An exciting day of semi-finals in the 2020 Ylvisaker Cup at the International Polo Club Palm Beach saw the two top ranked teams, La Indiana and Patagones, continue their run in the tournament to reach Sunday’s final. La Indiana defeated Stable Door Polo 11-7 on the Isla Carroll East, while Patagones captured the convincing 13-8 victory over Coca-Cola on Field 3.
Never trailing in the opening game of the day, La Indiana maintained their lead with an accurate attack from the field. Despite the two teams generating 16 shots at goal each, Stable Door Polo’s inability to convert their opportunities, shooting 25% from the field, kept the advantage with La Indiana. Led by seven goals from Facundo Obregon, La Indiana used a quick counterattack to frustrate a Stable Door Polo team that saw both Matias and Santino Magrini receive multiple yellows in the four-goal defeat.
Two quick goals for La Indiana to start the game originated from their defense, with steals creating breakaway runs for Obregon and Jeff Hall. Stable Door Polo pushed for a response, receiving goals from Matias Magrini and Robert Orthwein, but La Indiana’s perfect conversion on all three runs to goal gave them an early 3-2 lead. The fast pace set in the early stages changed for the remainder of the half, as the two teams battled defensively and a Penalty 1 in favor of La Indiana accounted for the only offense in the second chukker. Santino Magrini and Obregon traded goals to finish the half, maintaining the two-goal advantage for La Indiana at 5-3.
A tense start to the second half moved the scoring to the penalty line for both teams. Two yellows assigned to Matias Magrini sent him off the field for two minutes, contributing to La Indiana increase their lead to three behind two penalty conversions for Obregon. Stable Door Polo was consistently able to pressure the La Indiana defense, forcing them into foul trouble but were unable to turn it into goals, missing six penalty attempts in the game. Consecutive goals from Obregon and Hall sealed the 11-7 victory in the final chukker, sending La Indiana into Sunday’s final to await the winner of Coca-Cola and Patagones.
A tightly marked second semi-final was decided on the penalty line as Patagones claimed the victory thanks to accurate 6 for 7 penalty shooting compared to just 1 for 2 shooting from Coca-Cola. A physical game saw 26 combined fouls, but the difference was that all but 2 of Patagones’ 12 fouls were Penalty 5, conceding possession but not penalty attempts at goal. Patagones stood strong defensively against Coca-Cola’s set plays, allowing Santiago Toccalino, playing in place of the injured Tomas Garcia del Rio, to lead them to the five-goal victory.
Coca-Cola was able to find open space for runs to goal in the opening chukker, receiving goals from Sugar Erskine and Will Johnston, while Patagones struggled to generate scoring chances early in the game. Momentum switched in favor of Patagones in the second chukker, with the indiscipline of Coca-Cola leading to two penalty 2 conversions for Toccalino. Overcoming two yellow cards given to Benjamin Avendano, Patagones claimed their first lead in the third chukker on a run of four consecutive goals. A balanced effort across the field saw a goal each from Joaquin Avendano, Benjamin Avendano and Toccalino, while Coca-Cola was held off the scoresheet, trailing 6-3 at halftime.
Coca-Cola’s struggles to score continued into the start of the second half, running into an organized Patagones defence that kept them off the scoreboard until the fifth chukker. Erskine finally broke through for Coca-Cola, starting a strong chukker of three goals that brought Coca-Cola back within three. Coca-Cola’s foul trouble prevented them from closing the gap further, conceding four penalty 2’s in the final two chukkas, as Toccalino continued to convert with accuracy, finishing 6 for 7 from the penalty line. Completing the convincing 13-8 victory, Patagones advances to face La Indiana in the highly anticipated Ylvisaker Cup final.
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.
