USPA Piaget Silver Cup 2nd Round

USPA Piaget Silver Cup 2nd Round

Another Sunday has past at Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club (SBPRC) and as the high goal season hits mid stride the polo is showing no signs of slowing down.  In the second round of the USPA Piaget Silver cup this past Sunday teams were jockeying for position to try and claim one of the two coveted spots in the final next weekend. In the 1pm game we had Lucchese (0-1) take on Farmers and Merchants Bank (0-1) in a game that was almost a must win for both teams in order to still have a good chance a making the finals. In the first two chukkers both teams made a point of not allowing the other an inch to breathe and in a very rare occurrence, during the 20 goal season, the game was scoreless going to the third chukker.  However with the caliber of players on the field no matter how good the defense is it cannot hold them off forever and after a goal from Luis Escobar for Farmers and Merchants Bank Adolfo Cambiaso answered with a flurry of 3 quick goals to make the score going into half time 3-1 in favor of Lucchese. After this low scoring first half both teams picked up the pace and scored more than 4 times the goals that they combined for in the first half. In this fast furious second half Lucchese never trailed to Farmers and Merchants Bank and in the end were able to hold Farmers and Merchants Bank to take the victory by a score of 9-8. The high scorer of the game was Adolfo Cambiaso who had a total of 5 goals. 

Then in the 3pm game we had a battle of the unbeaten as well as a rematch of the Lucchese America Cup Final with Grants Farm (1-0) facing off against Mansour (1-0). In this game the stakes were not quite as high as the last time the two met however with the winner having an inside track to the final of the USPA Piaget Silver Cup there was still plenty to play for.  The game started out with Grants Farm rocketing out to 4 to 1 lead in the first chukker only to see Mansour claw their way back out scoring Grants Farm by a score of 6-2 in the following two chukkers to take a 7-6 lead into half time. This momentum that Mansour had built up carried over into the next 2 chukkers, where they were able to score 4 goals and hold Grants Farm scoreless. In the last chukker Grants Farm kept fighting but after going on a two goal run Mansour answered with a goal of their own and sealed the 12 to 8 victory.  High scoring honors went to Mansourís Hilario Ulloa who finished with an impressive 7 goals. Next Friday will be the third round of the USPA Piaget Silver Cup where thanks to the new shootout variance that SBPRC was granted, all four teams will still in the hunt for the finals. The variance allows SBPRC to use a shootout to settle three way ties instead of using the typical net goal method. So make sure you come out and see these very exciting games, and maybe even a shootout!

By Wiley Uretz

SBPRC Assistant Polo Manager