July 2021 Polo Players' Edition- Polo Report

SOUTHEAST

PEACH TREE PREVAILS IN PRESIDENTS CUP

SIG’s Matt Coppola tries to handle the bouncing ball with support from Andrew Scott, who rides off Peach Tree’s Hope Arellano. SIG’s Willie Hartnett follows behind.

Peach Tree defeated SIG, 9-6, to take the regional Presidents Cup at New Bridge Polo & Country Club in Aiken, South Carolina, May 16. Five teams competed in the event.

Peach Tree (Randy Rizor, Hope Arellano, Lucas Arellano, Marcos Onetto) started off on the right foot, downing Foxdale Equine (Hugh Worsham, Charlie Caldwell, Julian Daniels, Tommy Huber), 12-7. It fell to Upatoi Green (Alea Crespo, Jake Flournoy, Alan Martinez, Trevor Reeves), 14-10, in its next game but was still able to advance to the semis, where it edged Foxdale Equine, 15-14 to earn a spot in the final.

On the other side, SIG (Deep Singh, Andrew Scott, Matt Coppola, Willie Hartnett) topped Hardscrabble (Mason Lampton, Ian Schnoebelen, Pelon Escapite, Polo Baez), 10-7. SIG fell hard to Foxdale Equine but advanced to the semis where it slipped Upatoi Green, 11-10.

In the final, Peach Tree began with a one-goal handicap and quickly added to it with Onetto and Hope Arellano picking up goals. A Penalty 2 conversion by Onetto in the second pushed Peach Tree’s lead to 4-0. Hartnett sunk a Penalty 3 to put SIG on the board and Coppola followed with a goal, ending the chukker with Peach Tree on top, 4-2.

A scoreless third for SIG allowed Peach Tree to increase its lead to four, 6-2, on a Penalty 2 from Onetto and a goal from Lucas Arellano.

Peach Tree’s Randy Rizor, Hope Arellano, Marcos Onetto and Lucas Arellano won the regional Presidents Cup at New Bridge.

LBL’s Alison Patricelli, Winston Painter, Alan Martinez and Trevor Reeves won the Pete Bostwick Memorial at New Bridge.

SIG tightened its defense in the fourth, but was unable to reach the goal. Coppola converted a Penalty 2 and Hartnett scored in the fifth, but a Penalty 4 by Lucas Arellano kept Peach Tree on top, 7-4. Onetto scored back-to-back goals in the sixth, essentially putting the game out of reach for SIG. Coppola kept pushing and was able to match the goals, but the team couldn’t get any closer and Peach Tree had the 9-6 win.

Lucas Arellano was MVP and took home an asado grill made by Will Donahey. Coppola’s fast Mischievous, an 8-year-old OTTB, was Best Playing Pony.

“Randy did very well blocking the other team’s No. 2 and 4 which freed up Lucas and gave all of us time to control the ball without pressure,” explained Onetto.

Action continued in the Pete Bostwick Memorial, beginning on May 20. Six teams were divided into two brackets. SIG (Deep Singh, Malia Bryan, Matt Coppola, Willie Hartnett) and LBL (Alison Patricelli, Winston Painter, Trevor Reeves, Alan Martinez) topped their brackets, earning spots in the final on June 7 after rain delayed the action by a day.

Martinez struck first for LBL after being awarded a Penalty 2. Reeves scored the first field goal, but was answered by Bryan. Coppola tied the game early in the second, but another Penalty 2 conversion gave LBL the advantage. Martinez scored a lone goal in the third to give LBL the 4-2 lead at the half.

SIG was unable to break through the LBL defense in the fourth, while Patricelli, Painter and Martinez racked up goals, giving LBL a 7-2 lead.

SIG stopped the bleeding in the fifth and Coppola capitalized on a pair of open goal penalties to cut the difference to three, 7-4. He kept the momentum going into the final chukker, scoring his third goal in a row. Hartnett followed with a goal, bringing the team to within one, 7-6, with time winding down. Painter found the goal for LBL but Hartnett answered with a Penalty 4 through the posts. Time ran out on SIG and LBL held on for the narrow 8-7 win.

LBL’s Alan Martinez makes it look easy while under pressure from Mid State Roofing’s Reagan Leitner in the Hitchcock final.

Malia Bryan was MVP and Willie Hartnett’s M&M was Best Playing Pony.

LBL’s Alison Patricelli, Winston Painter, Alan Martinez and Trevor Reeves celebrate their Hitchcock win, their second title.

PACIFIC COAST

QUITE ON Z CAPTURES POPE CHALLENGE

Quite on Z’s Lucitas Criado, Pipe Vercellino, substitute Jazmin Trotz, Alecia Seidler and Lucas Escobar won the Pope Challenge.

The Santa Barbara Polo Club in Carpiteria, California, kicked off its 12-goal season with the Folded Hills Pope Challenge, April 30-May 9.

Eight teams filled the 12-goal roster. The final came down to Quite on Z (Alecia Seidler, Lucitas Criado, Pipe Vercellino, Lucas Escobar) and Klentner Ranch (Jake Klentner, Justin Klentner, Patrick Uretz, Jesse Bray).

Quite on Z began with a handicap goal, but Uretz negated it to open the first chukker. Bray added another goal only to be matched by one from Criado, ending the chukker, 2-2.

The teams had multiple misses in the second until Bray sunk a neck shot. Uretz and Vercellino swapped penalty conversions to keep the game close. Klenter opened the third with a penalty shot. Vercellino responded, dodging three Klentner players then leaving the ball for Escobar to finish off the goal, tying the score, 5-5. Bray took the ball coast-to-coast to end the half with the narrow, 6-5, edge.

Jazmin Trotz took over for Quite on Z’s Seidler in the second half. Klentner pulled ahead with a Penalty 1, then converted a Penalty 2. A Penalty 4 conversion and a field goal from Trotz brought the score back within one. The teams continued to battle in the fifth, trading goals and ending the chukker, 9-8, in favor of Klentner.

Escobar capitalized on a miss hit to tie the score before Vercellino gave Quite on Z the lead. Moments later, Vercellino knocked in and passed to Criado, who took the ball straight to goal for a two-goal lead. Klentner found the goal on a Penalty 4 but ran out of time and Quite on Z was the winner, 11-10.

Klentner’s Patrick Uretz was MVP and Jesse Bray’s Disney was Best Playing Pony.

Two different teams settled at the top of the Lisle Nixon Memorial two weeks later. BSI (Ben Soleimani, Bayne Bossom, Iñaki Laprida, Remy Du Celliee Muller) faced Dundas II (Cable Magness, Jason Crowder, Geronimo Obregon, Luke Klentner) in the final.

Laprida put BSI on the board early in the first and Muller followed with another goal but those were matched by Magness and Crowder. Obregon picked up a pass from Crowder in the second but a Penalty 4 from Laprida kept it level, 3-3. Bossom made a big run to goal, but Crowder and Klentner teamed up to put Dundas ahead, 5-4. The third chukker was scoreless until the final minute when Laprida converted a Penalty 2 and Muller scored from the field to give BSI the narrow lead, 6-5, at the half.

Laprida and Muller struck again in the fourth to increase the lead to four. Crowder kept Dundas in the game with a Penalty 2 conversion. A tail shot to goal by Klentner and another goal by Crowder brought Dundas within one, 9-8. Laprida stretched the lead after sinking a Penalty 2, but Dundas drew a Penalty 1 to end the chukker, 10-9.

Magness tied the game up early in the sixth with a big run and a Penalty 2 off Crowder’s mallet put Dundas briefly ahead but Laprida scored a Penalty 6 to force overtime. Laprida scored the golden goal within a minute to give BSI the win.

The heroics earned Laprida MVP honors and Soleimani’s Valencia, played by Laprida, was Best Playing Pony.

The action continued with the Vic Graber and Harry East Memorial, dividing the teams between the two. Four teams competed for the Vic Graber, while three faced off in the Harry East.

Dundas II made it to its second final, this time against Farmers Merchants Bank (Daniel Walker, Ryan Kerley, Matt Walker, Lucas Criado) in the Harry East Memorial. Dundas scored four goals and two penalties in the first half while holding FMB to one penalty conversion and three field goals. The teams battled into the second half, starting the last seven minutes level 10-10. The teams struggled for control until the last two minutes when Crowder broke through the FMB defense to win the game.

Folded Hills/FMB Too!’s Will Busch, Lucitas Criado, an injured Santiago Von Wernich, Santi Wulff and Henry Walker celebrate the Vic Graber Memorial win.

Crowder was crowned MVP and Danny Walker’s Cachamay was Best Playing Pony.

Later that day, Klentner Ranch met Folded Hills/FMB Too! (Henry Walker, Will Busch, Santi Von Wernich, Santi Wulff) in the Vic Graber. Lucitas Criado substituted for Von Wernich, allowing FH/FMB to begin with a half-goal handicap. FH/FMB

jumped right out, taking a commanding 8-3 lead in the first half. Klentner Ranch rallied in the second half, scoring six goals, but FH/FMB added five more to take the 13-9 victory.

Criado earned MVP honors and Von Wernich’s LAC Que Ramona, played by Criado, was Best Playing Pony.

SBI’s Remy Muller, Bayne Bossom, Iñaki Laprida and Ben Soleimani won the Lisle Nixon Memorial over Dundas II.

Dundas II’s Jason Crowder, Geronimo Obregon, Luke Klentner and Cable Magness won the Harry East Memorial.

FLORIDA

SEBUCAN SHINES IN SUN CUP ACTION

Sebucan defeated Seminole Casino Coconut Creek, 8-7, to win the Sun Cup at Grand Champions Polo Club in Wellington, Florida, May 11. Marc Ganzi and Nic Roldan proved to be an unbeatable dynamic duo this season.

It was husband against wife and father against son in the final between Sebucan (Pablo Pulido, Marc Ganzi, Nic Roldan, Juancito Bollini) and Seminole Casino Coconut Creek (Melissa Ganzi, Horacio Heguy, Alejandro Novillo Astrada, Juan Bollini).

Juancito Bollini struck first with a cut shot to goal two minutes into the first chukker but that would be the end of the scoring for the chukker. Marc Ganzi traded goals with his wife Melissa in the second, keeping Sebucan on top, 2-1. Juancito’s father, Juan Bollini knotted the score in the third. Marc Ganzi traded penalty conversions with Astrada, ending the half level, 3-3.

Sebucan’s Juancito Bollini, Nic Roldan, MVP Pablo Pulido and Marc Ganzi shined in the Sun Cup at Grand Champions.

Catamount’s Nic Roldan, Marc Ganzi, Grant Ganzi and Scott Devon won the Spring Challenge Cup.

Astrada began the fourth with a tally. Juancito Bollini added his second to keep it tied, but Melissa Ganzi scored again to give Seminole Creek a first-time lead, 5-4. Pulido pulled the game level once again. Heguy took back the lead, only to be matched by Roldan, ending the fifth, 6-all. The back and forth continued in the last seven minutes with Marc and Melissa Ganzi both scoring, but Pulido put through the game winner before Seminole could respond, giving Sebucan the 8-7 victory.

Pulido was MVP and his pretty bay mare, Fogoza was Best Playing Pony.

In the subsidiary, Newport (Gene Goldstein, Grant Ganzi, Nacho Figueras, Tomas Pieres) beat Orea (Petra Sobotova, Sugar Erskine, Justin Daniels, Pablo Spinacci), 12-11.

The following week Melissa and Marc Ganzi met again, this time in the final of the Spring Challenge. Melissa’s Seminole Casino Coconut Creek team remained unchanged as it faced Catamount (Marc Ganzi, Grant Ganzi, Nic Roldan, Scott Devon). Catamount began with a three-goal handicap and Marc Ganzi added to it early with a Penalty 2 conversion.

Melissa Ganzi began chipping away at the deficit with a goal, but her son Grant found the goal for Catamount to lead, 5-1. Astrada’s second period goal was answered by Roldan to keep the difference four goals. Roldan and Grant Ganzi struck again in the third, but Melissa Ganzi matched both goals, ending the half with Seminole trailing, 8-4.

Seminole Casino made the most of the halftime break. It regrouped and got back into the game with Melissa scoring a hat trick and Heguy splitting the posts while holding Catamount scoreless in the fourth and fifth. Tied at 8-8 going into the final seven minutes, Roldan gave Catamount the lead, while the team silenced Seminole Casino.

Roldan struck again, tallying an insurance goal for the 10-8 Catamount win.

Roldan was name MVP for his efforts, while his chestnut mare Pepa was Best Playing Pony.

In the Just for the Love of It subsidiary, Newport (Gene Goldstein, Sugar Erskine, Justin Daniels, Pablo Spinacci) edged Sebucan (Leo Mandelbaum, Pablo Pulido, Tomas Pieres, Nacho Figueras), 9-8.

Marc Ganzi and Nic Roldan teamed up with Federico Parker and Tito Gaudenzi for the Sorrento team in the Pedro Morrison Memorial final a week later. They faced Seminole Casino Coconut Creek with a new line up: Fran Spinacci, Grant Ganzi, Juancito Bollini and Alejandro Novillo Astrada.

Sorrento began with a three-goal advantage and Juancito got right to work chipping away at the deficit but a Penalty 5b conversion from Roldan negated his efforts. Undeterred, Bollini scored two more before Roldan scored another. A costly mistake from Seminole gave Sorrento a Penalty 3, which Marc Ganzi easily converted, ending the chukker with Sorrento continuing to enjoy a three-goal lead, 6-3. Bollini kept pushing and managed to put another through the posts. Astrada followed with a goal to bring the team within one, but Roldan put it back to a twogoal difference. Grant Ganzi got the team back within one, 7-6, at the half

Sorrento’s Nic Roldan, Federico Parker, Tito Gaudenzi and Marc Ganzi won the Pedro Morrison Memorial.

Roldan sandwiched goals around one from Astrada to increase the lead to two, 9-7. Bollini found the mark early in the fifth, but Gaudenzi and Roldan responded. Goals by Astrada and Grant Ganzi late in the chukker kept it close, 11-10, going into the last seven minutes. Bollini leveled the score early in the sixth, but the team was whistled on a play. Sorrento was awarded a Penalty 2, which Marc Ganzi converted to win the match, 12-11.

Roldan was named MVP for the second week in a row and Santa Rita’s grey mare Cortina, played by Tito Gaudenzi, was Best Playing Pony.

Arden’s Fine Jewelers’ Liv Berube, Miguel Lis-Planells, Paige Boone and Francisco Bilboa won The Villages Polo Club Cup.

The Villages Insurance’s Horacio Lizaso, Larry Nelson, Sue Doyle, MVP Loryn Butterworth and Paige Boone won the Theatre Cup.

FROSS & FROSS TAKES FLORIDA SEASON ENDER

The Villages Polo Club in The Villages, Florida, finished off the last month of the season with four 6-goal events.

Arden’s (Liv Berube, Miguel Lis- Planells, Paige Boone, Francisco Bilbao) edged Galaxy (Larry Nelson, Midge Ellison, Alfredo Guerreno, Horacio Lizaso, Roberto Narvaja), 7-6½, in The Villages Polo Club Cup, April 30. Midge Ellison was MVP and Miguel Lis- Planell’s Latina was Best Playing Pony.

The following week, The Villages Insurance (Larry Nelson, Loryn Butterworth, Paige Boone, Horacio Lizaso, Sue Doyle) edged Citizen’s First (Jamie Deméricas, Miguel Lis-Planells, Chavelo Briones, Charly Quincoces, Irene Lis-Planells), 6-5½. Loryn Butterworth was MVP and Quincoces’ 5-yearold Sugar was Best Playing Pony.

Next, Galaxy (Jamie Deméricas, Midge Ellison, Alfredo Guerreno, Sue Doyle, Charly Quincoces) topped Citizens (Ava Hinkson, Kim Smith, Paige Boone, Francisco Bilbao, Holly Chamberlain) and Fross & Fross (Thom Fross, Larry Nelson, Nate Berube, Horacio Lizaso) in a round robin for the win.

The season ended with Fross & Fross (Thom Fross, Midge Ellison, Nate Berube, Alfredo Guerreno) besting Ardens (Sue Doyle, Larry Nelson, Franciso Bilbao, Cruz Bilboa, Roberto Narvaja), 6-4, in the Polo Club Cup. Fross and Ellison led the scoring with three goals apiece.

Galaxy’s Jamie Deméricas, Sue Doyle, Midge Ellison, Alfredo Guerreno and Charly Quincoces topped a round robin at The Villages.

Fross & Fross’ Alfredo Guerreno, Nate Berube, Midge Ellison and Thom Fross ended the season with a 6-4 win over Ardens.