Audi’s Nic Roldan scored a game high seven goals, but it was the one-two punch of Crab Orchard’s Mariano Aguerre and Matias Magrini who carried the day in the 11-9 Crab Orchard win in the Joe Barry Memorial Cup final Sunday, Jan. 27 at the International Polo Club Palm Beach.
Roldan scored three first-chukker goals and all six in the first half of the game for Audi, but the two teams were locked in a 6-6 deadlock after the first three periods of play. Aguerre and Magrini each scored single goals for Crab Orchard in each of the first three chukkers for their six-goal total.
The fourth chukker proved to be Audi’s undoing as Crab Orchard scored three unanswered goals. “I don’t know what happened to us in the fourth chukker,” Roldan said after the game.
Roldan scored on two penalty shots while keeping Crab Orchard off of the scoreboard in the fifth period. The Crab Orchard lead was cut to a single goal, 9-8, with one chukker left to play.
Crab Orchard cashed in on penalty goals from Felipe Viana and Aguerre in the final seven minutes of play while giving up a single goal from the field to Audi’s Nico Pieres in the 11-9 win. Magrini was named MVP and Aguerre’s brown mare Machito’s Jackie was honored as Best Playing Pony.
In earlier action last Sunday, Adolfo Cambiaso scored seven times to lift Valiente to a 12-9 victory at the expense of a veteran and talented La Herradura foursome in the 20-goal Bobby Barry Cup at IPC.
Marianito Obregon and Carlos Gracida scored the opening goals of the game, with Valiente getting a single goal from Santi Torres in the final seconds of the first chukker. La Herradura rode off the field with the 2-1 opening advantage.
Torres tied it up at 2-2 with a penalty conversion in the first minute of the second period, and three minutes later Cambiaso scored on a 60-yard penalty shot. The La Herradura attack was kept silent as Valiente took a 3-2 lead.
Both teams came out firing in the third chukker, with La Herradura picking up four goals (two from Obregon and single goals from Carlos and Memo Gracida) while holding Valiente to a pair of goals from Cambiaso (one by penalty). La Herradura led by a single goal, 6-5 at the end of the first half. Cambiaso supplied the only goal of the fourth chukker, tying it up at 6-6 with two periods left in regulation time.
Valiente got busy in the fifth as Cambiaso added three more goals and Torres managed a single goal in the final ten seconds of the chukker. La Herradura managed a pair of penalty goals from Obregon, but fell behind 10-8 with one chukker left to be played. Julio Gracida scored twice in the sixth and final chukker, giving Valiente a comfortable 12-8 lead with four minutes left to play. A disciplined defense held La Herradura to a single goal from Nico Pieres as Valiente rode off with the 12-9 win.
Action continued Thursday, Jan. 31 with the start of the 20-goal Ylvisaker Cup tournament, which is featured this Sunday.
The high-goal polo action takes place every Sunday through April 21 at IPC. Ticket prices for Sunday polo range from $10 general admission to $120 box seating. Tickets for Sunday brunch at the Pavilion and its reception start at $55, upward to $330 for the Veuve Clicquot brunch package for two. Tickets can be purchased online at www.internationalpoloclub.com, or by calling (561) 204-5687. Find IPC on Facebook, follow on Twitter at @SundayPolo or visit www.ipcscoreboard.com for scores, schedules, rosters and more.
Above: The fourth chukker proved to be Audi’s undoing as Crab Orchard scored three unanswered goals. PHOTOGRAPHY BY LILA PHOTO
