Herndon Radcliff, Nick Snow, Pedro Lara and Josh Shelton
A beautiful day for polo greeted us as our four trailers caravanned down I-10 East into downtown Houston for the finals of the USPA Officers Cup 8-goal this past Sunday at the Houston Polo Club. Our opponent was Jeff Hildebrand’s Tonkawa team that had made it into the finals with an unblemished 4-0 record. This opportunity to play as a 4 member Team USPA team was generously provided by Hildebrand and while we stabled at, practiced with and other wise supported Tonkawa, it was clear both teams wanted to walk away victors in this final. We knew it would be a close game and to win we would have to play well.
Our game plan had changed slightly since our first games as we have become comfortable with each other and are now able to play our positions fairly interchangeably. This allowed us to create matchup’s that we felt would favor us and we didn’t have to worry so much about positions. The first period was indicative of the game as a whole with every play contested, few free runs downfield, and the score tied as it would be most of the game. The game stayed close throughout the first half but we were able to put two in before halftime and lead 5-3 with accurate penalty shooting from Herndon Radcliff.
With good team play from Jimmy Seward and CJ Laquerica, Tonkawa evened the score 5-5 starting the 5th and then took the lead by one. We were able to regroup and after a well-placed cut shot from Josh Shelton we were up by 2 halfway through the 6th. Jeff Hildebrand sunk a penalty shot to put Tonkawa within one and then with under a minute left, we were bringing the ball toward goal but after a hook and backshot Mason Wroe was alone with 200 yards to go to tie it. At full speed Pedro Lara tried to catch Mason but with a monstrous approach shot and composure around the goal, he put it in just before the first horn sending the game to overtime.
Overtime went back and forth and after 5 minutes I picked up a pass along the boards was able to break through and put it in. It was a well-played game, with good sportsmanship, few fouls and hopefully enjoyable for those watching.
Stay tuned for results from our next two 8 goal tournaments!
– Nick Snow
Best Playing Pony: “Sugar” owned by Jimmy Seward