With the success of their first tournament, Gauntlet of Polo brings us their second tournament brimming with exciting fixtures. USPA Gold Cup, the 2nd tournament in the $1 Million Gauntlet of Polo, and it kicked off with 3 nail-biting contest, 1st between Coco-Cola and Stable Door Polo, 2nd between Equuleus and Cessna Polo Team and the 3rd saw Iconica lock on horns with Santa Clara.
The second leg of the GAUNTLET OF POLO™ began with an action-packed day of three games in the USPA Gold Cup®, beginning with Stable Door Polo narrowly defeating Coca-Cola 12-11 at Port Mayaca Polo Club. The remaining two games featured a close 8-7 victory for Equuleus over Cessna Polo Team, while Iconica defeated Santa Clara 10-8 at the International Polo Club Palm Beach.
Coca-Cola vs Stable Door Polo
The opening encounter went all the way to the last few minutes of the 6th chukker. Stable Door held a lead for the greater part of the encounter due to strong cohesive play by Santiago Toccalino, VIctorino Ruiz Jorba, and Henry Porter, who was able to score the most in the tight game.
Argentinian veteran Ignacio Novillo Astrada made his presence felt on the field right from the beginning of the encounter as he rose forward to assert control over the lead after scoring twice himself to equalize the 2 handicap lead of Stable door and assisting teammate Steve Krueger to pitch his side ahead going into the matchup. Porter scored his first goal of the encounter and both the team stood at level. A stable door then restricted Coca cola’s well-mounted offenses to secure a slim 6-5 lead going into the latter half of the game.
Porter came into his element in the second half, commencing the 4th chukker with two cracking goals. Coca-cola tried to retaliate but was unable to convert 4 scoring opportunities. The gameplay intensified in the 5th chukker with both teams scoring a combined 6 times. The duo of Toccalino and Julian de Lusarreta scored 4 times. But Coca-Cola found a fighting chance after Santino Magrini was penalized with 2-minute suspension. Unable to capitalize on yet another opportunity, Coca-Cola went into the final chukker trailing. Their resilience came into play as they fought back Gillian Johnston scoring her third goal of the game in a strong performance. Time ultimately played in Stable Door Polo’s favor as they held on for the 12-11 victory.
Cessna Polo Team vs Equuleus
The second game pitted the offensive side of Equuleus against the defensive Cessna Polo to make for a classic polo exhibition.
Consistent with fouls in the early part of the encounter, Cessna ended up conceding a 2 goal trail against the aggressors. Further, Equuleus extended their lead with scoring two more times which triggered an appropriate response from the Cessna offense and all four players took turns at scoring.
Cessna’s Magoo Laprida and Mariano Gonzalez mounted a tactical offense at the very end of the 1st half to ensure a 6-4 lead for Cessna going into the latter chukkers of the match-up.
Cessna prioritized more on their stellar defense in the second half which appeared to be a mistake as Equuleus rallied heavily on their offense. They slowly neutralized Cessna’s lead, scoring 4 times and warded off any offense launched by Cessna in response. Cessna was restricted to just a single field goal from Felipe Marquez in the entire second half, coming by the way of final penalty conversion and Gonzalez reciprocated that with a penalty conversion of his own to seal the victory for Equuleus with 8-7.
Iconica vs Santa Clara
The final game of the opening day was also an intense one, remaining in the balance until the very last minute of the match. The teams of Iconica and Santa Clara were desperate to get the W and the match intensified right from the first whistle. Both teams found successes with their attacks on repeated occasion in the game, making the game a back and forth affair for the majority of the gameplay. Iconica was able to control the possession for the majority of the game but fouled a lot in doing so.
With Sebastian Merlos out due to incurring substantial injuries, Iconica’s new line-up of Cody Ellis, Grngo Colombres, Peke Gonzalez and Matias Magrini took the early 1-0 with Gonzalez converting a field goal. Toccalino converted a couple of penalties but Iconica’s more cohesive team matched that with each individual player finding success with the goal. The half concluded at 4-4.
Peke Gonzalez initiated the second half’s offense, catapulting his team ahead by 3 goals while Magrini maintained a tight defensive end. Santa Clara was able to reverse the momentum going into the 5th chukker, also scoring thrice in the process of equalizing the game yet again. The game became more heated in the concluding chukker and Iconica was able to get the better of their opponents, winning by 10-8.
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Tonkawa vs Park Place
The feature game of the week saw an enthralling finish to a game that was lopsided for the majority of the game, with the match leaders Tonkawa not leaving any room for Park Place to make a comeback in the match until the very last chukker of the game, which saw them not only end their oppositions lead but better it.
Tonkawa’s Sapo Caset displayed a stellar 7 goal performance to assert his team’s dominance on the field. Tonkawa pushed forward for the majority of the game, displaying an exceptional accuracy in field goal conversions. Nico Pieres played on another level in the latter half of the game. With his team trailing and the match almost out of his team’s hand, Pieres fired off 5 back-to-back unanswered goals in the final third of the matchup. Caset was provided with repeated chances to score from the penalty line at Park Place fouled regularly. Caset scored a perfect 3 out of 3 penalties to give Tonkawa a 4-0 lead going into the next chukker.
Park Place wasn’t shaken by the initial onslaught, quickly regained formed and pressured the leaders in the next chukker. They were ultimately unable to close up on the lead, missing twice from the penalty line. The third chukker saw Tonkawa regain momentum and Caset and Giannico connected on multiple occasions and extended Tonkawa’s lead to 9-4 going into the latter half of the matchup.
Conceding 9 goals in the initial half, the 2nd half of the matchup saw Park Place ramp up the pressure on the aggressors. Park Place’s Nico Pieres led his team from the front, attempting 6 goals and scoring three unanswered goals. Giannico was also successful in scoring 2 goals. Going into the concluding chukker of the match, Pieres made 2 quick attempts at goal and found success with both on them. Park Place, now mounting a successful comeback, leveled the score at 12-12 with only a few minutes of gameplay left. However, Tonkawa’s Agustin Merlos and Caset were able to save the day for their side to clinch a 14-12 victory.
Aspen vs La Indiana
After conceding the initial goals of the encounter, Aspen controlled the lead for the rest of the game to register a win over the strong side of La Indiana. Helming a tight defensive end and rallying a superb offensive strategy, Aspen controlled most of the match proceedings while holding La Indiana to 36% shooting from the field. La Indiana’s Jeff Hall opened the scoring for the compelling match up and was quickly responded to by Aspen who scored three successive goals. Lucas James and Polito Pieres displayed excellent form for throughout the first half and led the game 7-4 going into the second half. Carrying their momentum into the 4th chukker, Aspen now held a dominant lead with twice the score of La Indiana. This propelled the La Indiana star player, Facundo Obregon into action in the fifth and sixth chukker, scoring thrice and assisting his teammates to cut the lead of Aspen. But ultimately Polito Pieres’ five goals became the dividend of the game and secured the victory for Aspen at 11-9.
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Third League day
The third league day of USPA Gold Cup resumed with 3 nail-biting contests, all of which were too close for comfort for any team. The day saw highly intense bouts between teams determined to qualify further in the tournament.
Las Monjitas Vs Coca-Cola: 13-11
The opening game of the day saw Las Monjitas register a commendable lead over their opponents in the initial half of the game but were pestered by a late Coca-Cola comeback. The gameplay was extremely quick paced which favored the naturally attacking style of Las Monjitas’ Hilario Ulloa, who scored the game high six goals. Due to Ulloa’s onslaught in the first half, Las Monjitas led 9-6 going into the next half.
In the latter half, Las Monjitas played more defensively and gave their opponents a breathing space which could have been lethal. Gillian Johnston and Steve Krueger were instrumental in holding off their opposition’s comeback. A valiente charge led by de Lusarreta and Johnston in an effort to put their team back in the mix was subdued by the brilliant defensive duo and Coca-Cola fell two goals short of equalizing the score and Las Monjitas registered their second win of the tournament with 13-11.
Iconica Vs. Equuleus : 10-9
The second game saw the Gonzalez father-son duo pitted against one another in an exciting match up that saw the additional chukker. Not holding anything back, Mariano and Peke Gonzalez, playing for Equuleus and Iconica respectively, traded penalties for the majority of the 1st half. It was the son, Peke, that came on top and pitched his team into a decisive 8-4 lead going into the 2nd half. Equuleus offensive might, spearheaded by Magoo and Ignacio Laprida, mounted a superb comeback in the latter stage of the game. Trailing 9-7 going into the scheduled final 7 minutes, Ignacio Laprida fired off two consecutive goals to put the game right in the middle at the final whistle.
In the additional chukker, Peke Gonzalez scored the decisive goal of the encounter and ensured a 10-9 win for Iconica.
Stable Door Polo Vs. Postage Stamp Farm: 10-9
Stable Door was given a single point lead in the opening of the game due to handicap disparity and they followed that up with another goal to gain 2-0 lead at an early stage. Postage Stamp Farm responded adequately with 4 goals of their own and both teams went head-to-head for the remainder of the half. Concluding the 1st half at 6-6, the crowd was set to witness another breathtaking finish.
Postage Stamp maintained a strong grasp over the possession for the next 21 minutes of the game but was not able to convert that into a meaningful offense. It was the retaliators turn to turn up the heat and they put forth some amazingly crafted, balanced attacks. Excellent polo display by Henry Porter in the final chukker sealed the victory for his team as he scored thrice in the final 7 minutes to claim the narrow 10-9 victory for Stable door.
