Alejandro Gonzales (2) of Polo Gear drives down field with the ball during opening game of the Polo Gear Challenge Cup. Photos by Scott Fisher.
Wellington, FL – May 16, 2014 – PoloGear® rallied from a four-goal deficit in the last two chukkers but ran out of time and lost to Palm Beach Polo, 10-9, under overcast skies Friday in the opening game of the PoloGear® Challenge Cup at Grand Champions Polo Club.
PoloGear® (Melissa Ganzi, Guille Aguero, Alejandro Gonzales, Joey Casey) went on a three-goal run in the sixth chukker against Palm Beach Polo (Glenn Straub, Brandon Phillips, Tommy Biddle, Carlitos Gracida) and fell short after four missed scoring opportunities in the closing minutes.
Goals from Aguero, Casey and Ganzi brought PoloGear® to within one goal with Ganzi scoring on a penalty shot in the final seconds of the game.
“Almost… we needed three more minutes,” said 6-goaler Aguero, competing in his second spring tournament at Grand Champions. “It was a good game. They were having a great game. The main thing was to have fun, and I think we did.”
PoloGear® jumped out to a 4-1 advantage in the opening chukker but lost its offensive punch and was unable to score in the second and third chukkers. Palm Beach Polo outscored PoloGear®, 3-0, in both chukkers to take a 7-4 halftime lead.
“We did something in there that they caught up, but that’s polo,” Aguero said. “We had to keep playing hard to try to catch up. We almost got it. Tommy Biddle is a very tough player; he’s unbelievable. He is playing well.”
Both teams got balanced scoring from their players. Ganzi led PoloGear® with three goals. Gonzales, 19, had two goals. Aguero and Casey each had one. The 12-goal rated team picked up two goals on handicap.
For Palm Beach Polo, Straub had four goals including what turned out to be the game-winner. Phillips also had four goals. Biddle and Gracida each added one goal.
“Glenn Straub is a scoring machine; he is very accurate going to goal,” Ganzi said. “It was a great game. We needed two more chukkers but who knows, Glenn could have scored a lot more goals. It was a fun, nice clean game.”
The PoloGear® Challenge Cup is the third of six medium-goal tournaments of the spring season.
“We had a bad two chukkers but after that it was a good, fun game,” Casey said. “We will do better on Sunday. We missed a lot of goals today. Every time they shot, they scored. We missed four or five we should have had. It was just one of those days.”
PoloGear® will play in a round-robin on Sunday at 10 a.m. with Audi and Casablanca followed by the championship final at 12:30 p.m. pitting Palm Beach Polo against Pony Express, 7-4 winners over Casablanca and 5.5-5 winners over Audi in Friday’s round robin. Admission is free to spectators. Grand Champions will host an Argentine asado for spectators and players during the final.
Grand Champions Polo Club is located at 13444 Southfields Road, on the corner of South Shore Boulevard and Lake Worth Road in Wellington.
PoloGear®, one of the top sponsors and supporters of polo established in 1993 and incorporated in Florida, manufactures, distributes and sells polo products to players, teams and polo events worldwide. PoloGear’s dedication to quality and attention to detail is paramount to their production and they are always on the cutting edge of new products. To stay up to date with PoloGear™ or to order products, visit www.pologearusa.com.
Sharon Robb for Phelps Media Group, Inc. International
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