East & Wet Rain dampens ECO action in Greenwich Photos by Peter T. Michaelis
MVP Hilario Ulloa led Ellipse with 10 goals in the final.
The 20-goal East Coast Open, scheduled for Aug. 29-Sept. 12, at Greenwich Polo Club in Greenwich, Connecticut, was hampered by persistent rain. The highest-rated event played this summer drew four teams. The first game between Audi and Gardenvale got off on schedule, with Gardenvale prevailing, 10-8. The next day Ellipse beat Palm Beach Equine, 11-8. As these games were played, Hurricane Ida was slamming into Louisiana with 172 mph winds and rain. Over the next few days, it slowly moved toward the Northeast. As remnants of the storm passed through Connecticut on Sept. 1-2, it caused
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widespread flood damage, leading the governor to declare a state of emergency. Two games originally scheduled for Sept. 2 were understandably canceled. Fields were still not dry enough days later. Finally, to keep as close to schedule as possible, organizers decided to skip to the next round and play at Mashomack Polo Club in Pine Plains, New York, on Sept. 7. In those games, Audi edged Palm Beach Equine, 11-10, while Gardenvale slipped Ellipse, 9-8. The winners of these games played the losers of the other game in the semifinal round. Entering the semifinals, Gardenvale was undefeated, 2-0; Ellipse and Audi each were 1-1; and Palm Beach Equine had yet to count a win, 0-2. That all changed in the semis. With even more rain, the Greenwich fields were still not dry enough to accommodate two games. The first semifinal match was played at Mashomack on Sept. 12, while the second game was played later that day on Greenwich’s Field One, giving the Sunday crowd its first and only glimpse of East Coast Open action. And what a treat they were in for. In a closely contested first game, Palm Beach Equine Clinic handed Gardenvale its first loss, 9-8, to advance to the final. The next match, perhaps the best of the tournament, pitted Ellipse against Audi—three-quarters of the defending champion White Birch team. Ellipse led 2-1 in the first chukker before the teams knotted at 4-4 in the second. Ellipse jumped out front 8-5 to end the first half. Starting the second half, Peke Gonzalez singlehandedly connected with five goals, including three penalty conversions, while Ellipse was silenced to give Audi the 10-8 advantage. The teams matched goals in the fifth to maintain the two-goal spread. Matt Coppola tied the match in the sixth after backto-back goals with almost four minutes remaining.
