WELLINGTON, Fla., April 7, 2024---On an exciting opening day of the WPL's Triple Crown of Polo, Travieso rallied and Park Place held on for victories Saturday at Grand Champions Polo Club.
By Sharon Robb
Photos by Candace Ferreira
Travieso (Teo Calle, 1, Dylan Rossiter, 6, Nic Roldan, 8, Juan Martin Zubia, 9) rallied in the last two chukkers for a thrilling 9-8 victory over Senvest (R. Mashaal, 0, Facundo Llosa, 7, Magoo Laprida, 8, Pedro Falabella, 7).
Park Place (Marcos Bignoli, 3, Juan Britos, 9, Toly Ulloa, 8, Joaquin Panelo, 6) held off Alegria (Sugar Erskine, 6, Jason Crowder, 5, Tincho Merlos, 7, Fred Mannix, 7) in the final minute for a 13-12 win.
More fireworks are expected Sunday with the final of the Palm Beach Open pitting defending champion Casablanca (Grant Ganzi, 3, Rufino Bensadon, 8, Sapo Caset, 9, Hilario Figueras, 6) against Cinderella team Travieso (Tony Calle, 3, Tomacho Pieres, 6, Pipe Vercellino, 7, Juan Martin Nero, 10) at 4 p.m. on the Stadium Field.
TRAVIESO 9, SENVEST 8
Playing for the first time as a team without even one practice session, Travieso needed four chukkers to find its rhythm and chemistry. When it did, it was lights out for Senvest, leading by as much as 8-2 with 4:36 left in the fourth chukker.
Behind the hot mallet of Roldan, Travieso outscored Senvest 7-3 in the second half, including six goals from Roldan, and shut them out in the fifth and sixth chukkers to clinch the win.
Roldan returned to action after missing the Palm Beach Open with a knee injury.
"I was hungry, I was excited to get back on the field," Roldan said.
Despite trailing 5-2 at the half and getting shut out in the third chukker, there were no major changes in game strategy for the second half.
"To be honest, we didn't do a lot," Roldan said. "We made three stupid fouls that cost us three goals to give them the 5-2 lead. We weren't playing badly on the field. We were pretty well-positioned. We were a new team.
"We just needed a few chukkers to get our system going. The fourth chukker was the worst and then at the end of the fourth we just said 'guys, come on, all we need are a couple of good minutes and we could be right back in the game,' and we did. We never gave up. We kept pushing and played patiently playing more as a team. Before we knew it, we turned the game around."
Roldan scored a game-high six goals, all in the second half, including a 90-yarder. Zubia had two and Rossiter added one. Llosa led Senvest with three goals, Falabella had two and Laprida had one. The team picked up two goals on handicap.
"It wasn't just me, it was a team effort," Roldan said. "Teo was doing a great job up front. The other two guys also played great. This will help our confidence as a team."
Travieso outshot Senvest, 18-11 and led throw-ins, 12-6. Travieso led in fouls, 10-6, and Senvest led knock-ins, 9-6.
PARK PLACE 13, ALEGRIA 12
The game was close in the first half. Park Place led 4-3 after the opening chukker. The teams were tied 6-6 after the second and 8-8 at halftime.
Playing looser with a better rotation early in the second half, Park Place shut out Alegria, 3-0 in the fourth chukker to take an 11-8 lead and maintained its momentum for a 13-9 lead after the fifth chukker.
Behind Erskine's three goals in less than three minutes, Alegria mounted a comeback in the final chukker, shutting out Park Place, 3-0. In the final 1:45 minutes, Alegria had two scoring opportunities but couldn't capitalize and ran out of time.
Britos scored a game-high six goals. Ulloa had four, Panelo two goals and Bignoli one goal. Alegria got balanced scoring from Merlos with four, Erskine and Mannix each with three goals and Crowder with one.
Park Place led in shots on goal, 18-5; throw-ins, 15-13 and fouls, 7-5. Alegria led in knock-ins, 5-4.
Triple Crown of Polo action resumes on Wednesday with three games. Casablanca plays Kaia Polo at 10 a.m. followed by Alegria-Maltese Falcons at 1 p.m. and Audi-Park Place at 4 p.m.
The crown jewel and fourth 26-goal tournament of the season, has attracted eight teams for the two-week tournament season finale.
In last year's Triple Crown of Polo, Audi (Marc Ganzi, 1, Jeta Castagnola, 10, Gonzalito Pieres, 9, Paco de Narvaez, 6) knocked off defending champion Pampa Norte Biotricity (Waqaas Al-Siddiq, 0, Facundo Llosa, 7, Gringo Colombres, 8, Pedro Falabella, 7), 18-14.
Castagnola was MVP for the second time in two tournament finals. Castagnola scored a game-high 11 goals and finished with 26 for the tournament. Audi finished the tournament undefeated at 5-0. The combined 32 goals broke the previous record of 31 for most goals scored in a single game this season.
The Triple Crown of Polo trophy is comprised of three separate trophies that fit perfectly together to create an entire polo scene that is breathtaking in sterling silver. The WPL tournament winners will be inscribed on the trophy.
The WPL, the winter season's biggest highlight, continues to make history as the only 26-goal polo played outside of Argentina.