Four Team USPA members propelled Palm Beach Illustrated to victory Tuesday in the $50,000 National 12-Goal Tournament final
Palm Beach Illustrated WinsGrand Champions Polo Club$50,000 National 12-Goal Tournament 13-12
Todd Thurston and Benji Daniels. Photo: David Lominska/Polographics.com
Geronimo Obregon.Photo: David Lominska/Polographis.com
WELLINGTON, Fla. - March 16, 2016 - Four Team USPA members propelled Palm Beach Illustrated to victory Tuesday in the $50,000 National 12-Goal Tournament final at Grand Champions Polo Club. Palm Beach Illustrated defeated Pony Express 13-12. Team USPA member Jesse Bray was named Most Valuable Player. Best Playing Pony was awarded to "61," played by Tomas Goti in the last chukker.
Palm Beach Illustrated
Todd Thurston 0
Jared Zenni 3
Geronimo Obregon 4
Jesse Bray 5
Pony Express
Benjamin Daniels 0
Justin Daniels 0
Bautista Urbina 6
Tomas Goti 6
Palm Beach Illustrated took command of the field early, moving into a four goal lead at the close of the second chukker. Pony Express started to whittle away at its opponent's dominance, trailing only by two (8-6) at the end of the first half. Tomas Goti scored in every chukker for Pony Express. He made strategic use of his young teammates, Justin and Benjamin Daniels, who assisted on several of his goals.
Each Team USPA member scored for Palm Beach Illustrated. Bray slammed an astounding drive into goal from 145 yards out in the last chukker. Zenni said the plan was to put extra pressure on 6-goalers Goti and Urbina. "If we could contain one of them, that was obviously the key," said Zenni. "We got a little complacent when we were up and didn't stick to our strategy. That's when they started scoring more goals. In the last chukker we knew if we didn't stay with the plan, we weren't going to win."
Bray and Zenni recently played in the Florida 20-goal season for Palm Beach Illustrated/Technogym, which won the Joe Barry Cup and made it into the semifinals of the Ylvisaker Cup. Bray and Obregon will be playing together this summer in Santa Barbara.
"I haven't played much tournament polo, so this was an amazing opportunity," said Thurston. "I was lucky enough to get mounted by my mentor and boss, Carlucho Arellano, and I really enjoyed playing with other Team USPA members."
Left to right: Todd Thurston, Jared Zenni, Terry Duffy, Geronimo Obregon, and Jesse Bray.Photo: David Lominska/Polographics.com.
Best Playing Pony: "61"played by Tomas Goti.Left to right: Bob Daniels, Jorge Ramos, Tomas Goti, Pony Express fans.Photo: David Lominska/Polographis.com
The game was live streamed on ChukkerTV, a partner of the USPA Polo Network.
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