Day two of the 2017 U.S. Open Polo Championship® saw Flexjet overtake Audi 10-9, while Coca-Cola claimed an 11-9 victory over Travieso at the International Polo Club Palm Beach (IPC).
Through their last few games this season Coca-Cola has been working in super-sync. The team has been utilizing all four players, with patrona Gillian Johnston out front and the other three players rotating around and providing support. It showed early Thursday as Coca-Cola faced a Travieso configuration of Teo Calle, Sebastian Merlos, Mariano Gonzalez and Alfredo Capella, who were playing together for the first time.
Two converted penalty attempts for Julio Arellano, along with 4 of 7 shots from the field converted through two chukkers, gave Coca-Cola the early 6-2 lead. Meanwhile, Travieso was still trying to figure out a game plan. With Capella hitting a long ball from the back, Merlos started moving forward. That led to back-to-back goals from Merlos as Travieso began to make their way back from the 7-3 deficit.
After Coca-Cola committed a safety, Gonzalez’s penalty attempt seemed to be going wide. But a nice tip-in from Calle put the ball through the posts and gave Travieso some momentum. Two more penalty goals for Gonzalez, a very strong penalty shooter at 71% coming into the game, got Travieso back within a couple of goals. Gonzalez finished 4 of 6 from the penalty line for the game to lead Travieso with 4 goals.
Coca-Cola continued to have a strong rotation with Arellano, Julian de Lusarreta and Miguel Novillo Astrada all coming forward at different times. But they couldn’t extend their lead, as they only made 1 of their final 7 shots at goal. Travieso tried desperately to come back, highlighted by a long run by Capella for a goal to get Travieso within 2. However, the early deficit was too much, as Coca-Cola played strong defense and were able to hold onto their lead and finish with an 11-9 victory.
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