The 2016 WCT final at the Grand Champions Polo Club Saturday afternoon between Palm City Polo (Jaqui Casey, Hope Arellano, Tiffany Busch and Meli Galindo) and Scribble Horse Polo (Kathy Iverson, Katherine Roze, Courtney Asdourian and Kirstie Allen) turned out to be a showcase of the talented Palm City Polo 7-goaler Tiffany Busch and Scribble Horse Polo’s 6-goaler Cortney Asdourian in a contest that wasn’t decided until the final chukker of play.
Scribble Horse received one-half goal by handicap but Palm City Polo took the early lead on goals from Hope Arellano and Tiffany Busch as a struggling Scribble Horse Polo team fought to establish a rhythm to their offense. Unable to score in the opening minutes of the game, Scribble Horse Polo fell behind 2-½ after the first chukker action.
Courtney Asdourian opened the scoring in the second chukker of the four chukker match with a goal from the field, 2-1½. Busch responded with a 40-yard penalty conversion that restored Palm City Polo’s lead to 3-1½. Asdourian scored the final goal of the first half on a 40-yard penalty goal of her own, cutting the Palm City Polo lead down to a half goal, 3-2½ at the end of the first half.
A disciplined Scribble Horse Polo team returned to the field for second half play. A solid defensive effort held Palm City Polo scoreless for the first time with Asdourian scoring the only goal of the chukker to give Scribble Horse their first lead of the day, 3½-3.
Excellent teamwork was exhibited by both teams as they took the field for the final chukker of regulation play. Runs up and down the field were thwarted by well-orchestrated defensive efforts, with Palm City Polo taking the upper hand. Busch scored the go-ahead goal, 4-3½, on a shot from the field and added to it with a 30-yard penalty conversion moments later, 5-3½. Scribble Horse battled to get back into the game with Asdourian’s fourth goal of the day but it wasn’t to be. Time ran out for Scribble Horse and Palm City Polo held on for the 5-4½ win.
Tiffany Busch scored four of her team’s five goals on the day with Hope Arellano adding a goal for the victory. Courtney Asdourian supplied all four goals for the Scribble Horse. Scribble Horse also received one-half goal by handicap.
Hope Arellano earned MVP honors for her efforts in the championship match with Tiffany Busch’s Ruby being named Best Playing Pony.
Catena USA 8, Creative Marketing 2
Catena USA (Malia Bryan, Belinda Brody, Cecelia Cochran and Leah Masters) bounced back from Friday’s loss to register a dominating 8-2½ win over Creative Marketing (Lyndsay Dolan, Dawn Weber, Amanda Roberts and Ashley Mckenzie) in Saturday afternoon’s consolation match.
Cecelia Cochran scored the first goal of the game on a 30-yard penalty conversion followed by a goal from the field from Malia Bryan. A solid defensive effort from the entire Catena USA team held Creative Marketing without a goal and the first chukker ended with Catena USA sitting on top of a 2-½ lead.
Three more Catena USA goals went unanswered in second chukker play. Belinda Brody opened the scoring in the chukker followed by single goals from teammates Bryan and Leah Masters. For the second consecutive chukker Creative Marketing was unable to get on the scoreboard and trailed 5-½ at the end of the first half.
Third chukker goals from Cochran and Masters put the game out of reach for a struggling Creative marketing lineup. Shutout for the opening three chukkers of play, Creative Marketing fell behind 7-½ with one chukker left to play.
New Zealand’s Ashley Mackenzie finally got Creative Marketing on the scoreboard with the opening goal of the fourth chukker, 7-1½. Brody scored her second goal of the game for Catena USA, 8-1½. Amanda Roberts scored the final goal of the day for Creative Marketing but the day belonged to Catena USA behind an overpowering 8-2-½ victory.
A balanced Catena USA attack had Masters, Bryan, Brody and Cochran scoring two goals apiece for the win. Creative marketing received one-half goal by handicap and added single goals from Mackenzie and Roberts in the loss.
Malia Bryan’s horse, Taba, received Best Playing Pony honors.
(Photo by Alex Pacheco)
http://polonews.com/2016/04/palm-city-polo-takes-top-honors-in-wct-final/