WELLINGTON, FL., March 15, 2025--On a perfect day for polo, Smithfield captured the Halo Polo 6-Goal Cup Saturday at Grand Champions Polo Club.
By Sharon Robb
Photos by Candace Ferreira
After a slow start, Smithfield (Fran Villamil, 1, Juanse Olivera, 3, Julio Ezcurra, 2, John Klopp, 0) dominated the second half to defeat The Polo School (Santos Bollini, 2, Milo MacDonough, 0, Meredith Lovegrove, -1, Matias Gonzalez, 4), 8-3.5.
Julio Ezcurra, manager and pro player for Smithfield Farms LLC, was named Most Valuable Player. Ezcurra, a veteran of the game, has been playing polo for 30 years in South America, Europe and U.S.
Pollila, owned and played by Ezcurra, was Best Playing Pony.
Smithfield came up big in the second half, outscoring The Polo School, 6-2, to win the eight-team league title.
The four-chukker final was a game of two different halves. The 5-goal Polo School started off with a .5 lead. The teams played to a scoreless opening chukker, with both lineups feeling each other out, playing more defense. Both teams had one scoring opportunity in the chukker but couldn't capitalize.
The pace picked up in the second chukker. Ezcurra scored the first goal of the game at the 5:19 mark for a 1-.5 lead. A minute later, Gonzalez converted a 30-yard penalty to enable The Polo School to take the lead, 1.5-1. In the final minute, Villamil scored for Smithfield to lead, 2-1.5 at the half.
The second half belonged to Smithfield. After early goals by MacDonough and Bollini for a Polo School 3.5-2 lead, Smithfield started to rally in the final three minutes of the third chukker with a goal from Olivera to trail 3.5-3. Villamil's nice touch off the post with 54 seconds left gave Smithfield the lead, 4-3.5.
Smithfield picked up the pace even more in the fourth and final chukker building on its lead. Early in the chukker Villamil scored for a 5-3.5 lead with 5:05 left. Two minutes later, Smithfield was awarded a penalty-one for impeding Ezcurra on his goal attempt for a 6-3.5 advantage.
In the final two minutes, Olivera scored back-to-back goals. The first goal he connected with a great pass from Villamil with 2:41 left and the second goal was off a steal by Olivera who flipped it into goal.
Villamil and Olivera each had three goals. Ezcurra had one goal and the team was awarded a penalty-one. For The Polo School, Bollini, MacDonough and Gonzalez each had one goal. The 5-goal team picked up .5 on handicap.
In last year's 6-goal final, Bushwood Pink defeated Pony Express, 6-4, during Tuesday's Sunset Chukkers & Cocktails with Jen Buchan, Scott Sorbaro, Facundo Panelo and Kris Kampsen.