At the 2017 US Open Polo Championship, Orchard Hill defeated Audi by 11-10 and Travieso took a 12-10 victory over Coca-Cola. The tournament was organised at the International Polo Club Palm Beach (IPC). Concluding Sunday’s games the semi-final matchups on April 19 was between Valiente vs. Travieso and Orchard Hill vs. Flexjet.
Travieso managed to turn eyes in their last bracket games against Orchard Hill last week after being defeated in their initial two games in the US Open. The game was nerve wrecking. Coca-Cola created a number of opportunities throughout the game, but were not able to convert on those chances. Patrolina Gilan Johnston made an amazing opening followed by Coca-Cola making only 3 of their next 12 shot attempts in the first half, thus allowing Travieso to stay in game.
Also, Coca-Cola got into foul trouble throughout the game, giving opportunities to Travieso. Gonzalez was able to convert 2 of his 3 attempts into goals in the first half. Also, Sebastian Merlos scored two goals from the field. Travieso survived the first half trailing by a single goal (6-5).
In the fourth chukker, Travieso couldn’t manage a single goal. But they managed to win the chukker by 3-1 capitalizing on the 5 fouls made by Coca-Cola that resulted in 3 penalty attempts for Gonzalez, all 3 of which he converted into goals and gave Travieso their first lead in the game. Coca-Cola shot 17 times at goal compared to 6 shots for Travieso, heading into the final chukker.
Coca-Cola players shot 8 of 21 from the field for the game, missing opportunities they had throughout the game. Travieso had to fight all game long, taking advantage of their 9 penalty attempts and a final run by Alfredo Capella to seal the game and give Travieso the 12-10 win and a spot in the semi-finals.
