Longfield Farm made their first tournament at Saratoga Polo this season a memorable one as they claimed the championship of the Ylvisaker Cup Finals at Saratoga Polo on Sunday, building on a commanding early lead right until the final chukker, with a final score of 14-11 over Smithfield.
Much of Longfield’s success can be attributed to their commanding first chukker, where Juan Olivera combined with Augustine and Enrique Zavaleta for an astounding 5 goals. From there on out the match was a matter of consistent scoring to keep Smithfield just out of reach of the lead. The Zavaletas combined for 11 goals on the day and Olivera contributed another 3 to the championship effort.
While Smithfield finished as runners-up in the tournament, they were never too far from the lead in the finals. Julio Ezcurra converted on 5 penalty shots for his 5 markers to lead Smithfield in scoring. The runners-up also received 4 tallies from Francisco Bilbao, and 1 apiece from Adam and John Klopp.
Third place in the tournament went to Estrella/Tackeria, who relied on the offensive power of Guilli Aguero (9 goals) Ricky Bostwick (2 goals) and the support play of Tony Coppola and George Hearst to defeat Bloomfield/Gene’s Cleaning in the consolation match on Saturday. Cuko Escapite lead Bloomfield/Gene’s Cleaning with 6 goals in the consolation match, a very tight contest with a final score of 11-10.
The next tournament at Saratoga Polo is The Hector and Susan Barrantes Memorial cup, beginning on Wednesday, August 9th at 5:30 pm. Full schedule to follow. For more information, call 518-584-8108 or visit saratogapolo.com.
TOTAL GOALS SCORED – FINALS TODAY
Smithfield – 11
Adam Klopp – 1
Julio Ezcurra – 5
Fancisco Balbao – 4
John Klopp – 1
Longfield Farm – 14
Duke Buchan III – 0
Juan Olivera – 3
Augustine Zavaleta – 6
Enrique Zavaleta – 5
TOTAL GOALS SCORED – CONSOLATION YESTERDAY
Bloomfield/Gene’s Cleaning (+1 on handicap) – 10
Will Orthwein – 1
Jube Baez – 2
Cuko Escapite – 6
Gene Gass – 0
Estrealla/Tackeria – 11
George Hearst – 0
Tony Coppola – 0
Ricky Bostwick – 2
Guilli Aguero – 9