On a historical day for Aspen Valley Polo Club, the 119th USPA Silver Cup opened Saturday with three action-packed games.
In front of a good local crowd and worldwide USPA Polo Network audience at McClure River Ranch, Audi, Tonkawa and Casablanca won bracket game openers.
With 30 seconds left, Sapo Caset stole the ball and scored the winning goal to lead Tonkawa (Jeff Hildebrand, 0, Juan Martin Obregon, 5, Sapo Caset, 10, Mason Wroe, 4) to an 11-10 victory over Flexjet (Melissa Ganzi, 0, Gussie Busch, 2, Hilario Ulloa, 10, Alejandro Novillo Astrada, 8) in the opening game.
In the second game, Hilario Figueras converted a clutch penalty shot in the final minute as Audi (Marc Ganzi, 2, Hilario Figueras, 3, Nic Roldan, 8, Jared Zenni, 6) held off a late-charging La Karina (Brian Boyd, 0, Carlitos Gracida, 4, Sebastian Merlos, 8, Tincho Merlos, 8) for a 10-9 victory.
Trailing for most of the game, Casablanca (Grant Ganzi, 3, Lucas Lalor, 5, Nacho Novillo Astrada, 8, Juancito Bollini, 4) rallied in the final chukker for a 12-11 triumph over McClure River Ranch (Salvador Lockey, 2, Stewart Armstrong, 3, Kris Kampsen, 6, Alfredo Bigatti, 8) in the third and final game.