Aug 02, 2021
Story courtesy of Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club
The historic Farmers & Merchants Bank Silver Cup® began with the first round of play on Sunday, July 25. This tournament dates back to 1900 when it was first played and originally established as the Junior Championship. The Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club (Carpinteria, California) has now hosted the Farmers & Merchants Bank Silver Cup® many times throughout its 121-year history, but this will be its second consecutive year after it took place on the East Coast for two years.
The first two teams to face off in the Farmers & Merchants Bank Silver Cup® were Klentner Ranch and Santa Clara. Santiago Toccalino cut right to the chase with a goal for Klentner Ranch out of the lineup in the first chukker. Over the rest of the half, both teams battled it out, goal for goal, to finish the third chukker tied 5-all. Santa Clara had some difficulties, going scoreless in the fourth and fifth chukker, resulting in Klentner Ranch taking the lead. Dynamic brother duo Lucas and Nico Escobar scored three goals in the last chukker for Santa Clara, but it was not quite enough to secure a win. Klentner Ranch won the game 11-8.
The second game of the day played out between Lucchese and BenSoleimani.com, with a substitution of Carlos Leiva for John Muse on Lucchese. The first half went by quickly with high scoring and fast play. Facundo Obregon capitalized on his penalty shots, converting six penalties total for Lucchese. On BenSoleimani.com, the eponymous team owner, Ben Soleimani, had a great game scoring three field goals throughout the match, but in the end, the experienced Lucchese walked away with the victory 15-13.
The featured match at 4:00pm ET pitted Antelope against Farmers & Merchants Bank (FMB). Thirteen-year-old Paquito de Narvaez substituted for Daniel Walker on FMB. The game showcased intense play with less goals and more defense than the previous game. Tomas Garcia Del Rio scored the first goal of the game. The half ended with a low score of 3-2 in favor of Antelope. FMB came back in the second half, led by four goals from Lucitas Criado to tie the score, but de Narvaez showing talent beyond his years, scored the game-winning goal with under a minute left. The final score went in favor of FMB, 8-7, completing a close game to end the first weekend of play.
All photos courtesy of ©David Lominska.
Effective Date: Saturday, May 16, 2020
The suspension of USPA Tournaments and Events will be lifted for USPA Member Clubs in locales where hosting polo matches and tournaments is permitted under applicable state and local laws, executive orders and similar decrees. The USPA Member Clubs in these locales are encouraged to follow all such requirements of their state and local authorities with respect to polo operations. In addition, we also encourage all USPA Member Clubs to take the precautions recommended by the CDC. We are preparing a detailed list of best practices for USPA Member Clubs as they return to hosting USPA Tournaments and Events and plan to circulate these guidelines within the next week. We will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation closely and will notify you if we determine a different course of action is necessary.
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