Enigma goes to 3-0 in feature match; wins by Audi/Millarville, Tonkawa and Palm Beach Illustrated in Joe Barry Memorial Cup play
By Alex Webbe
Play resumed in the 2016 Joe Barry Memorial Cup on Sunday following a number of rain delays. Eight of the ten teams competing in the 20-goal tournament took the field in the final preliminary round.
In the opening game of the day Palm Beach Illustrated (Nacho Badiola, Jared Zenni, Facundo Obregon and Jesse Bray) built on a 7-5 halftime lead to decisively defeat Coca-Cola (Gillian Johnston, Sugar Erskine, Julio Arellano and Steve Krueger) by the score of 15-10.
Coca-Cola jumped all over Palm Beach Illustrated in the opening chukker with goals from the field from Steve Krueger and team captain Gillian Johnston. A 60-yard penalty conversion from Julio Arellano had Coca-Cola in the lead with 3:25 left in the chukker. Facundo Obregon finally got Palm Beach Illustrated on the scoreboard to close out the period trailing Coca-Cola 3-1.
A determined and refocused Palm Beach Illustrated team took control of the second chukker. Single goals from Nacho Badiola, Jared Zenni and Jesse Bray (penalty shot for a goal) was complimented by shutout defense. Palm Beach Illustrated left the field at the end of the second period on top of a 4-3 score.
Arellano tied the game, 4-4, with a 30-yard penalty goal in the third. Palm Beach Illustrated countered with a penalty goal from Obregon and goals from the field from Zenni and Bray, 7-4. Arellano scored on a penalty shot to end the chukker trailing Palm Beach Illustrated, 7-5.
Coca-Cola rallied in the fourth with a penalty goal from Arellano that brought Coca-Cola to within a goal of the lead, 7-6. Johnston tied it at 7-7 with her second goal of the game. Obregon and Arellano traded goals with Obregon sending the ball through the goalposts from the field while Arellano scored on a 60-yard penalty shot. The score remained even, 8-8. Obregon gave the led to Palm Beach Illustrated on a foul shot, 9-8, but Arellano’s third penalty goal of the chukker leveled the score at 9-9 at the 2:54 mark. Zenni scored the final goal of the period to give Palm Beach Illustrated a delicate 10-9 advantage.
Two-and-a-half minutes into the fifth chukker Obregon scored on a pass from Zenni, 11-9. Bray drove an impressive cut shot through the Coca-Cola goalposts from about 90-yards out, 12-9. Arellano finally answered with a penalty goal for Coca-Cola, 12-10, but it was Badiola with the final goal of the period that gave Palm Beach Illustrated the 13-10 lead with one chukker left to play.
A listless Coca-Cola team took the field for the sixth and final period of play. Obregon opened the period with a penalty goal in the first 30 seconds, 14-10, and put the final nail in the coffin with 1:59 on the clock for the 15-10 victory.
Obregon’s seven goals (three on penalty conversions). Bray and Zenni scored three times each and Badiola added a pair of goals for the win. Arellano scored all seven of his team-high seven goals on penalty shots. Johnston scored twice and Krueger added a goal in a losing effort. The win improves the Palm Beach Illustrated record to 2-1; Coca-Cola falls to 1-2.
Tonkawa 11, La Indiana 9
A realigned La Indiana team (Michael Bickford, Joao Paulo Ganon, Ruki Baillieu and Tommy Collingwood) gave Tonkawa (Jeff Hildebrand, Gonzalo Deltour, Sebastian Merlos and Mason Wroe) a battle in the opening chukkers of the noon game before falling behind by five goals at halftime to fall in an 11-10 Tonkawa win.
Gonzalo Deltour scored the opening goal of the game from the field in the first chukker and added a 60-yard penalty conversion for the early 2-0 Tonkawa lead. Playing at the Number 2 position for La Indiana, Tommy Collingwood cut the lead in half, 2-1, with his first goal of the game.
Fouls were costly for both sides in the second period with Deltour converting a pair of 30-yard penalty shots for a 4-1 Tonkawa lead. Brazilian 7-goaler Joao Ganon answered back in kind, converting twice from the 30-yard line for La Indiana and keeping his team close, 4-3.
Tonkawa owned the third period with Deltour coring three times (once on a penalty shot) and Sebastian Merlos adding a goal from the field. A disciplined Tonkawa defense held La Indiana scoreless they rode off the field at the end of the first half with a commanding advantage. Ganon scored on a 40-yard penalty shot for La Indiana, but gained no ground. A 60-yard penalty conversion from Deltour kept Tonkawa in front by five goals, 9-4
Tonkawa team captain, Jeff Hildebrand, converted a penalty shot for a goal to open the fifth period, 10-4. A goal from the field from Deltour stretched the lead to seven goals, 11-4. Ganon scored a goal from the field but that would be the extent of the La Indiana offense in the period as the Tonkawa lead grew to six goals, 11-5.
Ganon scored four unanswered goals in the sixth chukker (one on a 40-yard penalty shot) as Tonkawa breezed their horses through the final seven minutes of their 11-9 victory.
Deltour led the field with a game-high nine goals (five on penalty conversions). Merlos and Hildebrand each added a goal for the win. Ganon scored half of his eight goals from the field for La Indiana. Collingwood was credited with the team’s other goal.
Enigma 11, Villa del Lago 7
Enigma (Jerome Wirth, Jeff Hall, Matias MacDonough and Carlucho Arellano) outscored Villa del Lago (Jim Zenni, Guille Aguero, Hilario Ulloa and Agustin Obregon) 6-3 in second half play to register an 11-7 win in the International Polo Club’s featured match of the day.
Enigma 7-goaler Jeff Hall scored the first goal of the game from the field in the opening 30 seconds of the first chukker. Villa del Lago was unable to mount a successful attack and trailed early in the game, 1-0.
Second period action saw Agustin Obregon tie the game at 1-1 with a goal from the field just 28 seconds into the chukker. Carlucho scored on a miss-hit by a Villa del Lago player, breaking away for a 200 yard run and a goal for Enigma, 2-1. Hilario Ulloa tied the game at two goals apiece on a 30-yard penalty conversion but Enigma went ahead, 3-2 on a rarely called Penalty 1 that awarded a goal to the Enigma team for the final score of the period.
A 40-yard penalty goal from Ulloa in the opening seconds of the third period knotted the score at 3-3. Matias MacDonough converted a 40-yard penalty shot for a goal to give Enigma a 4-3 lead with 5:51 left in the period. Guille Aguero tied it with his first goal of the game to make it 4-4 with under two minutes on the clock. Hall scored the final goal of the chukker, putting Enigma in front, 5-4, at the end of the first half.
Enigma continued to pound the Villa del Lago defense in the fourth period. Two minutes into the chukker MacDonough scored on a 40-yard penalty shot, 6-4. Hall added his third goal of the game with only 1:34 left in the chukker. For the second time in the match, Vila del Lago was held scoreless and trailed by three goals, 7-4.
Villa del Lago continued to have trouble staging an effective attack and had to rely on a pair of penalty goals from Ulloa. Enigma got goals from the field from Arellano and Hall and held their three goal lead, 9-6 with one chukker left in regulation play.
MacDonough extended the Enigma lead to four goals with a penalty conversion in the opening minute of the sixth and final chukker. Ulloa responded with a penalty goal from Villa del Lago, 10-7, but Villa del Lago was gaining no ground. MacDonough was on the receiving end of a pass from Hall that he converted for the final point of the match and an 11-7 Enigma win.
The victory leaves Enigma with the only 3-0 record in tournament play while Villa del Lago suffered their first loss in three outings (2-1).
Hall and MacDonough scored four goals apiece for the victory. Arellano added two goals and the team received one goal on a Penalty 1. Ulloa scored all five of his goals for Villa del Lago on penalty conversions. Obregon and Aguero scored single goals in the loss.
Arellano was named MVP for his efforts while his 11-year-old lack mare, Morisette, was named Best Playing Pony. Arellano admitted picking up the mare from teammate MacDonough last season and that she was a product of Nacho Figueras’ breeding operation in Argentina.
Audi/Millarville 11, Valiente 10
In the fourth and final match of the day, Audi/Millarville (Grant Ganzi, Nic Roldan, Julian Mannix and Freddie Mannix) came out on top of a cat fight with Valiente (Bob Jornayvaz, Roberto Zedda, Santi Torres and Santi Chavanne) to score an 11-10 victory.
A hard-charging Audi/Millarville team controlled the opening chukker with American 8-goaler Nic Roldan scoring the first goal of the match on a 60-yard penalty conversion followed by two goals from the field. The Valiente offense was nowhere to be found as they fell behind, 3-0.
Santi Chavanne came up with two second chukker goals for Valiente (one on a 30-yard penalty conversion). Roldan and Fred Mannix scored single goals from the field for Audi/Millarville as Valiente continued to trail by three goals, 5-2.
Valiente’s Roberto Zedda came alive in the third period, scoring twice from the field. The Valiente defense held and the Audi/Millarville lead was cut to a single goal, 5-4, to end the first half.
The two teams matched one another goal for goal as the second half got underway. Chavanne opened the period with a goal from the field that tied it at 5-5. Roldan followed with his fifth goal of the game for a 6-5 advantage. Zedda’s third goal of the day created another tie, 6-6. Julian Mannix scored the final goal of the chukker to put Audi/Millarville in the lead, 7-6 after four periods.
Chavanne scored the first goal of a defensively-oriented fifth period to another tie, 7-7. A Valiente foul gave Roldan the opportunity to get the lead back. Roldan converted the only other goal of the period as Audi/Millarville continued to lead the game, 8-7.
Zedda scored the first goal of the sixth chukker from the field followed by three consecutive goals from Audi/Millarville. A pair of goals from Roldan (one on a penalty conversion) and a goal from the field from Julian Mannix had Audi/Millarville in front by three goals, 11-8. A 60-yad penalty conversion from Zedda and a goal from the field for Santi Torres weren’t enough as Audi/Millarville took the game, 11-10.
Roldan’s eight goals (three on penalty conversions) set the pace for Audi/Millarville’s offense. Julian Mannix scored twice and Fred Mannix added a goal for the win. Valiente got five goals from Zedda. Chavanne added four goals and Torres was credited with a goal in the final chukker.
The final match of the third round of play in the Joe Barry Memorial Cup is scheduled to be played on Monday afternoon, January 25th at 3pm at the International Polo Club.
Orchard Hill (Steve Van Andel, Polito Pieres, Peke Gonzalez and Lucas Criado)
Dubai (Rashid Albwardy, Carlos Gracida, Diego Cavanagh and Alejo Taranco)
"Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly" 
Rabii Benadada
