Murus Sanctus 14 – 13 Twelve Oaks Les Lions
King Power 11 – 9 Park Place The Princes’ Ground
Quarterfinal action began in the Queen’s Cup on Saturday, beginning with 4-0 Murus Sanctus against 2-2 Twelve Oaks at Les Lions. Murus Sanctus raced out to a four-goal lead in the opening chukka with an impressive open play attack. Corinne Ricard opening the scoring, while Polito Pieres scored consecutive goals leaving Twelve Oaks facing a significant deficit just minutes into the match. Charlie Wooldridge ended the drought, but Murus Sanctus continued to push forward, missing just one of their first seven shots through two chukkas. Now trailing 8-2, Twelve Oaks reorganized and produced an exceptional third chukka to bring them back into the game before the end of halftime. In one of the best stretches of the tournament, Wooldridge single handedly scored four unanswered goals to propel Twelve Oaks and suddenly the score was tied at 8-all and Murus Sanctus’ early momentum had vanished. Using halftime to strategize, Murus Sanctus rediscovered their play from the opening chukka and restored a four-goal advantage thanks to three tallies from Marcos Araya, two of which came from the penalty line. Needing to mount a comeback once again, Twelve Oaks held Murus Sanctus to just one goal over the final two chukkas, providing a glimmer of hope. Joaquin Pittaluga converted a Penalty 2 while also receiving a Penalty 1, bringing Twelve Oaks within one, but Murus Sanctus held off the late pressure to secure the 14-13 victory and advance to the semifinals.
The much-anticipated quarterfinal between King Power and Park Place began on The Princes’ Ground with Jeronimo del Carril scoring a goal from both the field and penalty line for the early 2-0 lead. Facundo Pieres responded with a field goal of his own, but the Park Place offense was limited to just two goals through two chukkas after uncharacteristic misses on penalties from the 40 and 60-yard lines. After del Carril’s third goal, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha made his mark on the game, sending a ball through the posts to double Park Place on the scoreboard. Scoring all four of his team’s goals, Pieres helped pull Park Place within one by halftime, but they trailed 5-4. Foul trouble was a factor for Park Place in the fourth chukka, sending del Carril to the penalty line three times where he converted all three attempts, leaving Park Place facing an uphill climb down by four with just two chukkas remaining. Keeping King Power off the scoreboard in the crucial fifth chukka, Park Place received contributions from Matt Perry and Andrey Borodin to cut the lead in half, leaving a much more manageable two-goal difference entering the final chukka. Manuel Elizalde struck for King Power, but Park Place were resilient and fought until the end. Pieres scored his second safety of the match and quickly followed with a field goal for his sixth goal, but it was not enough as King Power claimed a spot in the semifinals with the hard-fought 11-9 win.
Sunday’s Fixtures
12:00pm – Dubai Polo Team vs UAE Polo Team
3:00pm – La Magdeleine vs Vikings
All games are being livestreamed by Guards TV in association with Polocam TV. Go to https://guards.polocam.tv/package
Photo Credit: ©Pablo Ramirez