POLO: U.S. OPEN ROUND THREE CONCLUDES

Balladeer’s Blog continues its coverage of the world’s OLDEST team sport. Polo was already centuries old when Alexander the Great’s men played it! FOR MY PRIMER ON POLO CLICK HERE  

ROUND THREE, DAY TWO: FIRST MATCH – LAS MONJITAS VS PARK PLACE. Las Monjitas – Official Balladeer’s Blog Nickname: The Black Habits – rode against Park Place – Official Balladeer’s Blog Nickname: The Cossacks.

The First Chukker saw the Black Habits dominate the Cossacks on both sides of the ball, swatting in 4 Goals while limiting their opponents to 1. In the Second Chukker the defenses clamped down, forcing the teams to settle for just 1 Goal each for a 5-2 Las Monjitas lead.

The Ball flew between the Uprights like shrapnel once again in the Third Chukker with Park Place outscoring the opposition 3-2. Heading into Halftime the Black Habits held a 7-5 advantage.

Chukker Number Four ended with Las Monjitas stretching out to a 9-6 lead. In the Fifth the teams exchanged a Goal apiece for a new tally of 10-7.

In the Sixth Chukker the Cossacks thwacked in a pair of Goals but so did their opponents. The Black Habits moved on to the Quarterfinals with a 12-9 victory.

Francisco Elizalde and Matt Coppola led Las Monjitas with 4 Goals each. 

ROUND THREE, DAY TWO: SECOND MATCH – DAILY RACING FORM VS OLD HICKORY BOURBON. The Defending U.S. Open Champions, Daily Racing Form – Official Balladeer’s Blog Nickname: The Stat-Hounds – took on Old Hickory Bourbon – Official Balladeer’s Blog Nickname – The Distillers.

It was all Stat-Hounds in the opening Chukker as they shut out the Distillers while notching 3 Goals for themselves.

Old Hickory Bourbon came alive in the Second Chukker, outscoring their opponents 2-1 to pull within 4-2. Daily Racing Form flipped that script in the Third Chukker to take a 6-3 advantage into Halftime.

The Distillers got the shutout they needed in the Fourth Chukker while adding a Goal of their own, making it a 6-4 tally.

The Fifth Chukker was all about offense, with the Stat-Hounds putting the ball between the Uprights 3 times to the 2 times managed by Old Hickory Bourbon. It was 9-6 going into the final Chukker.

The Distillers refused to say die. They shut out their opponents once again and forced Overtime with a 9-9 tie. In the Seventh Chukker Daily Racing Form logged the Golden Goal to win it 10-9.

Jared Zenni scored 5 Goals to lead the defending champs.