Feb 21, 2018 5:21 PM
Story by International Polo Club Palm Beach/ All photos ®Alex Pacheco
Sunday was quarterfinal day at the International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington, Florida and eight teams fought for a place in the next stage of the Ylvisaker Cup, the last 20-goal tournament of the IPC season. During the 3:00pm ET feature match, GSA defeated Pilot 10-9 on the Engel & Volkers main field, in what was a vibrant and evenly paired match.
Pilot secured a 6-3 advantage at the beginning of the fifth chukker, but MVP Mariano González came through for GSA to put his team within one goal of their opponents. The game came to a head in the sixth chukker, when GSA took control of the match to go up by one goal. With two minutes left, GSA widened their advantage (10-8). They managed to survive Gonzalo Pieres’ 30-yard penalty conversion, and hold Pilot off until the bell. The match ended 10-9 in favor of GSA. Six goals were scored in total in the sixth, making it the most thrilling chukker of the match.
"It was a tough game," commented MVP Mariano Gonzalez. "The first two chukkers were okay, not great, and in the third chukker Pilot grabbed the ball and we couldn't find it for a chukker and a half at least. We were able to get organized again in the fifth chukker and turn the game around a little bit. Our plan worked at first, but the guys on Pilot are smart and adapted to it which is why we couldn't get the ball in those middle chukkers. We changed our plan in the fifth and that worked enough and we held the lead to the end."
Sunday, February 18: GSA 10 - Pilot 9
Best Playing Pony: Macarena, played by Mariano Gonzalez
Most Valuable Player: Mariano Gonzalez
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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