The Polo Report
by Steve Crowder
It started out like there could be a lot of shootouts, but was not to be as things on a foggy day in SB just worked out to be none.
The morning game was one of them. First it was important for La Herradura and not so for ERG. A heavy fog bank would not leave, but it was cool and LH was hot early as they jumped all over ERG and led by 5 to 2 at the end of 2. There was a bit of a surprise in their lineup. Memo sat down as well as Alberto and they added two 3-goal players with Carlos and Mariano. They did a good job early and it resulted in the score as ERG seemed to vary from a set plan. At the 1/2, it was ERG down by 5, but in the 4th they came alive with a matter of fact attack. They closed the gap to 3 and if not for 2 missed open goals they would would have been tied as they gained 2 anyway. In the 5th we saw a slight rally by LH and they won the chukkar by 1 going to the 6th. It was all ERG in the 6th they just could not close the door leaving LH in the semis. They meet again on Thursday. It was a decent game with a lot of fouls and no calls which made it a bit noisy.
The second game was as expected. Still in the fog, but as soon as sun came out so did Restoration Hardware. They blew the doors off in the final 3 of Catamount to head to the # 1 spot in the Semis.
The third game became very big as a lot of teams were on the line pending the results. Lucchesse was able to outlast Farmers and Merchant Bank on what became a Sunny afternoon. It was a little nasty as a bouncy field made line changes happen and pros had to make exaggerated lines as well. There were about 18 or so fouls and Pelon was absolutely deadly. He made all open penalties and four of five 60’s. It was the difference and gave big John and Lucchese a chance to get back to the title run. They meet Big Ben in the semis on Thursday.
So come on up and enjoy the show. It will be on Thursday, not Friday, so hope to see you there. Maybe we should congratulate Will Take Charge after the Traver’s . That is exactly what we need in the USPA.
Think about the American Rule and 22-goal polo next year and maybe 10 teams.
See ya Thursday.