Colorado win the Sterling Cup

In one of the biggest upsets of the season, Colorado turns down the dominant Valiente in a back-and- forth-contest for the Sterling Cup.

The Sterling Cup, which is one of two prestigious polo tournaments in the US, was resurrected by Grand Champions owners Melissa and Marc Ganzi in 2015 after a 22 years hiatus to fill in the void of high goal contests in the US. The 6-Team, 20-Goal tournament was organized at the Grand Champions Club.

The final, which was held on Sunday, didn’t have a dull moment throughout the game. It was an aggressive tussle between two teams who had dominated the rest of the field throughout the 5-day tournament and were equally matched on paper.

With a 10- Handicap player like Adolfo Cambiaso, Valiente was favored to win the tournament. Valiente (2-1) scored 31 goals in their initial three games. In its first two games, Valiente defeated Sebucan, 14-9 and Audi, 9-4. The fact that Valiente had turned down big names in bracket encounters also elevated their status as tournament favorites.

Meanwhile, all of the four players of Colorado were making their first appearance in the Sterling Cup and were the tournament underdogs. They, however, silenced the doubters with strong performances throughout the tournament. At the tournament stage, Colorado remained undefeated, winning against Santa Clara, 9-8, and Casablanca, 13-10,finishing with 31 goals in the tournament.

The team compositions for the Saturday matchup were:-

Colorado, 20	Valiente, 20
Rob Jornayvaz, 2	Kian Hall, 3
Santi Torres, 6	Robertito Zedda, 4
Diego Cavanagh, 9	Poroto Cambiaso, 3
Nick Johnson, 3	Adolfo Cambiaso, 10

Match Report

The match had all the makings of a dramatic finish and both the teams delivered excellent performances right from the beginning of the match. Valiente started the match in a dominant fashion. With a well-orchestrated offensive strategy and a tight defensive end, Valiente controlled most of the match proceedings in the first half, ending the fourth chukker with a 5-3 lead over Colorado.

Colorado bounced back in the second half in a major way and the lead changed hands five times. Colorado was able to equalize the score at 6:08 in the 5th chukker, when Cavanagh scored to tie the game at 6-6. Valiente’s Zedda then replied with a 30-yard penalty conversion to regain the lead for his team. In the final minute of the 5th Chukker, Colorado’s Nick Johnson tapped in Cavanagh's missed safety to equalize the score at 7-7.

With 7:23 left in the 6th Chukker, Colorado snatched the lead for the first time when Cavanagh converted a 30-yard penalty. Valiente’s Cambioso leveled the scores again 4 minutes later. Colorado’s ace Cavanaugh then beautifully executed a 60- yard shot, curving the ball with the help of the wind to score the final goal of the game, sealing the victory for his team with the final score being 9-8. When asked about the shot post-game: "For sure I was aiming left because I knew there was some wind," Cavanagh said. "It was likely the wind would keep the ball. Once I hit it, I started to pray.” When asked about the game, Cavanaugh added "To win a tournament is always amazing. It was very competitive. We played against Adolfo Cambiaso and Juan Martin Nero in this tournament. It was a big win and very important for us. We are very happy." He was also given the MVP after scoring the highest 4 goals in the game.