Newport takes 2010 Sun Cup, 6-5
By Alex Webbe
In a defense-driven contest, Newport held on to beat Elangeni Ranch 6-5 in the finals of the 2010 Sun Cup Invitational at the Grand Champions Polo Club in Wellington Sunday afternoon. Earlier round-robin action found Pony Express coming out on top of Piaget and Cinque Terre in the consolation round of play.
First chukker goals from Leo Mandelbaum and Michele Dorignac staked Newport to an early 2-0 lead that held throughout the first half of play as defense ruled the day with no scoring going on from in either team in the second and third chukkers.
Dorignac’s second goal of the game came in the fourth chukker on fur beautifully executed nearside shots through the goal posts and put Newport on top, 3-0.. Moments later, Elangeni Ranch 7-goaler Sugar Erskine converted a penalty shot to finally get his team on the scoreboard. Newport took the 3-1 lead into the fifth period.
Penalty goals from Elangeni Ranch team captain Brian Street and Erskine were countered by single goals from Newport captain Gene Goldstein and Dorignac. The chukker ended with Newport holding a 5-3 advantage.
J. J. Celis scored his first goal of the game in the final chukker to cut the Newport lead to a single goal, 5-4, but the Newport offense wasn’t quite finished. Lucas Lalor scored his first goal of the game to give Newport a 6-4 edge with time running out.
Erskine third goal of the game came with time running out, and Newport took the game by a 6-5 margin.
Newport 7-goaler Michele Dorignac scored three goals and was named Most Valuable Player for his offensive and defensive efforts in the course of the final.
PONY EXPRESS TAKE CONSOLATION ROUND
Sunny Hale and Tomas Goti scored five goals apiece in the course of the morning’s round-robin competition to best Piaget and Cinque Terre.
Hale scored the first two goals of the match on pinpoint passing from teammates Brad Scherer (for the first goal) and Gene Evans (substituting for Bob Daniels, on the second).
Hale added her third goal of the round in the third chukker with teammate Tomas Goti scoring a pair for the 6-1 Pony Express win, but there were more interesting activities occurring on the field in the course of the morning.
In Piaget’s 7-3 win over Cinque Terre, Piaget team captain Melissa Ganzi picked up a first chukker goal shot from husband Marc Ganzi (playing for the opposing team), as it bounced off the goalpost, and carried it the length of the field for one of five goals she scored in the three-chukker competition.
It was also in this particular matchup that Piaget 6-goaler Kris Kampsen managed to help the Cinque Terre team along when he inadvertently tapped the ball through his own goal to give the opposition its third goal of the day. Piaget won, 7-3.
In the final showdown of the round-robin, Pony Express tied Cinque Terre 5-5. It wasn’t a win, but it was enough to finish on top of the other two teams.
Marc Ganzi was Cinque Terre’s leading scorer with five goals, two of them coming in the faceoff with Pony Express.