The four teams in Bracket II of the 2020 Ylvisaker Cup jockeyed for position in two crucial games, beginning with Stable Door Polo claiming their first victory of the tournament, defeating Daily Racing Form 11-9, while Patagones captured a thrilling 11-10 overtime victory over Pilot on an impressive neckshot from Joaquin Avendano.
The opening game of the day featured a closely matched game as Stable Door Polo, overcame 19 fouls to escape with the narrow two-goal victory on a dominant final chukker. Finishing 8 for 15 from the field in the game, Stable Door Polo was able to generate enough scoring chances behind a balanced attack that saw contributions from all four players on the field, while Daily Racing Form’s four missed penalty attempts ultimately proved to be the difference in the game.
Holding a one-goal advantage on handicap, Daily Racing Form was able to maintain that lead after the opening chukker thanks to two goals from Costi Caset. Running to goal with accuracy from the throw-ins, Caset paced the Daily Racing Form attack early in the game, but Stable Door Polo responded in the second chukker to claim their first lead. An impressive backhand goal from Henry Porter was quickly followed by Robert Orthwein’s first goal of the game, as Daily Racing Form was unable to keep possession in the attacking half. A defensive third chukker resulted in a penalty four conversion from Agustin Obregon accounting for the only offense, leaving the score tied at 4-4 at halftime.
Foul trouble for Stable Door Polo became an emerging storyline in the game, preventing them from scoring and allowing Daily Racing Form to pull away in the game. Eight fouls in the fourth and fifth chukkers for Stable Door Polo contributed to a run of five unanswered goals for Daily Racing Form, two on penalty conversions from Jared Zenni, giving Daily Racing Form a stronghold on the game with just over one chukker remaining. Undeterred, Stable Door Polo scored two goals in quick succession to end the fifth chukker and reduce the deficit to just two. An exciting final chukker saw Stable Door Polo race into the lead behind a dominant team performance that had all four players find the scoresheet on perfect three for three shooting and two penalty conversions. The five-goal final chukker secured the thrilling 11-9 victory for Stable Door Polo for their first victory of the tournament.
With nearly identical stats across the board, Patagones and Pilot were separated by the smallest of differences, with overtime needed in the second game of the day. A physical game with four yellow cards, Patagones made Pilot work for each opportunity at goal, holding their opponent to zero field goals over the final two chukkers and overtime. Finishing with six goals, all but one coming from the penalty line, Tomas Garcia del Rio led Patagones, while young Joaquin Avendano was the hero in overtime, finishing with an impressive four goals for one of his best games on the fields of IPC.
Relying on their duo of Alfonso and Gonzalito Pieres, the former opened the scoring for Pilot on the first run of the game, but Patagones responded with a possession-based attack, forcing Pilot to defend on the ball. Goals from Joaquin and Benjamin Avendano, along with a Penalty one for Garcia del Rio put Patagones in the lead before the end of the first chukker. Extending their lead further, Patagones continued to utilize Joaquin Avendano in the front of the game as he was able to pull away for his second goal of the game, while Pilot was kept off the scoreboard, watching their deficit grow to three. As he did in their opening game, Gonzalito Pieres stepped up for Pilot, scoring three unanswered goals in the third chukker to quickly erase the lead and bring Pilot even at 6-6, until Garcia del Rio’s third penalty goal ended the half, giving Patagones a slim 7-6 advantage.
The physical match carried into the second half as Alfonso Pieres received his second yellow card, forcing him out of the game for two minutes. Patagones converted a penalty two during that time, but were unable to generate any more goals with the extra man on the field, leaving the outcome to be decided in the final two chukkers. Fouls late in the game moved the scoring to the penalty line after two penalty conversions from Gonzalito Pieres gave Pilot the 10-9 lead, but with time expiring, Santi Wulff found Joaquin Avendano on a breakaway and with five seconds remaining, Avendando hit the ball in between the goal posts, sending the game into overtime. Two missed shots from Pilot set the scene for Patagones, who went down the field and on an impressive neckshot, Joaquin Avendano was the hero again, securing the thrilling 11-10 victory for Patagones.
Major reporting contributions for this article were received from the International Polo Club in Wellington FL. Please visit www.internationalpoloclub.com or call (561) 204-5687 for more information on the International Polo Club.
