Piaget wins Pedro Morrison Memorial Cup

By Alex Webbe

In a back-and-forth contest that saw the score all even at 5-5 at halftime, Piaget rallied with six second half goals to capture the 2011 Pedro Morrison Memorial Cup with an 11-9 win over Flat Out in a hotly contest match.

Played under a sunny sky and in front of over 100 of Pedro Morrison’s friends and supporters of the Polo with Pedro fundraising efforts that support so many of the YMCA projects in Palm Beach County, Piaget 8-goaler Nic Roldan scored six times in leading his team to the victory.

Piaget got opening goals from Juan Bollini, Roldan and team captain Marc Ganzi in the first chukker while Flat Out had to rely on penalty goals from Kris Kampsen and Joey Casey to keep pace.  Piaget took the early lead, 3-1. 

Two more goals from the field from Roldan in the second chukker were countered by a penalty goal from Flat Out’s Kampsen, and Piaget left the field after two periods of play with a 5-3 advantage.

The Flat Out defense stiffened in the third, shutting down the Piaget attack for the first timer all day.  Kampsen added a penalty goal and a goal from the field as the first half ended with the game knotted up in a 5-5 tie.

Ganzi converted another penalty shot for a goal and teammates Roldan and Juan Bollini added goals as Piaget re-took the lead.  Flat Out got a single goal from Brandon Phillips and Piaget held an 8-6 edge with two chukkers left to play.

Goals from Ganzi and Roldan had Piaget up by four goals, 10-6, before Kampsen’s fourth penalty goal of the match ended the chukker with Flat Out trailing, 10-7.

Flat Out team captain Paul Knapp cut the Piaget lead to a single goal, 10-9, with a penalty conversion and a goal from the field, and appeared to have his team poised to push the game into overtime when Roldan scored his game high sixth goal for the final 11-9 score and the Piaget win.

“We were doing real well in the opening chukkers,” said a disappointed Brandon Phillips of the Flat Out team.  “We just lost control of it in the fourth chukker and couldn’t make it up in the final two periods of the game.”

Kampsen scored five goals for Flat Out.  Teammates Casey and Phillips added single goals and Knapp accounted for a pair of goals in the loss.

Roldan led the Piaget attack with six goals, and was named MVP for his efforts.  Ganzi scored three times and Bollini added two goals in the win.

The six-year-old Chestnut mare, Boca, played by Juan Bollini and owned by Halo Polo received Best Playing Pony honors.

ELANGENI RANCH 11, NEWPORT 10

In earlier action, Elangeni Ranch scored an 11-10 win over a contentious Newport foursome in the consolation round of the Pedro Morrison Memorial Cup.

Newport got one goal by handicap from the 17-goal Elangeni Ranch team and added a pair of goals from Timmy Sharma in the opening chukker.  Elangeni Ranch responded with goals from Hector Galindo and Diego Cossio, but trailed 3-2 after the opening chukker.

Goals from Elangeni Ranch team captain Brian Street and Sugar Erskine went unanswered as Newport struggled to find an effective attack.  The chukker ended with Elangeni Ranch taking a narrow 4-3 lead.

Galindo added a single goal in the third, but was countered by Gene Goldstein’s first score of the afternoon.  Elangeni Ranch continued to lead by a single goal, 5-4, after the first half of play.

Newport picked up a pair of goals from Goldstein in the fourth with Sharma converting a penalty shot for his third goal of the game.  Elangeni Ranch managed single goals from Street and Erskine (penalty conversion), and the score was all even at 7-7.

Luis Escobar’s first goal of the game had Newport in front, 8-8, but the lead was short-lived.  Consecutive goals from Galindo, Erskine and Goldstein broke the game wide open, giving Elangeni Ranch a 10-8 advantage with one chukker left in regulation time.

Goals from Erskine and Galindo had Elangeni Ranch ahead, 12-8, with time running out on Newport.  Final goals from Goldstein and Escobar cut the Elangeni Ranch lead to a single goal, 12-11, but it was a little too late.  In the final minute of play, the Elangeni Ranch players controlled the ball, preserving their one goal lead and scoring the 11-10 win.

Erskine scored four times for Elegani Ranch.  Teammates Street and Galindo added three goals apiece and Cossio scored once in the victory.

Goldstein led the Newport offense with four goals.  Sharma added three goals and Escobar scored twice.