Ruby Q/Palm City win USPA North America opener

Ruby Q/Palm City wins USPA North America Cup opener

By Alex
Webbe

Ruby Q/Palm City (Diego Cossio, Joaquin Panelo, Tommy Biddle
and Joey Casey) received two goals by handicap from a talent-laden 20-goal
Daniel & Henry polo team (Ruben Gracida, Jason Crowder, Memo Gracida and
Stevie Orthwein) and wasted little time in running it up to a 3-0 lead with a
single penalty goal from Tommy Biddle.

Stevie Orthwein scored from the field to get Daniel &
Henry on the scoreboard, 3-1.  Ruby
Q/Palm City responded with four straight goals as Joey Casey scored from the
field followed by a penalty goal from Biddle. 
Diego Cossio added two more goals from the field for Ruby Q/Palm City
and Daniel & Henry found themselves trailing 7-1.

A penalty conversion from Orthwein opened the third
chukker followed by a goal from the field from Ruben Gracida.  Biddle answered for Ruby Q/Palm City with a
penalty conversion but Memo Gracida closed out the chukker with his first goal
of the day.  At the end of the first
half, Ruby Q/Palm City held a comfortable 8-4 advantage.  

Daniel & Henry tightened their defense in the second
half, shutting out the Ruby Q/Palm City attack. 
Daniel & Henry picked up a penalty goal in the fourth and a goal
from the field in the fifth (both from Orthwein), cutting the Ruby Q/Palm City
lead to two goals, 8-6, with one chukker left in regulation time.

Biddle and Orthwein exchanged penalty goals in the sixth
with Ruby Q/Palm City guarding a 9-7 edge. 
Orthwein cut the Ruby Q/Palm City lead to a single goal, 9-8 as the pace
continued to climb.  Biddle scored his
fifth goal of the match to extend Ruby Q/Palm City’s lead to two goals again,
10-8, as time was running out for Daniel & Henry.  With under two minutes left in the game Daniel
& Henry took control of the ball and charged down the field toward the Ruby
Q/Palm City goal posts with Orthwein scoring for the seventh time in the
game.  With Daniel & Henry trying to
stage one more rally, time expired and Ruby Q/Palm City rode off with the 10-9
victory.

Orthwein led all scoring with seven goals.   Teammates Ruben Gracida and Memo Gracida
scored single goals in a losing effort.

Biddle set the pace for Ruby Q/Palm City with five
goals.  Cossio scored twice and Casey
added a goal in the win.  Ruby Q/Palm
City received two goals by handicap.

Competition continues in the 2012 USPA North America Cup
on Friday, November 2 with Audi (Marc Ganzi, Carlitos Gracida, Nic Roldan and
Carlos Gracida) meeting the 2011 defending championship Flat Out team (Esteban
Panelo, Brandon Phillips, Mariano Gonzalez and Paul Knapp) in a 2 PM contest at
the Grand Champions Polo Club.