Jun 20, 2023 12:44 AM
Navigating through a deep field of 17 teams over four weeks of elite competition, Murus Sanctus (Corrine Richard, Alejandro Muzzio, Polito Pieres, Marcos Araya) and La Magdeleine (Alexandre Garese, Facundo Fernandez Llorente, Pablo Mac Donough, Santiago Laborde) went head-to-head on the historic Queen’s Ground at Guards Polo Club (Windsor, Berkshire) to crown a new Cartier Queen’s Cup champion.
La Magdeleine’s Laborde posted an early penalty conversion to open the scoring. Murus Sanctus, now on the attack, hit the mark three times in the first chukker, including a Penalty 2 from Muzzio to take a 3-1 lead. Taking advantage of Murus Sanctus’s foul troubles in the second, three penalties from La Magdeleine’s Mac Donough were answered by two goals in open play from a driving Pieres to maintain Murus Sanctus’ narrow one-goal advantage.
A combined five field shots between the two teams in the third chukker, showcased the accuracy of the evenly matched opponents before the horn. La Magdeleine’s Mac Donough and Fernandez Llorente each found the goal in the third, with Araya and Pieres delivering for Murus Sanctus as the two deadlocked teams made their way into the tents tied 7-all at the break.
Emerging with a charge, Murus Sanctus generated some much-needed separation to open the second half of play. Pieres and Muzzio worked beautifully in tandem from the field for three combined goals to give Murus Sanctus a 10-7 lead. Generating only two shots with no opportunities to score on penalties, La Magdeleine was forced to make a late push in the sixth chukker.
Rebounding on back-to-back goals from Mac Donough and Santiago Laborde, La Magdeleine managed to cut their deficit down to one. Stifling La Magdeleine’s sudden momentum, a brilliant drive from Pieres was all Murus Sanctus needed to hold off Mac Donough’s final effort and ensure Murus Sanctus’ electrifying 11-10 victory to capture their first Cartier Queen’s Cup title.
Murus Sanctus’s Corinne Ricard received the Queen’s Cup from Cartier’s Managing Director Laurent Feniou. Contributing an impressive seven-goal performance, including six in open play, Polito Pieres was named the Cartier Most Valuable Player. Cartier Best Playing Pony was awarded to Irenita La Kiosquera, played by Pablo Mac Donough.
All photos courtesy of ©Pablo Ramirez.
Effective Date: Saturday, May 16, 2020
The suspension of USPA Tournaments and Events will be lifted for USPA Member Clubs in locales where hosting polo matches and tournaments is permitted under applicable state and local laws, executive orders and similar decrees. The USPA Member Clubs in these locales are encouraged to follow all such requirements of their state and local authorities with respect to polo operations. In addition, we also encourage all USPA Member Clubs to take the precautions recommended by the CDC. We are preparing a detailed list of best practices for USPA Member Clubs as they return to hosting USPA Tournaments and Events and plan to circulate these guidelines within the next week. We will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation closely and will notify you if we determine a different course of action is necessary.
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