Low-scoring final goes to Valiente
WELLINGTON — In one of the most lopsided, low-scoring C.V. Whitney Cup finals, Valiente defeated Colorado 9-4 Sunday in the 26-goal season-opener at International Polo Club Palm Beach.
The game pitted father and son and teams in the same polo organization against each other with the younger Rob Jornayvaz and 10-goal teammates Adolfo Cambiaso and Facundo Pieres and 4-goaler Tommy Beresford winning the family feud.
Colorado’s foursome of Bob Jornayvaz, Santi Torres, Magoo Laprida and Diego Cavanagh could not get its offensive attack going against Valiente’s one-two punch of Cambiaso and Pieres.
With the world’s top two polo players, Valiente jumped out to a 5-0 halftime lead before Colorado scored its first goal in the fourth chukker when Cavanagh got past a crowd of defenders at the 4:48 mark. Valiente led 9-3 until the final two minutes of the game when Laprida scored the final goal.
In the low-scoring first half, Valiente converted 4 of 7 shots from the field while Colorado was 0 for 2. Valiente converted 1 of 2 penalty shots and Colorado missed both of its penalty shots.
The final stats were even more dismal. Valiente converted 8 of 14 shots from the field and Colorado was 4 of 11. Colorado missed all three of its penalty conversions and Valiente was 1 of 2. Valiente led in fouls, 6-3, and Colorado won the throwins, 11-5.
Last year, the Valiente team of Cambiaso, Cavanagh, Bob Jornayvaz and Matias Torres Zavaleta won the C.V. Whitney Cup. Only four teams competed in this year’s tournament. Pieres led the scoring with five goals and was selected Most Valuable Player. Cambiaso added two goals and Jornayvaz and Beresford each had one goal. Cambiaso’s horse, Mentolada, was Best Playing Pony.
In the consolation game, Daily Racing Form (Nino Obregon, Agustin Obregon, Hilario Ulloa, Jared Zenni) defeated Grand Champions (Marc Ganzi, Alejandro Novillo Astrada, Nico Pieres, Nic Roldan), 11-9.
With Grand Champions leading 7-5 at the half, Daily Racing Form rallied for a 6-2 second half, including shutting Grand Champions out in the final chukker. Ten-goaler Ulloa scored a game-high eight goals. Ulloa was MVP and his horse, Caprichosa, was Best Playing Pony.
The second of four 26-goal tournaments begins this week at IPC with four teams in the USPA Butler Cup. On Wednesday, Valiente plays Grand Champions at 10 a.m., and Colorado meets Daily Racing Form at 2 p.m. Ten-goaler Juan Martin Nero will make his IPC debut with Grand Champions teammates Grant Ganzi, Juancito Bollini and Alejandro Novillo Astrada.
In a 20-goal Iglehart Cup game, La Indiana defeated Postage Stamp Farm 13-8. By the fourth chukker, La Indiana led 10-4. La Indiana got balanced scoring. Facundo Obregon scored a game-high four goals.
Grand Champions Polo Club: Defending champion Travieso began its title defense in the 20-goal Sterling Cup with a 13-8 victory over U.S. Polo Assn. in the featured Saturday Polo game at Grand Champions. Argentine 9-goaler Sebastian Merlos was named Most Valuable Player after scoring a gamehigh six goals and rallying his team from a 5-1 deficit.