For the feature bout of the Sieber Memorial Tournament, Sebucan (Juanse Olivera, 1, Pablo Pulido, 2, Juan Lalor, 4, Robertito Zedda, 4) defeated the defending champions Patagones ( Santi Wulff, 5, Benjamin Avendano, 3, Joaquin Avendano, 2, Santiago Avendano, 1) in a narrow 8-7 victory. The finish of the tournament saw the now champions’ first winning encounter in the 12 goal format after losing to Beverly Equestrian (Bill Ballhaus, 0, Geronimo Obregon, 4, Tolito Ocampo, 5, Hilario Figueras), 10-8 in the tournament’s opening match up.
Both teams brought in an even 11 goal handicap in the
final but Sebucan maintained a sizeable lead
right from the start of the game, but Patagones were able to close into their opponents, ending the game with just a single goal deficit.
The first half was entirely dominated by Sebucan. With
Patagones committing repeated fouls, Sebucan’s Robertito Zedda was able to convert 4 out of 5 penalties. This, coupled with 2 more field goals, saw Zedda scoring a game-high 7 points and securing the MVP award, for the second time this season. The only other goal for the Sebucan was scored by Pablo Pulido in the 4th chukker. Zedda’s counterpart for the Patagones was Santi Wulff, scoring team-high 6 goals.
“Both teams are 11 goals and very even teams,” Zedda said. “I think we got ahead at the beginning, we were lucky that we were able to score and put some penalties in
and they missed a few penalties. I think that was the difference. Then it was the other way around, we missed a couple and they scored.
Patagones was able to mount a brilliant offense in the latter half of the game. With their defense slipping only a single goal, they were able to score 5 times in the final 2
chukkers and came dangerously close to equalize the score.
“These games are always very even,” Zedda said. “This level of polo is competitive. We lost by two to Beverly Equestrian and today we won by one. You are not going to have a huge difference in any result. Everyone is very even.”
Juanse Olivera, 16, and Juan Lalor, 20, were the dark horses for Sebucan in this particular event.
Displaying a phenomenal defensive game, they were instrumental in holding the goal for their team, especially in the 1st half. Olivera’s goal stoppage of Wulff’s attempt with 3:05 left in the sixth chukker was probably the game-saving moment for the Sebucan.
