SebiLion will try to make it two in a row on Sunday when they play Newport for the Sun Cup title at Grand Champions Polo Club.
By Sharon Robb
Photos by Candace Ferreira
SebiLion and Newport advanced into the championship final in the second of five spring tournaments with semifinal wins on Friday.
SebiLion, winners of last weekend’s Grand Champions Cup, defeated 3 Graces Polo, 9-8, and Newport topped Kaia Polo, 11-8.
On Sunday at 10 a.m. the subsidiary is the first game of a doubleheader on Field One followed by the final on Field Two at 11:30 a.m. Admission and parking is free. The public and dogs on leashes are welcome.
SEBILION 9, 3 GRACES POLO 8
In the second semifinal, SebiLion (Sebastian Mandelbaum, 0, Jason Crowder, 5, Leo Mandelbaum, 2, Alejandro Novillo Astrada, 7) led for most of the game although 3 Graces Polo (Rebecca Cohen, 0, Sugar Erskine, 6, Nic Roldan, 7, Juan Bollini, 3) managed to tie the game three times.
SebiLion started off with a 2-0 advantage on handicap. 3 Graces Polo tied the game, 2-2, with back-to-back goals from Cohen.
SebiLion scored its first goal late in the second chukker to take the lead 3-2 with 1:31 left. SebiLion continued to score two more unanswered goals for a 5-2 lead before Erskine took a pass from Roldan to cut the lead to 5-3 going into halftime.
3 Graces Polo started off strong in the fourth chukker with back-to-back goals from Erskine to tie the game for a second time, 5-5 with 2:38 remaining. With 14 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Leo Mandelbaum connected with his son Sebastian, who lofted the ball through the goal posts to retake the lead, 6-5.
Roldan hit a 70-yard goal to open the fifth chukker to tie the game for the third time, 6-6. But 3 Graces Polo could get no closer with SebiLion pulling away 9-7 in the sixth chukker. With less than two minutes left Roldan converted a 30-yard penalty to trail, 9-8. 3 Graces had another scoring opportunity but couldn’t take advantage. Astrada and Sebastian Mandelbaum took possession and ran out the clock.
SebiLion got balanced scoring from its lineup. Sebastian Mandelbaum led with three goals followed by Crowder with two and Leo Mandelbaum and Astrada each with one. The 14-goal team picked up two goals on handicap. For Newport, Erskine scored a game-high four goals. Cohen and Roldan each had two goals.
NEWPORT 11, KAIA POLO 8
In the opening rain-soaked semifinal game, Newport (Gene Goldstein, 0, Matias Gonzalez, 4, Fred Mannix, 7, Tommy Collingwood, 5) led from start-to-finish to defeat Kaia Polo (Larry Austin, 0, Mariano Gracida, 4, Tomacho Pieres, 6, Santiago Toccalino, 7), 11-8, and advance into the final.
Newport took control early with leads of 4-0 after the first, 5-1 in the second and 5-2 in the third after a short rain delay.
Newport, playing well, had a commanding lead until the sixth chukker when Kaia Polo started clawing its way back. Toccalino’s goal with 4:15 left in the final chukker cut Newport’s lead to 8-7, but Kaia Polo could get no closer with back-to-back goals from Mannix for a 10-7 lead with 2:43 left to clinch the win.
Matias Gonzalez led Newport in scoring with a game-high four goals. Mannix had three, Goldstein, two, and Collingwood added one goal. Kaia Polo got balanced scoring from its lineup. The foursome each had two goals.
SebiLion is coming off last weekend’s Grand Champions Cup win. SebiLion (Sebastian Mandelbaum, 0, Leo Mandelbaum, 2, Alejandro Novillo Astrada, 7, Fred Mannix, 7) defeated Kaia Polo (Larry Austin, 0, Mariano Gracida, 4, Santi Toccalino, 7, Juan Bollini, 3), 10-8, to capture the Grand Champions Cup. Sebastian Mandelbaum was MVP.
In last year’s Sun Cup, Grand Champions (Joelle Wyser Pratte, -1, Mario Dino, 1, Santos Bollini 2, Juan Bollini, 3) led from start-to-finish to defeat The Polo School (Ogden O’Reilly-Hyland, -1, Leo Mandelbaum, 2, Tomacho Pieres, 6, Tito Gaudenzi, 2), 7-6. Joelle Wyser Pratte was MVP.
The spring season is expected to be the best in the club’s 18-year history. The matches are every Friday and Sunday with different rosters each weekend.
The remaining spring schedule (subject to change because of weather) is: May 9-11, Casablanca Spring Challenge; May 16-18, Eastern Challenge; and May 23-26, The Memorial.
The spring season is being live-streamed on Wellington-based ChukkerTV (CTV Sports).