The Debii $ Dollar Memorial Ladies Tournament final be held on Friday night, March 9th at 5:30 PM at the Empire Polo club with three teams competing.
Mix It Up (Meghan Gracida, Caroline Anier, Madelyn Cobb and Lynni Hutton/Kit Neacy) won the 2018 Debii $ Dollar Memorial Ladies Tournament under the lights Friday night at the Empire Polo Club despite losing their first mini-match of the competition.
Earlier in the week Mix It Up recorded wins over Luna Polo (Jenifer Alexi, Malia McCoy, Miranda Luna and Susan Adams) and Mother Bears (Carol
Farnsworth, Audry Persano, Catlin Dix and Sukey Forbes), setting up Friday night’s three-team round-robin as the final round of play.
Mother Bears received one-half goal by handicap from Mix It Up, but opening goals from Audry Persano and Catlin Dix had them on top, 2½ -2 (Friday night’s goals were added to their Wednesday totals in the evening’s two-chukker mini-match).
Mix It Up stormed back onto the field in the second period of play. Caroline Anier opened the scoring with a 30-yard penalty conversion followed by a goal from the field from teammate Madelyn Cobb, 4-2½. Two more goals from Caroline Anier and shutout defense gave the game to Mix It Up, 6-2½.
Mother Bears 3, Luna Polo 2
With Mix It Up sitting down for the ensuing two chukkers, Mother Bears faced Luna Polo, a team they tied in a 1-1 contest on Wednesday.
A scoreless first chukker was followed by a tightly-contested second and final period. Audry Persano scored back-to-back goals for Mother Bears as
Luna Polo fought to get back into the game. Jenifer Alexi finally broke through the Mother Bears defense to score what would end up as the last goal of the game in a 3-2 final (Friday night’s goals were added to Wednesday’s team totals).
Luna Polo 4½, Mix It Up 4
The battle between Mix It Up and Luna Polo turned out to be the match of the night. Mix It Up had edged Luna Polo 2-1½ in Wednesday’s mini-match and was poised to atone for the narrow loss.
Malia McCoy scored the first goal of the final two chukkers of the night followed by Mix It Up goals from Madelyn Cobb and Caroline Anier. Adding the evening’s goals to Wednesday’s totals, Mix It Up had the early lead, 4-2½.
Luna Polo turned the tables on the previously undefeated Mix It Up foursome As Jenifer Alexi added two more goals in the final seven minutes of play (one on a 40-yard penalty conversion). The Luna Polo defense held solid, blanking Mix It Up in the final chukker and lifting them to a 4½-4 victory.
With each team ending the evening with 1-1 records, Mix It Up claimed the title on the basis of net goals scored.
Audry Persano earned MVP honors for her efforts with Caroline Anier’s Cheezi being honored as Best Playing Pony. Mix It Up’s Kit Neacy received the Dorie Forstmann Sportsmanship.
Polo action will continue on Saturday at the Empire Polo club in the 4-goal USPA Congressional Cup competition, with Empire (Rob Scapa, Erik Wright, Jim Wright and Kiki Hiller) facing Prima Polo (Robert Payne III, Jenny Alter, Toto Socas and Todd Randall) in a noon match.
The 2017-2018 Empire Polo season attracts players from across the country and around the world and offers fourteen weekends of fast-paced polo in the beautiful and relaxed setting of California’s winter playground.
The Empire Polo Club is located at 81-800 Avenue 51 in Indio, CA. For further information go to the club website at http://empirepolo.com or call 760-342-7755.