A four-tournament strong 20-goal season at the Santa Barbara Polo Club culminated with the Pacific Coast Open. Adolfo Cambiaso and a young Santiago Torres proved unstoppable as they powered Lucchese to victory over Grant's Farm Manor in a thrilling nail-biter.

With four teams vying for bragging rights, the picturesque California club started its 20-goal season with the Mayor's Cup on July 4. The tournament was played over two weeks with the final, on July 15, pitting Farmers & Merchants Bank against Mansour.

While Mansour waited on its 9-goal player Hilario Ulloa to arrive from England, his 7- goal brother, Salvador, agreed to filled the spot. The team started the match with a twogoal handicap. Though the pace was full speed from the first throw-in, Farmers & Merchants struggled to neutralize the handicap given to Mansour.

Mansour took advantage, sporting a sizeable lead at the end of the second chukker. But Farmers & Merchants Bank brought out its best horses in the third to stage a comeback before it was too late.

Mansour was able to block the attacks and, after bringing out some horse power of its own, stretched its lead to six goals at the end of the fourth. Farmers & Merchants Bank kept pounding on the door but Mansour would not cave in. Farmers & Merchants Bank got some footing in the final period, cutting the lead to three goals with three minutes left, but Mansour tightened its defense and secured a 13-10 victory.

The Best Playing Pony award was given to Chiruza, a mare played by FMB's 9-goal player Lucas Criado in the third period. Mansour's Adam Snow took MVP honors.

Grant's Farm took on Lucchese in the consolation final. The teams were neck-andneck through the match but in the end Grant's Farm took the win 10-8.

The America Cup was next, played from July 18-29, with Mansour taking on Grant's Farm in the final before a packed house. The road to the final was different for both teams, with neither being very easy. What the teams had in common was a determination to make the most of their opportunities.

Grant's Farm had a narrow victory over Lucchese in the first round, which helped build its confidence and allowed it to win its next few games by comfortable margins.

Mansour, on the other hand, won its first game in overtime, but lost its second game to none other than Grant's Farm, creating a virtual semifinal against Lucchese. It managed to narrowly win that match 12-11 to earn a berth in the final.

The final had the teams marking each other tightly, keeping the score a close 2-1 after the first period. Grant's Farm came out on some top ponies in the second chukker and soon rattled off three quick goals to take a 4-2 lead. Mansour scored a late goal to keep it close at 4-3. Mansour stole the show in the third, scoring three unanswered goals to take a 6-4 lead at the half.

Hilario Ulloa, back from England and at the helm for Mansour, added another goal early in the fourth. But Grant's Farm answered with three quick goals to tie it back up. In the fifth chukker, the teams battled it out, answering goal for goal but Mansour got in the last word to take a 10-9 lead going into the final period. Unfortunately, Mansour did not carry the momentum into the sixth.

Grant's Farm scored two quick goals, followed by an excellent neckshot from Andy Busch to make it a two-goal game with only a few minutes remaining. Mansour managed a quick goal out of the lineup but it turned out to be too little, too late as Grant's Farm was crowned champion by a score of 12-11.

Mansour's Hilario Ulloa was named MVP and Adam Snow's Boneca took BestPlaying Pony honors.

The consolation followed to allow the final game to be played on the field in its best condition, as was the procedure for all of the 20-goal tournaments. Some might expect the fans to disperse after such an exhilarating final, and it might have been that way if Adolfo Cambiaso was not just then making his 2012 debut at the club. With everyone eager to see arguably the world's best player strut his stuff, the crowds remained. In early matches, Cambiaso's spot on Lucchese had been filled by 9-goal Sebastian Merlos.

Cambiaso and company did not disappoint at they cruised to a 13-9 victory over Farmers & Merchants.

The Silver Cup allowed Cambiaso to begin to fine-tune his team. And the time was needed. Lucchese lost its first-round match to Grant's Farm, but managed to narrowly edge Farmers & Merchants 9-8 in its second outing. Things began to look up from there. A convincing 15-10 defeat of Mansour set up an exhilarating showdown between the same two teams in the final on August 12.

Mansour knew it had to act early and show Lucchese it would not be as easy going as the last rendezvous. Mansour jumped out to a quick two-goal lead and continued on the attack, outscoring Lucchese to take a 5-2 lead into the third. Lucchese started to put together some offense, thanks to great passes from Cambiaso and beautiful goals from Santi Torres and Andre Weisz. Going into halftime, the score was 6-4 in favor of Mansour, and the feeling in the grandstands was that it might upset the great Cambiaso. Going into the last chukker, Mansour managed to handle every push Lucchese made, and plays by Ulloa and Snow allowed it to maintain a two-goal lead going into the last chukker.

When Snow sunk a Penalty 3 early in the sixth, it looked like Mansour might just be able to close the door on Lucchese for good. Mansour was up by three with five minutes to play. However, an open goal penalty conversion and a great nearside backshot pass from Torres to Weisz abruptly put Lucchese within one goal with three minutes still left to play.

Cambiaso turned on the charm, scoring two key goals to give his team the thrilling 11- 10 victory. The MVP was Lucchese's Santi Torres and the best playing pony award was given to Adolfo Cambiaso's sixth chukker horse Delfina Diana.

The teams had a weekend off to prepare for the grand finale, the Pacific Coast Open. During that time, spectators got to enjoy a 30-goal exhibition match pitting LearJet's Sugar Erskine, Hilario Ulloa, Adam Snow and Mike Azzaro against Challenger's Pablo Spinacci, Lucas Criado, Paco de Narvaez and Luis Escobar. Challenger was on fire in the first half, cruising out to a 7-1 lead. Just as everyone was ready to head to the exits, LearJet turned the tables, outscoring Challenger 6-2. But LearJet fell short, losing to Challenger 9-7. Challenger's Luis Escobar was named Most Valuable Player.

With the Pacific Coast Open now back in focus, Lucchese was the team to beat as it, led by Adolfo Cambiaso, tried to capture the tournament for the third straight year. And it started off on the right foot, going undefeated in preliminary matches to ensure a spot in the final.

Meanwhile, Grant's Farm won its first two games, losing only to Lucchese. With the second best record, it would have another chance against Cambiaso, this time in the final for all the marbles. The final would prove to be one of the most memorable in recent history.

Played before a capacity crowd on a flawless summer day, the first half of the final was a battle between Grant's Farms' outwardly calm and collected Jeff Hall, who scored seven penalty goals, and the fiery play of young Santiago Torres. Torres kept his team in the game with some dazzling goals from the field, especially in the second chukker while mounted on a blaze-faced chestnut named Noruega, loaned to him by teammate Adolfo Cambiaso.

The teams were neck-and-neck throughout the first half, but a field goal by Grant's Farms' Jared Sheldon gave the team a slim one-goal lead heading into halftime.

Grant's Farm came out on fire in the fourth chukker, winning the throw-ins, maintaining control of the ball and seeming to score at will. Hall, Polito Pieres and Sheldon all notched field goals, while Andy Busch held the line on defense with strong backshots. A very frustrated Lucchese team embroiled themselves in foul trouble and found themselves looking at a mountainous six-goal deficit going into the fifth chukker.

Then, a few key things happened. Torres got back on Noruega for the first three minutes of the chukker. The Lucchese team was soon dominating the throw-ins. AndAdolfo Cambiaso, who hurt his arm, cut his elbow and was stung by a bee on the chest, seemed to have had enough. With a fire in his eyes, he showed what it means to be better than 10 goals. Torres got the comeback started with a spectacular field goal, weaving through traffic and showing great ball control. Cambiaso kept control of the ball for most of the chukker, despite being hustled hard by Grant's Farm, especially Polito Pieres.

John Muse made some key blocks, Andres Weisz added a field goal, and suddenly things were clicking for Lucchese. By the end of the fifth, the score was 14-11, still in favor of Grant's Farm, but the momentum was clearly swinging towards Lucchese.

The sixth chukker was a demonstration of amazing polo, with all eight players going to the right place and making clever plays. But for everything Grant's Farm did, Lucchese had just a little more. Torres asked Noruega for two more minutes and the gallant mare took him to goal, starting the chukker right for Lucchese. Then, Cambiaso made the goal of the game: a perfect slapshot from about 60 yards out while surrounded by three players in green. The margin was down to one goal, the crowd was going crazy, and a penalty goal by Lucchese tied it up at 14-all with another four minutes left.

Torres increased the Lucchese lead to 15- 14 on yet another field goal, but Grant's Farm refused to quit as Polito Pieres brought it back with a great run down to the ocean end of the field. Tied at 15- all, the clock ran out and the game headed to sudden-death overtime.

The crowd was on its feet for OT, all the spectators holding their breath and cheering for both teams. At the first throw-in, it looked like Grant's Farm had possession. But on a broken play, that master of anticipation, Adolfo Cambiaso jumped on the loose ball at midfield and he was gone. Riding a lightning-quick horse and closely pursued by two opponents, he galloped the ball downfield to score the golden goal and win the Bombardier Pacific Coast Open with the final score 16-15.

Adolfo Cambiaso was named MVP, while his mare Noruega—ridden by Torres—was named Best Playing Pony. The Robert Skene Memorial Season MVP award was present to 18-year-old Torres by Elizabeth Skene. Torres played fantastic all season and earned the respect of his fellow players and the umpires for his sportsmanship on the field.

--Gwen Rizzo contributed to this report.