SANTA BARBARA, CA. (August 16th, 2020) . The anticipated Pacific Coast Open kicked off
the first two rounds of play last weekend. The Santa Barbara Polo Club has eight teams
participating in this prestigious tournament, all of which came to win. At this point, all eight
teams still have a shot at making it to the finals and will surely pull out all the stops to try and get
there.
The morning game at 10 AM matched up Antelope and Dundas. Dundas came out with an early
lead in the first chukker, but by half-time the score evened out at 6-7 to Antelope. In the second
half, Antelope played smart polo and capitalized on their penalties while also scoring some
impressive field goals to secure a win of 15-11.
At noon, BenSoleimani.com and FMB Too! played against each other. This game started with a
low score, both teams working hard on their defense. After three chukkers, the score was 4-2 to
BenSoleimani.com. FMB Too! worked hard to get back in the lead, but BenSoleimani.com
proved to be a force. This was a very fast and open game with minimal fouls. The final score was
10-8 to BenSoleimani.com.
Lucchese and Farmers and Merchants Bank faced off at 2 PM. Lucchese came in with two
substitutions for John Muse and Jeff Hall, using Keko Magrini and Jim Wright instead. FMB
was unfazed by this change in line-up, pulling ahead in the first half and staying in the lead to
win the game 13-7.
The last game of the day was Klentner Ranch vs. Santa Clara at 4 PM on the grandstand field.
Santa Clara had one substitution, Lucitas Criado for Luis Escobar. Despite this team change,
Santa Clara came out firing with a big lead of 7-2 after three chukkers. However, Klentner Ranch
managed eight goals while holding Santa Clara to only two in the second half. With only one
minute remaining, Klentner Ranch was still down by 2 goals. Justin Klentner tied the game with
a neck shot, and Jesse Bray scored with 12 seconds left to win the match. The final score was
10-9 to Klentner Ranch.
Photos – Polographics