NEWS

Story courtesy of International Polo Club Palm Beach.

The second day of competition in the Ylvisaker Cup at International Polo Club Palm Beach (IPC) (Wellington, Florida) began with La Fe (Lucas Escobar*, Robi Bilbao, Francisco Elizalde, Louis Devaleix) facing Beverly Polo (Bill Ballhaus, Lucas Diaz Alberdi, Jorge "Tolito" Fernandez Ocampo Jr., Hilario Figueras) on Isla Carroll East. Both teams, looking for their first win of the tournament, battled heavy rains with La Fe breaking through in the fourth chukker on four goals from the 30-yard line, carrying the lead to a dominant 12-6 victory.

A reprieve from the storm allowed Patagones (Benjamin Avendano, Joaquin Avendano, Santiago Wulff, Tomas Garcia del Rio) to face CK Polo (Kristos "Keko" Magrini*, sub. Federico Panzillo, sub. Bautista Panelo, Joaquin Panelo) on Field 4, where a phenomenal twelve-goal performance from Magrini pushed CK Polo past Patagones 16-11.

La Fe’s Bilbao kicked-off the scoring under dreary skies, only to be answered in quick succession by Beverly Polo’s leading scorer Ocampo Jr. Following a second La Fe score from Escobar, an energized Figueras took the ball to goal for Beverly Polo on a breakaway with Alberdi following-up for an early 4-3 Beverly Polo lead. Not to be deterred by their one-goal deficit, a grinding Devaleix found the posts for his second goal of the tournament, as a Penalty 2 from Elizalde pushed La Fe to a 5-4 lead at halftime.

Committing nine fouls in their previous game, Beverly Polo would send 9-goaler and La Fe top scorer Elizalde to the penalty line three times, followed by Escobar for a total of four successful Penalty 2 conversions. Despite a Penalty 3 from Ocampo Jr., Beverly Polo suddenly found themselves needing to regroup from a self-inflicted three-goal deficit.

As the rain steadily increased, generating scoring opportunities became a challenge with Bilbao sinking the only goal for either team in the fifth chukker. Two more goals from Elizalde, including his fifth penalty conversion, all but sealed the victory for La Fe. A final Penalty 4 for Ocampo Jr. could not overcome the early foul troubles of Beverly Polo, as La Fe claimed a statement 12-6 win.

Coming off a solid performance in his previous game with seven goals, a confident Magrini found the scoreboard first for CK Polo on three consecutive goals, including two from the foul line. In a game defined by penalties, Patagone’s veteran leader Garcia del Rio stepped up to the penalty line three times in the second chukker, in an early back-and-forth contest between Garcia del Rio and Magrini.

CK Polo was awarded a Penalty 1 in the second chukker, and Magrini continued his early offensive blitz adding three goals in the third chukker. A late field goal from Benjamin Avendano was not enough to counter Magrini’s stunning six-goal first half and CK Polo took an 8-6 lead into halftime.

Unwilling to let Patagones back into the game, an early Penalty 1 followed by a Penalty 5 allowed CK Polo to take an early two-goal swing to begin the second half. Garcia del Rio managed to answer with a Penalty 4, but the power of Magrini could not be denied as he added another three goals in the fourth chukker.

Attempting to claw back into contention, Garcia del Rio and Benjamin Avendano made a late push combining four more goals, however, the inability for Patagones’ to effectively cover Magrini left him space to cap off his incredible day with another two from the line and one from the field. Accounting for twelve of CK Polo’s sixteen goals, the dynamism of a young Magrini combined with the fouling troubles of Patagones empowered CK Polo to comfortably take the win 16-11.

*Lucas Escobar and Kristos ‘Keko’ Magrini are Active Team USPA Members. Team USPA is a USPA program designed to enhance and grow the sport of polo in the United States by identifying young, talented American players and providing mentored training and playing opportunities leading to a pool of higher rated amateur and pro players and the resultant giveback to the sport of polo.

All photos courtesy of ©David Lominska.