A busy day at the International Polo Club Palm Beach had four teams play in Ylvisaker Cup action on Sunday, Jan. 19, beginning with Palm Beach Equine capturing its first win of the tournament, defeating Coca-Cola 15-10. In the second match on U.S Polo Assn. Field 1, La Indiana narrowly defeated Aliano Realty/Horseware 12-11.
The featured game of the week saw the two undefeated teams in Bracket I battle in an exciting match that came down to the final minutes. Each team provided a dynamic duo in the match, with Aliano Realty/Horseware’s Hugo Lloret and Mariano Obregon combining for nine goals, while La Indiana’s Jeff Hall and Facundo Obregon countered with eight goals in the narrow victory.
Foul trouble hindered Aliano Realty/Horseware in the opening stages of the game. In what proved to be a crucial chukker, La Indiana scored four straight goals, all from the field, to build a significant 7-1 lead. Aliano Realty/Horseware was left a step behind, struggling to slow a La Indiana offense that was receiving contributions from a trio of scorers in Facundo Obregon, Hall and Michael Bickford. Mariano Obregon had a strong finish to the half, converting a penalty four and adding a goal from the field to bring Aliano Realty/Horseware back within three, trailing 8-5 at halftime.
A comeback from six goals down was almost completed at the beginning of the fourth chukker, after another penalty conversion from Mariano Obregon brought Aliano Realty/Horseware within one, leaving the outcome undecided with two chukkers remaining. Refocused, La Indiana made Aliano Realty/Horseware work for every opportunity in a tough fifth chukker, only conceding a penalty one, while extending their lead back to two on Santiago Gomez Romero’s only goal of the game.
With sights still set on the comeback, Aliano Realty/Horseware exploded out of the gate in the sixth chukker, tying the game at 11-11 after a field goal from Lloret and Mariano Obregon’s third penalty conversion. The tense final moments of the game had the spectators on the edge of their seats, but La Indiana was able to hold off Aliano Realty/Horseware after a goal from Hall secured the narrow 12-11 victory and pushing them to the top of Bracket I with an undefeated 2-0 record. The Best Playing Pony award went to Hall’s Juliet, while the MVP honors were awarded to Joaquin Panelo.
With all but one of their 15 goals coming from the field, Palm Beach Equine overwhelmed Coca-Cola in the opening game of the day. Led by eight goals from up-and-coming player Gonzalo Ferrari, Palm Beach Equine captured its first victory of the tournament.
A fast pace in the first chukker saw the ball quickly move from end-to-end as the teams traded goals, remaining deadlocked at 2-2 on goals from four different players. Providing a significant impact on the game, Ferrari found space on the receiving end of passes from Gringo Colombres and Lucas Diaz Alberdi to give his team a narrow 4-3 lead. Two goals from Sugar Erskine looked to bring Coca-Cola back into the game, but Ferrari returned the favor for Palm Beach Equine, adding an assist of his own, while also scoring his fourth goal of the game to extend their lead to two.
Coca-Cola responded with accurate shooting of their own, scoring three goals on four shots from the duo of Erksine and Miguel Novillo Astrada, bringing Coca-Cola back within one goal. Finally fighting their way back into the game, Coca-Cola tied the score at 10-10 with just over a chukker remaining in the game.
Before the end of the fifth chukker, Palm Beach Equine converted their lone penalty goal of the game. The outcome was undecided entering the final chukker until Ferrari took over the final minutes of the game, scoring three unanswered goals to finish the game and complete the 15-10 victory.
Ylvisaker Cup action continues this weekend at IPC. For more info., visit www.internationalpoloclub.com.
