Dundas Wins Season Opener at Grand Champions Polo Club
WELLINGTON, FL, January 19, 2021— Dundas defeats World Polo League (WPL) by 8-4 in the first match of the Aspen Valley Cup 8-Goal
The winter season at Grand Champions Polo Club got underway on Sunday with the first game of the Aspen Valley Cup 8-Goal tournament. Dundas (Sarah Magness, Fran Spinacci, Mariano Fassetta, and Robertito Zedda) faced off against World Polo League (Santos Bollini, Nico Harriet, Gussie Bush and Grant Ganzi) at Santa Rita Polo Farm.
Dundas, with a team handicap of 7, started the match with one goal on the board and led throughout the match. Sarah Magness found the goal early in the first chukker, with follow-up from Robertito Zedda, and Dundas ended the first period in the lead at 3-0. The Dundas defense held in the second chukker, while 12-year-old dynamo Fran Spinacci took the offensive to score another goal for the team in white.
With 29 seconds remaining in the chukker, Gussie Busch score the first goal of the day for WPL. Mariano Fassetta started the third chukker on a positive note, scoring a goal for Dundas in the first thirty seconds. WPL fought hard to get on the board, racking up a fair number of fouls, but couldn’t make headway against Dundas’ strong defense. Robertito Zedda found the goal just after the thirty second horn, ending the half with Dundas in the lead 6-1.
WPL came back determined in the second half, with Nico Harriet scoring the first goal of the fourth chukker. Zedda put the ball between the posts in response to maintain a five-point lead at the end of the period, which ended 7-2. In the fifth chukker, WPL was able to mount a successful defense and keep Dundas from scoring while Grant Ganzi found the goal for his team, narrowing WPL’s lead to four goals.
Sarah Magness bookended her performance with Dundas’ final goal of the match, while Santos Bollini scored for WPL. Despite Bollini’s goal, WPL couldn’t find the momentum to overcome the Dundas defense and went down in an 8-4 defeat. Robertito Zedda was the high scoring player of the day, with 3 goals.