Spectators at the U.S. Open final got their money’s worth with one of the best matches in recent history. Alegria edged Valiente in an overtime thriller, ending the latter team’s chances at taking U.S. polo’s 26-goal triple crown.

Bob Jornayvaz’s Valiente team, led by 10-goal superstar Adolfo Cambiaso, was on a roll during the 26-goal season hosted by International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington, Florida. The team cruised away with the C.V. Whitney trophy after defeating Steven Van Andel’s Orchard Hill team. While Valiente held a narrow 5-4 lead at the half, costly fouls in the fourth and fifth periods were capitalized on by Valiente’s 9-goal Sapo Caset as he easily knocked in three open goal penalties and scored one from the field. Cambiaso scored another three goals. Neither team reached the goal in the final chukker, leaving Valiente on top 12-8.

Brothers Matias and Pablo MacDonough led Orchard Hill with three goals apiece. Valliente’s 6-goal Santi Torres was named MVP, while Cambiaso’s Boeing, that he played in the first and sixth periods, was name Best Playing Pony.

Down from 11 teams last year, eight teams competed in the 26-goal season. The C.V. Whitney is played as a singleelimination event. Valiente defeated Audi 11-9 in its first game to qualify for the semi-final. It powered past Alegria 13-11 to reach the final. Orchard Hill advanced first over Lechuza Caracas 12-7, then Crab Orchard in a 14-13 overtime match. The Piaget USPA Gold Cup began the following week with the teams divided into two brackets. Two weeks of playoff matches determined the first and second place in each bracket. Those teams qualified for the semifinals, while the remaining teams dropped into the subsidiary Butler Handicap.

Valiente led Bracket I despite losing its first game to Coca-Cola 10-7. It went on to edge Crab Orchard and Lechuza Caracas, both games ending 11-10. Alegria was the only team to go undefeated after edging Flight Options 11-9, Orchard Hill 11-10 and Audi 10-7, putting it at the top of its bracket.

In the semifinal Valiente ousted Bracket II’s second place Audi 14-10, while Alegria edged Bracket I’s second place Lechuza Caracas 8-7 in overtime. Valiente met Alegria in the final.

A foul by Alegria in the opening minutes allowed Sapo Caset to put Valiente on the scoreboard with a Penalty 2 conversion. Clemente Zavaleta responded with a Penalty 4 but Caset scored again to keep Valiente on top 2-1 after the first. Caset and Zavalete traded goals in the second to keep it close, but Alegria’s costly fouls had Caset proving his marksmenship to put Valiente ahead 7-3 at the half.

The halftime chatter seemed to indicate it was the beginning of the end for Alegria until the fifth period when 9- goal Hilario Ulloa capitalized on Valiente fouls to knot the score at 9-all going into the final period. Mariano Aguerre briefly put Alegria on top early in the sixth, but the umpires’ whistles stopped the momentum. Caset split the uprights on a pair of Penalty 4 conversions to give Valiente the win. It also earned him MVP honors. Valiente took all the trophies when Bob Jornayvaz’s Pipi, played by Sapo Caset, was named Best Playing Pony.

Valiente was two-thirds of the way to a triple crown victory. The team seemed to be in great shape horse-wise. The question was which other teams would be able to keep up after a long season?

Again the teams were divided into two brackets. The team with the best record in each bracket would receive a spot in the semi-finals, the teams with the worst records would drop into the subsidiary Hall of Fame Cup, while the remaining four teams would play off for the two remaining semi-final spots.

Crab Orchard took on Orchard Hill for the first match of the tournament. Crab Orchard patron George Rawlings had been unable to play most of the season due to an injury and he announced he was hanging up his mallets for good. Mariano Gonzalez’s 14-year-old son Peke took Rawlings’ spot in the Open. He did a tremendous job at No. 1 and was the buzz at every handicap discussion. In the end, his handicap will go up by a goal.

Crab Orchard won its first game but lost that momentum, ending with a 1-2 record. That bracket was dominated, as expected by Valiente with a 3-0 record. Lechuza Caracas came in second at 2-1 while Orchard Hill was eliminated with a n 0-3 record.

In Bracket II Alegria seemed to be hitting its stride and went on to win all of its games, even if just by a goal or two. Coca Cola finished 1-2, while Flight Options was 0-2 and Audi was 1-1 when they faced each other for the last playoff game, pitting Marc Ganzi against his wife Melissa’s team.

Audi started off strong taking a 3-0 lead in physcial match. Halfway through the second, Flight Options’ 9-goal Miguel Novillo Astrada left the field with a groin pull after taking a hard bump. He was replaced by Nic Roldan. It looked like Flight Options was in for a long afternoon when Audi jumped ahead 5-0. Flight Options got on the board to end the half 5-2, then tied the score 5-5 just minutes into the fourth. Roldan had a remarkable game and helped the team force an overtime period.

When Alejandro Astrada scored the game winner for Flight Options, it caused a three-way tie in the bracket. Immediately after the match, with daylight fading, Coca Cola, Audi and Flight Options had a shoot-out to eliminate one of the teams, while the other two moved on to a quarterfinal. Audi and Coca Cola moved on while Flight Options was eliminated.

Audi and Coca Cola’s luck was shortlived however as both were eliminated in the quarterfinal games, Audi was edged 13-12 by Crab Orchard and Coca Cola was beaten 12-7 by Lechuza Caracas.

Lechuza Caracas faced Valiente in the first semifinal. But just minutes into the period, Adolfo Cambiaso injured his groin after taking a hard bump. After paramedics tended to him, Cambiaso remounted and play briefly resumed. Moments later, Cambiaso left the field unable to continue. Brazilian 8-goaler Rodrigo Andrade took his place. To keep the team at 26-goals, Bob Jornayvaz elected to sit down and put 3-goal Carlitos Gracida in his place. The shuffle didn’t slow the team down as it went on to beat Lechuza Caracas 15-11 to earn a spot in the final.

The next semifinal had Alegria facing Crab Orchard. It was a tight game with Alegria leading by a narrow 4-3 after the first half. The second half was equally close, with Alegria breaking an 8-8 tie with less than a minute on the clock to advance to the final.

Cambiaso was still sidelined for the final so his Argentine Open teammate 10- goal Juan Martin Nero was asked to take his spot. The rules allow for any beaten player to substitute, however it would require Cambiaso to mount up and initially ride onto the field to start the match. The club asked for a variance to allow Juan Martin Nero to begin the game and it was granted.

As the teams were getting ready for the match to begin, guests were enjoying brunch fieldside. Then, the youngest fans in their Easter attire made their way to the center of the field to scoop up as many of the 8,000 brightly colored plastic eggs scattered on the field as they could fit in their baskets. The Easter bunny and Chukker, IPC’s polo mascot, joined in the festivities.

After the teams paraded around the field and players were introduced, former professional football player Ahmad Rashad, accompanied by daughter Ava, flipped the coin to determine which direction each team would start.

Then it was time for the much anticpated final to begin. Cambiaso had to settle for a spot off the field, intently watching from the endline. His former Argentine Open teammate Mariano Aguerre was the first to strike, putting Alegria on the board, but Valiente quickly responded with a pair of goals by Santi Torres and one from Nero. Alegria shut Valiente down in the second, while Julian Mannix and Hilario Ulloa found the uprights to tie the score at 3-3. The teams marked each other closely in the third, the only goal allowed was a Penalty 2 conversion by Sapo Caset to put Valiente on top 4-3 at the half.

Both teams were playing well and they settled in their respective tents to get feedback and plan for the second half. Cambiaso was there for Valiente, while Clemente Zavalate Sr. coached Alegria.

Meanwhile, the crowds made their way to the field for champagne and a look at a sampling of Maserati’s finest luxury automobiles. The Italian automaker also set up a hospitality lounge for VIP guests, and for the adventurous, offered test drives of its all-new Maserati Ghibli, featuring a Ferrari-built, twin-turbo V-6 engine.

Women (and even a few men) in their finest headwear made their way to midfield for the annual hat competition. From elegant to festive, and with feathers, flowers, lace and even some bunny ears and palm trees, half a dozen hats earned awards in one of several categories.

Anxious players began making their way back to the field to finish what they had started. With the umpire bowling the ball back into play, Hilario Ulloa traded open goal penalty conversions with Sapo Caset. Valiente seemed to be trying too hard and was whistled in the process. Alegria capitalized on three more opengoal penalties to take a 7-5 lead.

Caset fought back with a pair of Penalty 4s in the fifth, but Mannix slammed in an impressive 80-yard shot to keep Alegria on top 8-7 heading into the sixth period. Santi Torres sent a difficult neckshot to goal early in the sixth to tie the score and Caset followed with a goal for the lead. Aguerre responded to knot the game at 9-all. Caset scored his third of five 60-yard penalties to give Valiente the 10-9 lead with time ticking away.

Alegria controlled the next throw-in and Zavaleta sent the ball to goal to tie it back up in the knick of time to force an overtime chukker. Each player seemed to be playing at the top of his game and it easily could go either way.

Shortly after the action resumed, Valiente was whistled on a play, giving Alegria a Penalty 4. It was a crucial missed opportunity when Ulloa’s shot went wide. A minute later, Valiente took control of the ball and sent it to goal, but it too went wide. An umpire’s whistle stopped the clock with 3:45 left. The umpires’ pointed to the south end, Valiente’s goal. Ulloa would get another shot, this time from the 40-yard line. As the ball passed between the uprights, the Alegria players, grooms and fans erupted into cheers.

Meanwhile, for Bob Jornayvaz, the Open had eluded him yet again.

Clemente Zavaleta, who repeatedly stopped Valiente’s drives, was named MVP, while Ulloa’s Mia took Best Playing Pony honors.

The players barely made it off their ponies as they jumped and hugged each other. The grooms were also jumping up and down, as were the players’ family members. Aguerre’s family had already left for Argentina so he not-so-successfully tried to find a quiet place to call home to share the news.

It was a big year for Alegria and Hilario Ulloa, who helped Julian’s brother Fred Mannix, make it to the final of the Argentine Open final in Palermo just four months before. The team earned its way after eliminating Ellerstina, with Mariano Aguerre. In the end, Alegria fell to Adolfo Cambiaso’s favored La Dolfina, but getting to the final was no small feat.

After the U.S. Open trophy presentation, guests made their way to International Polo Club’s Mallet Grill for the afterparty celebration. Beautiful models floated in giant bubbles in the pool, while magicians, fire twirlers, jugglers, silver horse-costumed dancers and a junkanoo parade entertained the guests. Ice sculptures and exotic flowers adorned the buffet table and a live band provided dancing music. Alegria’s celebration had the players landing in the pool!

Prior to the final match being played, the USPA handicap committee met and voted on 2015 handicap changes for several players including Valiente’s Sapo Caset, who will go from 9 to 10; Santi Torres who will go from 6 to 7; and Bob Jornayvaz who will go from 1 to 2. With the team at 29 goals beginning in 2015, it will be unable to stay together.

Alegria’s Julian Mannix will go from 3 to 4, putting the 2014 team up to 27 goals and making it necessary to change the lineup in 2015.

There are sure to be plenty of shuffling of players between the teams, especially with Crab Orchard off the rosters for 2015. That puts 10-goal Facundo Pieres and 8-goalers Magoo Laprida and Paco de Narvaez up for grabs.

Other notable handicap changes include Gonzalo Pieres who is being lowered from 10 to 9, while his 2014 Audi teammate Rodrigo Andrade will go from 8 to 9. The highest-rated American Julio Arellano, who played for Coca-Cola this year, will go from 9 to 8, while Mike Azzaro, who didn’t compete at the 26- goal level this year, is being lowered from 8 to 7.

By Gwen Rizzo