The final day of bracket play in the C.V. Whitney Cup at the National Polo Center- Wellington (NPC) opened with a battle between Shack Attack (Santino Magrini, Ignacio ‘Nachi’ Viana, Kristos ‘Keko’ Magrini, Santiago ‘Santi’ Toccalino) and La Fe (Roberto ‘Robi’ Bilbao, Lucas Diaz Alberdi, Francisco Elizalde, Louis Devaleix), followed by Valiente (Bob Jornayvaz, Mariano ‘Peke’ Gonzalez, Lucas ‘Luckitas’ Criado Jr., Adolfo Cambiaso) taking on Aspen (Nicolas ‘Nico’ Saenz, Francisco ‘Pancho’ Bensadon, Rufino Bensadon, Stewart Armstrong) in the Featured Game of the Week on U.S. Polo Assn. Field One.
Trading goals to open the action, La Fe and Shack Attack began their back-and-forth play, with Shack Attack’s Keko Magrini and Toccalino breaking through in the second chukker on a five-goal run. Despite La Fe’s captain Elizalde going 4 for 4 at the penalty line, six fouls committed by La Fe in the first half ultimately led to a 9-5 Shack Attack advantage. Breaking through from the field for the first time in the match, Elizalde struck for on four consecutive drives, but Toccalino continued to take advantage of La Fe’s foul troubles to keep his team ahead 12-10. Earning his eleventh goal of the day, including his eighth at the line, Elizalde led La Fe’s comeback to tie the match 15-all and force overtime. Trading shots in the extra chukker, a missed opportunity from Viana was followed up by Shack Attack’s leading scorer Toccalino to send the golden goal through the posts for the 16-15 victory.
Reconvening on the historic U.S. Polo Assn. Field One, Valiente sized control early with four conversions from Criado Jr. and two another three in open play off the mallet of Cambiaso. Containing Aspen’s offensive attempts to four goals from the youngest Bensadon, Valiente entered the break with a commanding 10-4 lead. Continuing as the sole offensive contributor for Aspen, three additional conversions from Rufino Bensadon were answered by Valiente’s veteran presence of Gonzalez and Cambiaso. Holding Aspen to eleven shots from the field combined with a seven-goal contribution from Criado Jr., Valiente vaulted themselves back into the C.V. Whitney Cup semifinals with the 17-12 win.
Upcoming Schedule:
Wednesday, February 15
C.V. Whitney Cup Semifinals
Valiente (2-0) vs Park Place (2-0) at 11:00am ET
Photo Credit: David Lominska