Day two of competition in the USPA Gold Cup at the National Polo Center- Wellington (NPC) featured Two Trees by Jefferies (Will Johnston, Mariano Aguerre, Miguel Novillo Astrada, Juan Sánchez Elia) against Shack Attack (Santino Magrini, Ignacio ‘Nachi’ Viana, Kristos ‘Keko’ Magrini, Santiago ‘Santi’ Toccalino), followed by La Elina (Matt Coppola, Nico Escobar, Jeff Hall, Jared Zenni) versus Dutta Corp/Show+ (Joaquin Avendaño, Mariano ‘Nino’ Obregon, Tomas Garcia del Rio, Timmy Dutta).
Making their way to the semifinals of the C.V. Whitney Cup, Shack Attack was back to a hot start in the second leg of the Gauntlet, quickly establishing a six-goal lead on contributions from all four players. Finally finding the goal in second chukker Elia got Two Trees by Jefferies on the scoreboard but two back-to-back goals from Toccalino from the field allowed Shack Attack to take an 8-4 lead into the break. Kicking-off the second half, Toccalino initiated the scoring for Shack Attack, but Two Trees by Jefferies managed to make a second half push with efforts from Aguerre and Astrada. Trailing by five to start the final chukker of play, Astrada sank two conversions, but goals from Viana and Toccalino ultimately sealed Shack Attack’s 14-10 win.
In the second match of Friday’s doubleheader, recent Polo Museum and Hall of Fame inductee Jeff Hall converted four goals on five attempts along with a goal from the penalty line to give La Elina an early 4-1 advantage. Contributing offensively for Dutta Corp/Show+, Obregon and Avendano each found the goal in the second chukker, as two goals from Garcia del Rio cut his team’s deficit to one at the half. Trading goals in the fourth, a solo goal from Zenni in the fifth kept La Elina in the lead 8-6. Attempting to force overtime, Garcia del Rio and Dutta each struck for Dutta Corp/Show+ but two drives from Zenni and Coppola capped-off La Elina’s 10-8 victory.
Upcoming Schedule:
Saturday, March 4
Scone (0-0) vs Tamera (0-0) at 11:00am ET
Photo Credit: David Lominska