Vic Garber finals/Intra-Circuit Cup
By Wiley Uretz
This past Sunday things there was a bonus game at the Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club, the previously rained out Finals of the Vic Graber 12 goal were played at 1pm, as well as the 3pm Intra-Circuit 12 goal game. What this meant for the teams playing in the Vic Graber was an added incentive to win because not only was their game counting toward their record in the Intra- Circuit Cup but it was also going to determine who got their name on the Vic Garber Trophy. The two teams that went head to head for this extra important game were Long Beach/Blanco who consisted of: A rated Tom Sikes, Henry Walker 2 goals, Luis Escobar 7 goals and Matt Walker 3 goals vs. Cobra who were made up of: A rated Alvaro Fernandez, Isaac Sepulveda 1 goal, Memo Gracida 7 goals and Julio Gracida 4 goals. Just from looking at the first chukker horses you could tell that both of these teams understood the importance of the game because they both had their fifth and sixth chukker horses out there to try and get a quick lead.
Cobra wins Vic Graber 12 goal: Julio Gracida, Isaac Sepulveda, Alvaro Fernandez, Memo Gracida. Photo by Kim Kumpart.
This strategy paid dividends for Cobra, they were able to gain a three goal lead going into the third chukker. In the third chukker Long Beach/Blanco had a chance to climb back into the game with two penalty fours that just narrowly missed off the mallet of Escobar, however, Cobra was able to silence the Long Beach/Blanco attack by scoring another goal from the field and taking a six to two lead into the half. After half time Cobra came out looking like they were the team down by four scoring two quick goals to start the half, however, Long Beach/Blanco determined to not go down without a fight and scored a goal in the end of the chukker to stay within striking distance. In the beginning of the fifth Long Beach/Blanco looked like they might have a chance to make another incredible comeback scoring two quick goals but Cobra was able to answer ending the chukker up ten to six. Cobra dominated the line-ups throughout the game and that didn’t change in the last chukker which led to them scoring the first goal of the last chukker and eventually them wining by a score of twelve to eight. Memo Gracida was named most valuable player and Matt Walker’s horse Santiago was named best playing pony.
Matt Walker's horse Santiago won Best Playing Pony.
The 3 o’clock game although not worth two games was still very intense and exciting. This game featured Mansour who consisted of: A rated Matt Yonally (replacing Ben Soleimani), Justin Klentner 2 goals, Santiago Wulff 5 goals and Santiago von Wernich 5 goals; facing off against Cotterel who were made up of: A rated Jenny Lutrell, Ignacio Saracco 3 goals, Luis Saracco 4 goals and Ruben Coscia 5 goals. The first half of this game was great to watch because as soon as one team would look like they were about to pull away the other team would come right back and tie it up. Going into half time the score was deadlocked at four goals and both teams looked like they just couldn’t quite break away from the other. However in the fifth chukker Mansour finally found a way to break free of Cotterel thanks to two goals from Santiago Von Wernich, one goal from Justin Klentner and one goal from Matt Yonally. In the last chukker Cotterel did their best to stage a comeback but it was just a little too late with the game ending Mansour ten, Cotterel eight.