The Memorial finals a Black and White Piget affair

The Memorial finals a Black and White Piaget affair

By
Alex Webbe

The Memorial tournament, sponsored by Piaget signals the
final tournament of the spring season for the Grand Champions Polo Club, and
attracted six teams for the 10-13-goal competition.

Wet grounds forced the opening round of play to be moved
to the Palm City Polo Club where two round-robins were stages.

In the opening round of play, Tuff Rider (Timmy Sharma,
Omar Sosa, Horton Schwartz and Joey Casey) snuck past a game Ruby Q foursome (Brian
Street, Diego Cossio, Kris Kampsen and Hannah Buchan) 4-3 in the opening three
chukkers of the tournament.

Tuff Rider’s Omar Sosa led the way with a pair of goals
with Horton Schwartz adding a goal from the field and Timmy Sharma converting a
penalty goal for a score.

Ruby Q picked up a pair of goals from Kris Kampsen and a
single goal from Brian Street.

Ruby Q held the field with Piaget Black (Melissa Ganzi,
Gene Goldstein, Juan Bollini and Juan Badiola) taking the challenge.

Piaget Black opened the first two chukkers with a 5-0
lead as Gene Goldstein scored three times (once on a penalty shot) and twice on
goals from the field.  Juan Bollini added
a pair of goals in the 5-3 win.  Ruby Q
got all three of their goals in the final chukker with Brian Street and Diego Cossio
scoring single goals from the field while Hannah Buchan converted a penalty
shot for a goal.

Tuff Rider returned to the field for the final round of
the tournament’s first round-robin, falling to a talented Piaget Black team,
6-3. 

Juan Bollini set the pace for Piaget Black with three
goals.  Melissa Ganzi scored twice and
Gene Goldstein added a goal in the win.

Tuff Rider kept pace in the opening chukker, 2-2, before
falling behind 4-2 in the following chukker and losing by a final score of 6-3.

Tuff Rider got single goals from Timmy Sharma, Joey Casey
and Horton Schwartz while the win propelled Piaget Black into Sunday’s finals.

PIAGET
WHITE RACES PAST SANTA CLARA AND KIG/ALEGRIA

In the second round-robin of the day, Piaget White (Marc
Ganzi, Alessandro Bazzoni, Nacho Badiola and Lucas Lalor) scored consecutive
win over Santa Clara (Ron Dagger, Jason Crowder, J. J. Celis and Francisco
Escobar) and KIG/Alegria (Bash Kazi, Julian Mannix, Joaquin Panelo and Jeff
Hall) to earn a first place finish and an appointment in Sunday’s finals
against stable-mate, Piaget Black for the 2012 Memorial Cup.

Santa Clara got on the scoreboard first against a
disciplined Piaget White defense with a penalty conversion from J. J. Celis.  Piaget White went scoreless in the opening
chukker of play and fell behind, 1-0.

Second chukker goals from Marc Ganzi, Nacho Badiola and
Lucas Lalor went unanswered as Piaget White established a 3-1 advantage over a
struggling Santa Clara foursome.

Jason Crowder scored on a penalty goal for Santa Clara’s
final goal of the contest while Piaget White added single goals from Nacho
Badiola and Alessandro Bazzoni in the 5-2 victory. 

Santa Clara returned to the pitch for a fourth chukker
meeting with KIG/Alegria, registering a 6-5 win.

Opening goals from J. J. Celis and Jason Crowder had
Santa Clara ahead 2-1 after the first chukker of play.  Julian Mannix scored the only goal of the
period for KIG/Alegria.

KIG/Alegria tied it up at 3-3 in their second period
against Santa Clara.  Joaquin Panelo
scored from the field while Mannix scored on a penalty shot.  Jason Crowder scored on a penalty conversion.

A goal from Joaquin Panelo had KIG/Alegria on top, 4-3,
briefly but scores from J. J. Celis, Ron Dagger and Jason Crowder and Santa
Clara registering a hard-fought 6-5 victory.

Crowder scored three times in the win.  Celis scored twice and Dagger added a single
goal in the victory.

Mannix scored three times (twice on penalty shots) and
Panelo added a pair of goals in the KIG/Alegria loss.

In the final round of round-robin play, Piaget White
flexed its muscles with Marc Ganzi scoring three times (once on a penalty
shot).  Bazzoni and Nacho Badiola scored
twice in the win.  KIG/Alegria picked up
a pair of goals from Mannix and a single goal from Bash Kazi.

The final results had Piaget White and Piaget Black
meeting on Sunday for the final showdown.