Defying gravity. Photo by Ami De La Mer .
Ylvisaker Cup
20-Goal Tournament
January 21 -February 14, 2010
ZACARA 13, WANDERERS/ISLA CARROLL 10
Zacara rode onto the Piaget Field at the International Polo Club just a week after winning the 2010 Joe Barry Memorial Cup with an exciting 13-1 win over the Hawks and couldn’t look much better. After scoring a 12-5 Ylvisaker Cup win over Bendabout just four days earlier, the English sponsored team scored a decisive win over a previously undefeated Wanderers/Isla Carroll (2-1) foursome to earn a 2-0 record in the season’s third 20-goal tournament.
“I felt like we were cruisin’,” said Zacara 7-goaler Jeff Hall. “We just tried to play basic, classic polo,” he added. “We did, and it paid off for us.”
The score was tied at the end of the first chukker (2-2) and at the end of the second (3-3), but Hall never felt that they (Zacara) didn’t control the game.
Fred Mannix Jr., Hawks (white); Julian Daniels, Faraway Polo, (blue). Photo by Alex Pacheco.
“We played really hard in the third chukker,” offered Hall. “We scored five or six goals and then cruised from there on.”
Goals from Zacara team captain Lyndon Lea and Hall opened the third period before Nacho Figueras scored for the Wanderers. Gonzalo del Tour responded with a goal for Zacara followed two more goals from Hall.
The first half ended with Zacara up by four goals and the Wanderers scrambling to stay in the game. Single goals from Lea and Hall in the fourth chukker were countered by a single penalty conversion by the Wanderers’ Kris Kampsen, but Zacara continued to lead, 10-5. Goals from the field in the fifth by Lea and Toto Collardin were answered with a pair of penalty goals from Kampsen, but the Wanderers continued to trail, 12-7.
While Zacara only put one goal on the scoreboard in the final chukker (Lea), and the Wanderers got three more goals out of Kampsen, it was Zacara that took the game, 13-10.
Kampsen led all scoring with eight goals. Sugar Erskine and Nacho Figueras added single goals in the loss.
Lyndon Lea led the Zacara attack with five goals. Jeff Hall scored four times and Gonzalo del Tour and Toto Collardin each picked up a pair of goals.
Leas was named MVP while Sugar Erskine’s mare, Violet, received Best Playing Pony honors.
Lechuza's Nicolas Espain. Photo by Gregory Ratner http://ratnersportsphotography.com/
LUCCHESE 15, LECHUZA CARACAS 10
A hard-charging Lucchese (3-0) team scored an impressive 15-10 win over Lechuza Caracas (2-1) Sunday afternoon in a battle of unbeatens in Ylvisaker Cup tournament action as teams began jockeying for playoff positions in the two-bracket structure.
HAWKS 10, FARAWAY POLO 9
In one of the most hotly contested games of the tournament, the Hawks (2-0) scored an exciting 10-9 overtime victory over an energized Faraway Polo (0-3) team in Ylvisaker Cup play to start the day.