SANTA BARBARA, CA. (August 1st, 2021) This weekend determined the teams qualified for the semi-finals of the USPA FMB Silver Cup to take place this Friday and the finals for the America Cup to take place on Sunday. All six teams had a lot on the line during these Sunday games so they all came out full force with something to prove.
The morning game took place at 10 AM between Lucchese and Antelope. Both teams needed to win to help their standing for the semi finals. Lucchese put the first two goals on the board with some dynamic polo between Keko Magrini and Jeff Hall. Penalty shots helped keep Antelope in the game with two conversions from Tomas Garcia Del Rio in the first half. After the third chukker, Lucchese had an advantage over Antelope 5-3. Antelope had a comeback in the fourth chukker with a beautiful goal from Grant Palmer and two more goals from Del Rio. However, Lucchese had a goal from each player in the fifth chukker to put them in the lead yet again. The final score was 12-9 to Lucchese.
The second game between Farmers and Merchants Bank and Klentner Ranch already had both teams secure in the semi-finals. Regardless, they both still fought it out for bragging rights and confidence. FMB took the lead in the first half 7-6. But, Klentner Ranch turned it on in the second half, especially Santiago Toccalino, with seven goals by himself in three chukkers. The result was 16-11 to Klentner Ranch.
The featured match at 4 PM had BenSoleimani.com vs. Santa Clara. Juan Curbelo took the place of Luis Escobar on the family team of Santa Clara. BenSoleimani.com had a good first half by capitalizing on the new team makeup of Santa Clara by catching them on some fouls and converting four penalty shots. After a good half-time pep-talk, Santa Clara came back in the fourth chukker with two goals from Juan Curbelo and a penalty conversion from Lucas Escobar. It came down to the last chukker with some very strong play from Santa Clara that won them the game 11-10.
At the end of these three games, Klentner Ranch will face off against Antelope and FMB will go up against Lucchese for the USPA FMB Silver Cup semifinals. The finals of the America Cup on Sunday will be between Santa Clara and BenSoleimani.com.
