Pearls Charity Cup Nets $3,000+ for Breast Cancer Research

July 26, 2008

Pearls Charity Cup Nets $3,000+ for Breast Cancer Research

The Newport International Polo Series featured the home team ~ Newport against a regional rival sponsored by Pearls Boutique Hotels on Sat., July 26th in the Pearls Charity Cup, raising over $3,000 for breast cancer research.

Pearls Boutique Hotels sponsored the match and co-hosted a fundraising endeavor with the Newport International Polo Series to raise money for breast cancer research, prevention, care and the cure. Proceeds will go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation of New England. Benefactors included All Occasion Transportation, Civetti & Longo Family,Comfort Green Buildings, International Tennis Hall of Fame, Legacy Yachts, Newport Harbor Corporation, PDQ Printing & Design, The Hinckley Company, Winebow Inc., Yale Women’s Polo Team/Olsen Photographic, and YellowPages.com. Spectators were encouraged to wear pearls and 'pink' to show their support!

Teams in the Northeast Circuit of polo clubs travel far and wide to establish dominance over one another in the region, in multi-team tournaments and single-elimination matches. Playing for Newport wereHeather Rasulis and Dennis Mikolich alternating in the #1 position, Chip Steigler at #2, Dan Keating at #3 and Leonard Nihan at #4. Pearls' roster included Amy Rice at #1, Wayne Gordon at #2, Dave Bullis at #3 and Ted Torrey at #4.

Newport got off to a 4-0 lead in the first chukker with 2 goals byKeating, 1 by Steigler and a penalty conversion point by Rasulis. Pearls got on the board in the second period with a goal by Gordon butSteigler's goal eliminated the gain momentarily until Pearls' Bullis andTorrey continued the attack with a goal and penalty conversion point to narrow the gap to 5-3. Rasulis scored a solo point in the third chukker to end the half in Newport's favor, 6-3.

In the second half, Newport's Keating and Steigler led off the scoring, followed by Gordonfor Pearls, then another goal by Steigler, andGordon again to raise the stakes to 9-5. The momentum shifted in the fifth period, starting with a Pearls point by Torre, answered with a Newport goal by Keating, but then 2 more goals for Pearls by Bullis and Torre closed in on Newport's lead, 10-8. In the final chukker, Pearls tied it up with goals by Bullis and Torre again, bringing the crowd to their feet. In the final minutes of play,Torre scored the winning goal for Pearls for an 11-10 victory.