Thu 17th Mar 2016Palm Beach Pocket $50,000 Palm Beach Illustrated/Team USPA Triumphant in the National 12 Goal
The young players on the Palm Beach Illustrated/Team USPA team looked like world beaters in the Final of the 2016 $50,000 National 12 goal tournament at Grand Champions Polo Club on Tuesday 15 March as they came off the field with a 13-12 win and a big payday.
Pony Express made it onto the scoreboard first, but Palm Beach Illustrated/Team USPA bounced back quickly scoring three goals in the following two minutes to end the chukka with a 3-2 lead. The Palm Beach Illustrated/Team USPA assault continued throughout the second chukka leaving Pony Express trailing 7-3, but in the third chukka the momentum seemed to have shifted with Tomas Goti picking up steam and hammering in two goals to bring Pony Express to within two goals of the lead, 8-6 at the end of the first half. However, Pony Express could not get ahead of Palm Beach Illustrated/Team USPA who retained their lead throughout the match. An exciting last chukka caught Palm Beach Illustrated/Team USPA napping and field goals from Goti, Justin Daniels and Bautista Urbina levelled the score at 11-11, but Palm Beach Illustrated/Team USPA weren’t going to be denied. With one and a half minutes remaining in the game, Zenni scored his fourth goal of the game to carry his team to a 13-12 win.
Goti led all scoring with nine goals (five on penalty conversions). Urbina added two goals and Justin Daniels scored once in the loss. Zenni, Bray and Obregon scored four goals apiece for the win with teammate Thurston adding a goal for the victory.
Bray earned Most Valuable Player honours for his efforts on the day and Bob Daniels’ “61”, played by Goti, was named Best Playing Pony.
The 2016 $50,000 National 12 goal Final teams:
Palm Beach Illustrated (12): Todd Thurston (0), Jared Zenni (3), Geronimo Obregon (4) & Jesse Bray (5)
Pony Express (12): Benjamin Daniels (0), Justin Daniels (0), Bautista Urbina (6) & Tomas Goti (6)
Photograph: Palm Beach Illustrated/Team USPA take home the $50,000 prize money. By Alex Pacheco
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