By Wiley Uretz/ Photo by Kim Kumpart
Henry Walker and Leigh Brecheen
This past Sunday at Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club we had another fun and exciting day of polo in paradise. The first game featured an altered Antelope team with Patrick Uretz replacing the injured Alvaro Tadeo and Leigh Brecheen replacing Geoff Palmer vs. a hungry Farmers and Merchants Bank. The game started out back and forth with Farmers and Merchants Bank closing the two goal handicap awarded to Antelope very quickly. However Antelope showed great team chemistry which allowed them to fend off the attacks of the very aggressive Farmers and Merchants Bank who were still looking for their first win. Once the second half started Antelope showed that a combination of experience and youth could be very lethal when used in the right way, which is exactly what the Veteran Santiago Trotz did with his two up and coming American players Patrick Uretz and Jessie Bray. This combination along with great play from Leigh Brecheen proved to be too much for Luis Escobar and the rest of the Farmer’s and Merchants who put a good fight but were beaten by a score of 12 to 8. The victory was very important for Antelope since after beating Hanalei Bay/Masour 14 13 in the last seconds on Friday and having a very strong net goal average they have clinched their spot in the final.
By Antelope winning it meant that Cotterel also had to win against Hanalei Bay/Mansour in order to have any chance at the finals since they were 1-1 and Palm Desert was 3-0 after beating Farmers and Merchants Bank 15 to 10 on Friday. Out of the gate it looked like Hanalei Bay/Mansour was on a mission to spoil Cotterel’s dreams of making the finals with some quick goals from Mariano Fasetta that put them out front. However Cotterel was able to keep finding a way to claw back and tie the game up time and time again. Then in the second half Cotterel unleashed their secret weapon, Jenny Luttrell who scored a couple of good goals and helped Cotterel build a lead. Although Hanalei Bay/Mansour fought back they were unable to recapture the lead and ended up losing by a score of 10 to 7. This means that Cotterel will be playing Palm Desert/Long Beach next Friday to see who will make the finals and admission is free so if you can make it you should. Although either way make sure that you do not miss the finals of the Pope Challenge next Sunday at 1pm as it is sure to be a very fast and intense game.