WELLINGTON, Fla., January 30, 2024---Quite on Z upset previously undefeated 90210 to win the winter season-opening Aspen Valley 8-Goal Cup Monday at Santa Rita Polo Farm.
By Sharon Robb
Photos by Candace Ferreira
In front of a good crowd, Quite on Z (Alecia Seidler, -1, Artemio Figueras, 1, Joao Souza, 2, Hilario Figues, 5) rallied in the final chukker to defeat 90210 (Sarah Siegel-Magness, 0, Finn Secunda, 1, Juan Cruz Marcos, 3, Roberto Zedda, 4), 9-8, in overtime. The win avenged an early season 8-7 loss.
Hilario Figueras scored five goals including the game-winner and was named Most Valuable Player. It was also Figueras who converted 40-and 60-goal penalty shots in a three-team shootout to advance Quite on Z into the championship final. His horse, Helmut Newton, played in the fifth chukker and responsible for two goals, was Best Playing Pony.
Six teams competed in the month-long tournament. Quite on Z and 90210 both finished the league with 3-1 records. The other teams were Bentley Estates, Amaro Polo, The Polo School and Rafool Polo.
90210, the pre-tournament favorite, controlled most of the first half leading 6-3 at halftime behind Cruz' four goals. In the first half, 90210 outshot Quite on Z, 12-3.
90210 extended its lead to 7-4 in the fourth chukker before Quite on Z started being more aggressive on offense.
Quite on Z started clawing its way back in the fifth chukker, outscoring 90210, 3-1, behind Figueras' two goals and Souza's one goal to trail 8-7 going into the sixth chukker.
It turned into a family scoring affair when Artemio Figueras, Hilario's younger brother who played well defensively the entire game, scored with 4:29 left in the sixth chukker to tie the game at 8-8. Both teams had scoring opportunities in regulation before the game went into sudden death.
Cruz scored at the 7:17 mark for 90210 but it was nullified with a right of way violation. Zedda hit a long ball close to the goal line but Artemio Figueras cleared it out. A minute later, Hilario Figueras went on a coast-to-coast run to come up with his heroics.
90210 ended up outshooting Quite on Z, 19-10. Quite on Z led in knock-ins, 11-2 and throw-ins, 9-8. Each team committed nine fouls.
In addition to Figueras' five goals, Souza had two goals and Artemio Figueras added one. The 7-goal team picked up one goal on handicap. For 90210, Marcos led with four goals including a penalty conversion, Zedda had two and Secunda and Siegel-Magness each had one.
In last year's tournament, Loudmouth won its first-ever tournament at Santa Rita Polo Farm. Loudmouth (Scott Sorbaro, -1, Nick Manifold, 3, Kris Kampsen, 6, Michael Armour, 0) dominated Dracarys (Chetan Krishna, -1, Joseph Schwartz, 1, Leon Schwencke, 3, Brandon Phillips, 4) for an impressive 12-8 victory on Buenos Aires Field. Kampsen scored a game-high eight goals including a near-perfect performance on the penalty line (6-for-7), to earn MVP.