Pony Express (Benjamin Daniels, Justin Daniels, Grant Ganzi and Juancito Bollini) scored a knockout punch against Casa Dio (Tiernen Tognini, Santos Bollini, Tenzin Tognini and Juan Martin Obregon) in the opening two chukkers of Thursday afternoon’s Jimmer Newman Memorial – PTF JR Championship at the International Polo Club. Juancito Bollini scored the first goal of the game followed by goals from teammates Benji Daniels and Grant Ganzi. Benji Daniels added another goal on a 30-yard penalty conversion for a commanding four goal lead. Casa Dio’s Juan Martin Obregon kept his team from getting shutout with a 60-yard penalty conversion, but it was Pony Express with the daunting 4-1 advantage.
Second chukker goals from Ganzi and Justin Daniels extended the Pony Express lead to five goals, 6-1 before Casa Dio could respond. Santos Bollini scored a goal from the field for Casa Dio, 6-2, but Pony Express wasn’t done yet. Single goals from Ganzi and Benji Daniels ended the chukker and the first leg of the three-team round-robin with an 8-2 mini-match victory.
The winning team (Pony Express) got to sit down for the next two chukkers while Casa Dio (0-1) tried to even its record against Team YPO (Lucas Escobar, Jack McLean, Cody Ellis and Wesley Finlayson).
Lucas Escobar scored the first goal of the mini-match with Casa Dio followed by a 60-yard conversion of a Safety by Wes Finlayson. Casa Dio was held scoreless and fell behind Team YPO, 2-0.
Finlayson scored his second goal of the day from the field followed by a Casa Dio score from Juan Martin Obregon on a penalty conversion. Escobar added the final goal of the chukker to give the win to Team YPO, 4-1.
Both Pony Express and Team YPO took the field for the final two chukkers with identical 1-0 records. The winner of the last two chukkers would determine the winner of the tournament and both teams were eager to get started.
Ganzi scored the first goal of the period from the field for the early 1-0 Pony Express lead, and a 30-yard penalty conversion from Benji Daniels made it 2-0. Team YPO missed on a 40-yard penalty shot and trailed by two goals going into the final chukker of the round-robin.
Finlayson started the last chukker rally for Team YOP with a goal from the field. Teammate Cody Ellis added back-to-back goals as they moved ahead of Pony Express, 3-2. Bollini leveled the score at 3-3 q2ith a goal from the field and Ganzi scored the winning goal on a 30-yard penalty shot that gave the game and the Cup to Pony Express on the strength of their 4-3 win.
Bollini was named MVP while Cody Ellis’s pony, Ole, earned Best Playing Pony Honors.
http://polonews.com/2016/04/pony-express-wins-2016-jimmer-newman-memorial-cup/