Seven goals by Hall carry Casablanca over Palm Beach Polo

By Alex Webbe

Casablanca (Grant Ganzi, Leo Mandelbaum, Jeff Hall and Julio Gracida) charged out to a 5-2 halftime lead over Palm Beach Polo (Melissa Ganzi, Guille Aguero, Juan Bollini and Glenn Straub) Thursday afternoon in the opening round of play in the 2014 Palm Restaurant Invitational tournament at the Grand Champions Polo Club but had to stem a late game rally to capture the game in an 11-9 win.

Juan Bollini opened the scoring for Palm Bach Polo on a penalty shot in the firt chukker. Teammate Melissa Ganzi scored on a well-placed shot from the field for the 2-0 lead. Grant Ganzi put Casablanca on the scoreboard with a goal from the field. The chukker ended with Palm Beach Polo on top, 2-1.

Casablanca revved up their defense in the second and third chukkers as they blanked the Palm Beach Polo attack while adding four goals of their own.

Second period play had Jeff Hall scoring his first goal of the day, 2-2. Julio Gracida gave Casablanca the 3-2 edge with the final goal of the chukker.

The Palm Beach Polo offense was frustrated again in the third as the Casablanca defense held firm. Goals from Melissa Ganzi and Jeff Hall went unanswered as Casablanca left the field at the end of the chukker in a narrow 3-2 lead.

Third chukker goals from Grant Ganzi and Jeff Hall stretched the Casablanca lead to three goals. Palm Beach Polo was shutout for the second consecutive period and trailed 5-2 at the end of the first half.

Leo Mandelbaum and Jeff Hall scored single goals in the fourth as he expanded the lead to five goals in the fourth chukker. Melissa Ganzi scored the final goal of the chukker on a well-executed shot from the field from over 50-yards out. The chukker ended with Palm Beach Polo in front, 7-3.

Pam Beach Polo came alive in the fourth, scoring five times while holding Palm Beach to a pair of goals from Jeff Hall. The pace continued to quicken, with