Ben Soleimani’s RH Polo team earned their third consecutive Queens Cup win Sunday afternoon to remain undefeated at 3-0. (L to R)-Ben Soleimani, Tommy Beresford, Rodrigo Andrade and Adolfo Cambiaso.
In a 12pm game, RH Polo (Ben Soleimani, Tommy Beresford, Adolfo Cambiaso and Rodrigo Andrade) was looking for their third straight Queens Cup win when a 1-2 Sifani polo team (Hilali Noordeen, John-Paul Clarkin, Julian de Lusarreta and Guillermo Terrera) got in the way before falling to Adolfo Cambiaso and company,
Julian de Lusarreta got Sifani on the scoreboard first, for the early 1-0 lead, but RH Polo responded with a tying goal from Cambiaso to make it 1-1. RH Polo team captain Ben Soleimani scored the final goal of the game on a pass from Rodrigo Andrade, giving is team the 2-1 lead at the end of the first chukker.
Muted second action was limited offensively. John Paul Clarkin scored Sifani’s second goal of the match to open the second chukker and tie the game at 2-2. After a number of runs at goal by both teams, Soleimani found himself open and scored the go-ahead goal to end the chukker on top of a 3-2 score, RH Polo.
A pair of 30-yard penalty goals accounted for all of the scoring in a tightly-checked third period. Julian de Lusarreta tied the game at 3-3 with a penalty shot followed by a penalty goal from Tommy Beresford to keep RH Polo in the lead, 4-3.
The two teams traded goals in the fourth, with Cambiaso scoring the final goal of the chukker to maintain RH Polo’s one-goal lead, 6-5.
Cambiaso scored on the opening drive of the fifth period to extend the RH Polo lead to two goals, 7-5. Beresford added another on a pass from Andrade. The RH Polo lead grew to three goals, 8-5. Guillermo Terrera got Sifani back into the game with back-to-back goals. The chukker ended with RH Polo defending a one-goal, 8-7 lead.
Cambiaso scored the first goal of the final chukker, 9-7, but Sifani fought back. A 100-yard shot from the field from de Lusarreta brought Sifani back to within a goal of the lead, 9-8, but time was running out. Cambiaso scored the final goal of the game, 10-8, carrying RH Polo to their third straight victory, 3-0, while Sifani lost for the third time in four outings, 1-3.
La Bamba de Areco 12, Murus Sanctus 10
In the second Cartier Queens Cup match of the day, La Bamba de Areco (Ned Hine, Diego Cavanagh, Magoo Laprida and Rodrigo Rueda, Jr.) rebounded from a 7-5 halftime deficit to score a 12-10 win over Murus Sanctus (Corinne Ricard, Hilario Ulloa, Facundo Sola and Martin Podesta).
Fast and determined play characterized the opening two chukkers, with La Bamba de Areco edging out to a narrow 4-3 lead at the end of the second period.
Murus Sanctus pummeled La Bamba de Areco for four goals in the third with every member of the team getting on the scoreboard. La Bamba de Areco was held to a single goal from Magoo Laprida and fell behind by two goals, 7-5.
La Bamba de Areco owned the fourth. Laprida scored two of his three goals on penalty conversions with Diego Cavanagh adding a goal. Murus Sanctus was held scoreless and at the end of the chukker found themselves trailing by two goals, 9-7.
Both defenses tightened in the fifth, as Murus Sanctus continued to press their attack. Argentine 10-goaler Hilario Ulloa scored once from the field and once on a 30-yard penalty shot. La Bamba de Areco was unable to get on the scoreboard and was forced to settle for the 9-9 tie with one period left in the game.
Rodrigo Rueda and Facundo Sola traded goals in the sixth. The score remained tied, 10-10. With less than two minutes to play, a Murus Sanctus foul proved costly. Cavanagh scored for the 11-10 lead. La Bamba de Areco missed a couple of opportunities to tie the game again, but it was not to be. Cavanagh scored the final goal of the game for the 12-10 win.
Queens Cup competition resumes on Tuesday, June 6 with a noon game between La Indiana (Michael Bickford, Nic Roldan, Agustin Merlos and Luke Tomlinson) and Sommelier (George Hanbury, Juan Gris Zavaleta, Fred Mannix and Alec White). Followed by a 3pm game between El Remanso (Charlie Hanbury, Oliver Cudmore, James Beim and James Harper) and Monterosso (Alessandro Bazzoni, Ignacio Toccalino, Santiago Toccalino and Matt Perry).