Polo
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IN IGLEHART CUP FINAL AT INTERNATIONAL
POLO CLUB PALM BEACH
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WELLINGTON, FL – Eight-goaler Sugar Erskine scored seven goals, including the game-winner on a 15-yard near side with 5:16 left in overtime, to lift Goshen over Henley House 11-10 in the 22-goal Iglehart Cup final Sunday at International Polo Club Palm Beach.
Erskine picked up a loose ball after teammate Pancho Bensadon dribbled down the field guarded by two defenders. “I had a man on my outside and the ball was sitting there,” said Erskine. “I just hit it.” This was the second consecutive final Erskine and Bensadon won at International Polo Club Palm Beach. They were teammates on Isla Carroll, which won the Stanford Financial Group U.S. Open in mid-April.
“You can’t beat that,” said Erskine. Goshen led most of the game, but Henley House tied the game at 8-8 early in the fifth chukker on 6-goaler Francisco Lanusse’s goal. Erskine countered with a pair of 30-yard penalty shots to give Goshen a 10-8 advantage with 2:02 remaining in the fifth. American 10-goaler Adam Snow sliced the margin to 10-9 on a 20-yard backhand with 39 seconds remaining in the fifth chukker.
Both teams missed scoring opportunities in the sixth chukker before Henley House was awarded an automatic goal via the Penalty 1 rule to tie the game at 10-10 with 2:42 left in the game. A Penalty 1 is usually awarded when a player is fouled in the goal area.
Bensadon finished with three goals for Goshen (2-0), which received a goal by handicap to start the game. Patron Irvin Abell and 4-goaler Stewart Armstrong did not play, although both were effective defensively late in the game.
Snow and Lanusse finished with four goals each for Henley House (1-1). Patron Wayne Grover, playing in his first high-goal tournament, and 5-goaler Carlucho Arellano, did not score. “I felt like we were playing catch-up the last four chukkers,” said the 26-year-old Arellano. “We had our opportunities and we missed them.”
Henley House led 2-1 midway through the first chukker but Goshen scored four consecutive goals and never trailed, although there were four ties in the game. Kate, owned and ridden by Adam Snow, was named Best Playing Pony. Four-goaler Stewart Armstrong of Goshen, who played a strong defensive game, was selected as Most Valuable Player.
The 22-goal Iglehart Cup, which returned after a one-year hiatus, kicked off the second season of high-goal polo at International Polo Club Palm Beach, the premier polo club in the United States. The tournament is named for one of polo’s leading families, Hall of Famers Stewart and Philip Iglehart. The tournament was not played in 2004 because of scheduling conflicts. Tommy Lee Jones’ San Saba was the 2003 champion and John Goodman’s Isla Carroll won the tournament in 2002.
The 2005 season features six high-goal tournaments – three 22-goal tourneys and three 26-goal tournaments. Following the Iglehart Cup is the Joe Barry Memorial Cup and the Ylvisaker Cup. The 26- goal season opens with the Hall of Fame Cup, followed by the C.V. Whitney Cup and concluding with the Stanford Financial Group U.S. Open.
The polo matches are open to the public. Tickets for the Sunday games at the International Polo Club Palm Beach are available at the gate, beginning at $10 each. For ticket information, call (561) 204-5687 or visit the club website at www.internationalpoloclub.com . For information about the upcoming 2005 high-goal season, including the Stanford Financial Group U.S. Open, call the club at (561) 204-5687 or visit online at www.internationalpoloclub.com. 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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