Six teams lined up for the second 1-goal league of the season at the Empire Polo Club Saturday, with the competition getting started with a 10:15AM game on Field 9.
Grand Prairie (Ross Adam, Lolo Payan, Craig Nelson and Suki Piper), Gold Rush (David Barnett, Manny Rodriguez, Jeffrey Rewald and Zinta Rewald) and Club Polo Cabo (Tony Yahyai, Scott Walker, Domingo Questel and Alyssa/Ella/Clair) joined last week’s World Gym (Claudia Uretz, Sydney Jordan, Tom Schuerman and Wiley Uretz), Vashon (Stephanie Davidson, JMG, Kim Bergman and Jessica Bailey) and Flaming Chicken lineup (Joey Gallemore, Devon Gallemore, Victor Soto and Hayward Pardue) as the Empire Polo Club kicks off the season with its official Opening Day.
Flaming Chicken 11, Gold Rush 6
Flaming Chicken got the ball rolling as they scored the first three goals of the game on their way to an 11-6 win over Gold Rush in the morning match.
Consecutive goals from Joey Gallemore, Hayward Pardue and Victor Soto were answered by a single goal from Gold Rush’s Zinta Rewald as Flaming Chicken took the early 3-2 lead.
Soto added two more goals in the second. Goals from Joey and Devin Gallemore expanding the Flaming Chicken advantage to four goals, 7-3. Jeffrey Rewald scored the only goal of the chukker for Gold Rush.
Both defenses stepped it up in the third and goals were scarce. Zinta Rewald added her second goal of the game, 7-4 with Soto recording the only other goal of the period. With one period left to play, Flaming Chicken continued to lead by four goals, 8-4.
Two more goals from Joey Gallemore and a single goal from Pardue boosted Flaming Chicken to an 11-6 win in spite of goals from Gold Rush’s Jeffrey Rewald and David Barnett.
Soto and Joey Gallemore led the Flaming Chicken attack with four goals apiece. Pardue added two goals and Devin Gallemore added a goal for the win. Jeffrey Rewald and Zinta Rewald each scored twice for gold Rush. Barnett added a goal in the losing effort.
Grande Prairie 8, Club Polo Cabo 7
Lolo Payan scored four first chukker goals, giving Grande Prairie built an early 4-1 lead over Club Polo Cabo in first period play. Club Polo Cabo came up with a single goal from veteran Domingo Questel in the chukker.
Club Polo Cabo fought their way back into the game in the second. Club Polo Cabo scored consecutive goals from Questel, Scott Walker and team captain, tony Yahyai to level the score at 4-4. Payan scored the final goal of the first half for Grande Prairie for a narrow 5-4 halftime lead for Grande Prairie.
Questel tied the game at 5-5 with the opening goal of the third, but back-to-back goals from Payan gave the lead back to Grande Prairie, 7-5. Questel closed out the period with his fourth goal of the day, but trailed Grande Prairie, 7-6.
Craig Nelson’s first goal of the afternoon had Grande Prairie in front by two goals, with Club Polo Cabo struggling to stay alive. Questel scored the final goal of the match to bring Club Polo Cabo to within a goal of the lead, but that was where it ended as Grande Prairie held on for the 8-7 victory.
Payan was top scorer in the game with seven goals. Nelson added a goal for the Grande Prairie win. Questel cored a team-high five goals for Club Polo Cabo. Yahyai and Walker each added goals in the loss.
World Gym 4, Vashon 3
World Gym and Vashon fought to a 2-2 halftime tie before World Gym managed to eke out a 4-3 victory in the final 1-goal game of the day.
JMG scored the first goal of the game, giving Vashon the 1-0 lead when the World Gym defense clamped down. Tom Schuerman countered with a goal for World Gym in a hotly-contested opening chukker that ended in a defensively-dominated first chukker, 1-1.
JMG and Wiley Uretz exchanged goals in the second period as both sides struggled to generate an effective attack, but the defenders won out. At the end of the first half the score remained tied at two goals apiece.
Goals continued to be elusive in third period play, with the only scoring coming from penalty conversions from Wiley Uretz and Sydney Jordan. Vashon was unable to score, and fell behind, 4-2.
Both defenses continued to set the pace for fourth chukker play. A single goal from the field from Jessica Bailey was the only score of the period as World Gym held the lead in a 4-3 victory.
Wiley Uretz scored twice for world Gym with teammates Jordan and Schuerman each adding a goal. JMG was credited with two goals for Vashon with Bailey accounting for the team’s only other goal in the loss.
The 1-goal competition will field two round-robin matches on Sunday with Gold Rush, Club Polo Cabo and Vashon meeting at 10AM followed by a noon contest featuring Flaming Chicken, Grande Prairie and World Gym. Both round-robins will take place on Empire Polo Club’s Field 9.