San Saba Defeats Everglades 11-9 For First Win In Stanford
Financial Group - 100th U.S. Open Polo Championship At International
Polo Club Palm Beach
WELLINGTON,
Florida – Nine-goaler Agustin Merlos scored six goals and San
Saba played its best all-around game of the season en route to an
11-9 victory over Everglades in the first round of the Stanford
Financial Group – 100th U.S. Open Polo Championship Monday
at International Polo Club Palm Beach.
The
victory evened San Saba’s record at 1-1 and kept alive their
hopes of advancing to the quarterfinals.
San
Saba dominated the final two chukkers, outscoring Everglades 6-2
to rally for the win. Everglades had two-goal leads twice during
the fourth chukker – 6-4 and 7-5. There were five ties in the
game, the last one at 8-8 on 8-goaler Lucas Monteverde’s goal
with 1:05 remaining in the fifth chukker.
Merlos
converted a 30-yard penalty shot with six second remaining in the
fifth chukker to give San Saba a 9-8 lead and momentum heading into
the final chukker. Merlos tapped in a long pass from 8-goaler Hector
Galindo with 4:25 left in the game to give San Saba a 10-8 advantage.
Monteverde sliced the margin to 10-9 on a 30-yard penalty shot with
1:20 left but Everglades could not get the tying goal. Galindo clinched
the victory on a breakaway with 33 seconds remaining.
“At
this level, everything has got to come together to win the U.S.
Open,” said Galindo. “This (win) has brought life back
into us.”
Galindo
and 7-goaler Toto Collardin finished with two goals each while patron
Tommy Lee Jones did not score.
Monteverde
led Everglades (0-2) with five goals while Tomas Llorente added
three goals and Owen Rinehart scored one goal. Patron Skeeter Johnston
did not score. The loss severely hurt Everglades’ chances to
advance to the quarterfinals.
High-goal
polo action in the Stanford Financial Group – U.S. Open Polo
Championship continues Tuesday with a tripleheader beginning at
10 a.m. when Orchard Hill (0-1) plays Bendabout (1-0), followed
by Catamount (1-0) vs. Lechuza (0-1) at noon followed at 3 p.m.
by White Birch (1-0) vs. Isla Carroll (1-0).
Thirteen
teams, featuring nine 10-goalers, have entered the Stanford Financial
Group – U.S. Open Polo Championship, the most prestigious polo
tournament in North America, highlighting the historic inaugural
polo season at the International Polo Club Palm Beach. The 26-goal
tournament culminates with the championship match on Sunday, April
18 at 3 p.m. Fifteen teams, in 2002, is the record for teams in
a U.S. Open.
The
Stanford Financial Group – U.S. Open will be played on the
International Polo Club Palm Beach’s five world-class Bermuda-grass
playing fields and teams will also take advantage of the many private
fields in Wellington.
The
Houston-based Stanford Financial Group, a privately-held global
network of affiliated companies, has signed on as the title sponsor
of the 100th U.S. Open Polo Championship in 2004. Stanford’s
family of companies provides international private banking, trust
and brokerage services and real estate development. Currently, the
Stanford organization manages in excess of $17 billion in deposits
and assets, serving clients on six continents. The success of the
group is the result of entrepreneurial spirit and drive spearheaded
by third generation Chairman and CEO R. Allen Stanford.
Like
the high-goal teams on the field, the International Polo Club Palm
Beach has amassed a lineup of prestigious sponsors for the U.S.
Open. The Stanford Financial Group – U.S. Open tournament will
feature a different presenting sponsor every Sunday, including Bombardier
Aerospace, Cunard Ltd. and HUMMER, Mitchell-Peck Jewelers, Piaget
and Roder.
As
always, there will be a delicious Sunday brunch, catered by The
Breakers, open to the public preceding the featured stadium match,
along with the now traditional and very popular champagne divot
stomp and an post-match awards presentation.
Individual
tickets for the U.S. Open tournament Sunday games range from $15
for general admission to $120 for tailgating spots and are available
in advance. For ticket information for the U.S. Open, please call
the club at (561) 204-5687 or visit online at www.internationalpoloclub.com.
Tickets are also available at the gate.
International
Polo Club Palm Beach is located at 3667 120th Avenue South, between
Pierson Road and Lake Worth Road, in Wellington.
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