Newport extended its lead to six goals, 9-3. Piaget picked up a goal from Marc Ganzi.
Erskinebroke through the Newport defenders in the fourth to score a pair of foals. Goldstein added a goal for Newport and theperiod ended with Newport on top of a comfortable 10-5 score.
Three morePiaget goals in the fifth cut into the Newport lead. Ganzi scored twice and Mandelbaum added agoal. A penalty goal from Phillips keptNewport ahead 11-8, but the momentum was shifting.
A penaltygoal from Ganzi was followed by two more goals from Baecher to knot it up at11-11 with time running out. Merlos tooka pass from Phillips for the winning score as time ran out on the Piagetattack.
Phillips ledthe Newport attack with five goals. Knapp added three and teammates Goldstein and Merlos scored two goalsapiece.
Ganzi ledthe Piaget offense with four goals. Erskineand Baecher scored three goals each and Mandelbaum added a goal.
Play isscheduled to continue in the USPA Fall Classic with a consolation match set for10am Sunday, November 13, followed by the noon finals.