NEWS

Story courtesy of International Polo Club Palm Beach.

On Friday, March 4, in a phenomenal offensive explosion in the third day of bracket play in the USPA Gold Cup® at International Polo Club Palm Beach (IPC) in Wellington, Florida, reigning C.V. Whitney Cup® champions Park Place (Josh Hyde, Juan Britos, Hilario Ulloa, Cody Ellis*) scored seventeen goals on Field 5 to capture the 17-10 victory and spoil La Elina's (Leo Mandelbaum, Jared Zenni, Guillermo "Sapo" Caset, Ignacio "Nachi" Viana) 2022 GAUNTLET debut.

Featuring a head-to-head matchup between 10-goalers Caset, making his debut for La Elina, and Park Place’s leading scorer Ulloa, Friday’s lone game resulted in a high-scoring match, but it was Ulloa who led the way with nine goals. Headlining a Park Place attack that shot an efficient 57% from the field while also producing nine more shots at goal than La Elina, Ulloa was nearly unstoppable as he continued his strong play from the C.V. Whitney Cup®. La Elina kept pace in the offensive minded first half but were held to just three goals in the second half as seven goals from Caset were not enough to match the electric offense of Park Place in the 17-10 defeat.

Conceding one goal on handicap to La Elina, Ulloa wasted no time kick-starting his dominate outing for Park Place. Entering the game leading the GAUNTLET with forty-one shots and thirty-seven goals, Ulloa worked effortlessly though La Elina’s defense and quickly racked up three goals in the first chukker. Establishing their own offensive rhythm and camaraderie, responses from Viana and Caset cut La Elina’s deficit down to just two goals, giving Park Place a slim 3-4 advantage.

After sending Caset to the penalty line on two successful penalty conversions in the second chukker, Britos countered with his first of the day, as Ulloa drew a Penalty 1. Despite goals from Viana and Caset in the third, a complete Park Place take over ensued, including three additional goals from Ulloa to give Park Place a 10-7 lead at the break.

Maintaining their striking advantage, Hyde came out swinging in the beginning of the fourth chukker and hit the mark, as Ulloa posted another two from the field. In a game largely decided in open play, Park Place’s notoriety for foul troubles kept La Elina within striking distance on two conversions from Caset, as they trailed by four goals entering the fifth chukker.

With three of four Park Place teammates finding the scoreboard, Ellis rounded out the list to become the final member to find the posts for his first of two in the final chukkers of play. A final response from La Elina’s Caset was not enough to overcome the mastery displayed by Park Place’s unified offensive play, as Ulloa and Britos each scored once more to finish with a combined twelve goals, and Park Place walked away with a 17-10 victory.

*Cody Ellis is a Graduating Team USPA Member. Team USPA is a USPA program designed to enhance and grow the sport of polo in the United States by identifying young, talented American players and providing mentored training and playing opportunities leading to a pool of higher rated amateur and pro players and the resultant giveback to the sport of polo.