Ruby Q/Palm City wins USPA North
America Cup opener

By Alex Webbe

Ruby Q/Palm City (Diego Cossio, Joaquin Panelo, Tommy Biddle and Joey Casey)
received two goals by handicap from a talent-laden 20-goal Daniel & Henry polo team
(Ruben Gracida, Jason Crowder, Memo Gracida and Stevie Orthwein) and wasted little
time in running it up to a3-0 lead with a single penalty goal from Tommy Biddle.

Stevie Orthwein scored from the field to get Daniel & Henry on the scoreboard, 3-1.
Ruby Q/Palm City responded with four straight goals as Joey Casey scored from the
field followed by a penalty goal from Biddle. Diego Cossio added two more goals from
the field for Ruby Q/Palm City and Daniel & Henry found themselves trailing 7-1.

A penalty conversion from Orthwein opened the third chukker followed by a goal from
the field from Ruben Gracida. Biddle answered for Ruby Q/Palm City with a penalty
conversion but Memo Gracida closed out the chukker with his first goal of the day. At
the end of the first half, Ruby Q/Palm City held a comfortable 8-4 advantage.

Daniel & Henry tightened their defense in the second half, shutting out the Ruby Q/Palm
City attack. Daniel & Henry picked up a penalty goal in the fourth and a goal from the
field in the fifth (both from Orthwein), cutting the Ruby Q/Palm City lead to two goals, 8-
6, with one chukker left in regulation time.

Biddle and Orthwein exchanged penalty goals in the sixth with Ruby Q/Palm City
guarding a 9-7 edge. Orthwein cut the Ruby Q/Palm City lead to a single goal, 9-8 as
the pace continued to climb. Biddle scored his fifth goal of the match to extend Ruby Q/
Palm City’s lead to two goals again, 10-8, as time was running out for Daniel & Henry.
With under two minutes left in the game Daniel & Henry took control of the ball and
charged down the field toward the Ruby Q/Palm City goal posts with Orthwein scoring
for the seventh time in the game. With Daniel & Henry trying to stage one more rally,
time expired and Ruby Q/Palm City rode off with the 10-9 victory.

Orthwein led all scoring with seven goals. Teammates Ruben Gracida and Memo
Gracida scored single goals in a losing effort.

Biddle set the pace for Ruby Q/Palm City with five goals. Cossio scored twice and
Casey added a goal in the win. Ruby Q/Palm City received two goals by handicap.

Competition continues in the 2012 USPA North America Cup on Friday, November
2 with Audi (Marc Ganzi, Carlitos Gracida, Nic Roldan and Carlos Gracida) meeting

the 2011 defending championship Flat Out team (Esteban Panelo, Brandon Phillips,
Mariano Gonzalez and Paul Knapp) in a 2 PM contest at the Grand Champions Polo
Club.