Piaget White to Face Piaget Black in Finals
By Alex Webbe
Isabella Wolf and Argentine 10-goaler Lolo Castagnola scored four goals apiece in leading Piaget White to a 10-9 win over Port Mayaca Sunday morning to make its way into Monday’s finals of The Memorial Tournament, presented by Piaget, at the Grand Champions Polo club in Wellington.
Spotting the 16-goal Port Mayaca team one goal by handicap, Piaget White quickly tied it up in a quiet first chukker on a goal by Juan Bollini as both teams probed for defensive weaknesses in their opponents.
Castagnola and wolf each scored a pair of goals in the second period while a stellar defense shut out Port Mayaca for the second consecutive chukker, taking a 5-1 lead into the third.
Stevie Orthwein converted a penalty shot for a goal in the third chukker followed by a quick goal from Joey Casey on the following throw-in. Sugar Erskine took immediate control of the throw-in and promptly delivered a perfect pass to a streaking Casey for the goal.
Wolf accounted for the sole Piaget White goal by converting a penalty shot. Port Mayaca trailed by three goals at halftime, 6-3.
Casey opened the scoring in the second half with a Port Mayaca goal before Piaget White answered with single goals from Castagnola and team captain Melissa Ganzi. Piaget White stretched its lead to four goals, 8-4.
Erskine got Port Mayaca going in the fifth chukker, taking the opening throw-in down the field for a goal. Two more goals from the South African 7-goaler were complimented by a penalty goal from Orthwein. Castagnola’s penalty conversion for Piaget White kept them on top of a narrow 9-8 score with one chukker left to be played.
Wolf scored hr fourth goal of the match in the final chukker, giving Piaget White a 10-8 lead, but Port Mayaca was trying to extend its fifth-chukker rally.
Erskine tallied his fourth goal of the day for Port Mayaca, cutting the lead to a single goal, 10-9, but time expired before the umpire could bowl the ball in for the final throw-in.
Piaget had scored its second consecutive win in as many days, and will be playing in Monday’s finals.
PIAGET BLACK EMERGES AS WINNER OF ROUND-ROBIN
The Piaget Black defense proved to be the strength of the team as it managed to score a win and a tie in the day’s round-robin over Newport and Elangeni Ranch to earn a berth in Monday’s finals of The Memorial, presented by Piaget.
Monday’s 11 am finals will feature an All-Piaget lineup as Piaget White will face Piaget Black for the top honors in the season’s final competition.
Elangeni Ranch opened the day’s round-robin competition by scoring a 5-4 win over Newport. Relying on three goals from Kris Kampsen and a pair of goals from Del Walton, Brian Street’s Elangeni Ranch foursome took an early lead and never trailed.
Newport remained on the field for the second leg of the competition, playing Piaget Black to a 3-3 tie. Newport got all three goals from 7-goaler Michel Dorignac while Piaget Black relied on a pair of goals from Nic Roldan and a single scoring effort from Lucas Lalor.
For the final phase of the round-robin, Piaget Black early blew an early 3-1 lead, hanging on for the 4-3 final and a trip to Monday’s finals.
Roldan scored twice, getting single goals from teammates Marc Ganzi and Leo Mandelbaum. Newport got a pair of goals from Dorignac and a single goal from Sunny Hale in the loss.
Newport, Elangeni Ranch and Port Mayaca will compete in a 9 am round-robin followed by an 11 am final match between Piaget White and Piaget Black in the final match of the 2010 spring season at the Grand Champions Polo Club.