Battle of unbeatens when Valiente plays Park Place in $100,000 U.S. Open at National Polo Center

WELLINGTON — It will be a battle of the unbeatens when former champion Valiente plays Park Place in the final of the $100,000 U.S. Open on Sunday at the National Polo Center.

Valiente (5-0) and Park Place (4-0) will play for the third and final tournament of the Gauntlet of Polo Series in the winter polo season-ender. Game time is 3 p.m.

The game will feature 10-goalers Adolfo Cambiaso, who turned 48 on April 15, of Valiente, and Hilario Ulloa, of Park Place.

Cambiaso has nine U.S. Open titles to his name: 2021, Scone; 2017, Valiente; 2015, 2010, 2008, 2007, Crab Orchard; 2001, 2000, 1999, Outback.

"It's fun, it makes me stay here and compete," Cambiaso said. "At 48, it is difficult for me to compete with the 10-goalers younger than me. Winning the U.S. Open with my son last year was my dream since he was born. I can say I have gotten everything in my career. All my U.S. Open wins are memorable but winning with my son was amazing."

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This year, Cambiaso knocked his 17-year-old son, Poroto, out of the quarterfinals with an 11-9 win over Scone. In May, Poroto will be raised to 10 goals in the U.S.

"It was a very tough match," Cambiaso said. "Whatever happened we were both going to be happy. At the end of the day, Poroto had a great season. He is growing a lot as a player, and as a father, that's what you want."

The elder Cambiaso was also happy for his friend and patron, Bob Jornayvaz, who after a two-year battle with cancer, returned to the polo field this season and is in another final.

In a wild opening semifinal that featured two player substitutions, Valiente (Bob Jornayvz/Rufino Merlos, Peke Gonzalez, Lucas Criado Jr./Agustin Nero, Adolfo Cambiaso) defeated former Gauntlet Series champion Pilot (Curtis Pilot, Matias Gonzalez, Matias Torres Zavaleta, Facundo Pieres), 11-9.

In the other semifinal, Park Place (Andrey Borodin, Juan Britos, Hilario Ulloa, Jason Wates), after falling short in the past two Gauntlet semifinals, advanced into its first final with an 11-8 win over MAG (Santino Magrini, Nachi Viana, Keko Magrini, Santi Toccalino).

In the opening game, Valiente top scorer Lucas Criado Jr. suffered a fall in a collision in the goal mouth late in the second chukker. The match was stopped and Criado was flown by TraumaHawk to the hospital where he was examined after hitting his head on the field. His father, Lucas Sr., later posted on Instagram that his son was fine with no serious injury and gave the thumbs-up.

Criado, a six-goaler, was assessed three yellow cards for dangerous riding, ending his season since he totaled six cards and would have to sit the final game if he was able to play.

Valiente subbed five-goaler Agustin Nero for Criado and 15-year-old Rufino Merlos, a one-goaler, for Jornayvaz, a 0-goaler, to make up the difference and total 22 goals for the all-Argentine team.

The fast-paced game was physical from the opening chukker. The lead changed hands eight times before Valiente took a 9-8 lead with Cambiaso scoring through a crowd of defenders with 2:01 left in the fifth chukker. Merlos' steal and goal with 4:40 left in the final chukker gave Valiente an 11-8 advantage.

Cambiaso and Gonzalez shared scoring honors for Valiente, each with four goals. Criado had two and Merlos added one. Pieres led Pilot with five goals and finished as the leading scorer for the Gauntlet Series with 109 goals.

Valiente converted 8-of-16 shots on goal and Pilot 6-of-13. Valiente led in assists, 4-2. and fouls, 9-4. Pilot led in throw-ins, 12-9.

Park Place, behind Ulloa's scoring barrage, led from start to finish. Park Place led 6-4 at the half and led by as many as four goals against error-prone MAG, 8-4, 10-6, and 11-7 in the final two chukkers.

Ulloa scored a game-high nine goals for Park Place to total 30 goals for the Gauntlet. Britos added two. Toccalino, the veteran of the young team, led MAG with four goals.

Park Place converted 6-of-10 shots on goal and MAG 6-of-12. MAG led in fouls, 13-5, and throw-ins, 9-7. Park Place converted three penalty shots, including two 60-yarders.

Four season-ending horse awards were presented: Best String, Francisco Elizalde; Wembley Award, Caraquena, played by Poroto Cambiaso; Best American-bred, JP Borderline, played by Lucas Criado Jr.; and Horse of the Year, Cabe Bailarina, played by Poroto Cambiaso.

“The close of a record-breaking season for the sport of polo in the United States is the U.S. Open Polo Championship, which continues to be the sport’s highlight for players and fans alike,” said Stewart Armstrong, chairman of the USPA. “It’s always exciting to see the top two teams compete for the trophy in the Open and leave it all on the field."

Also, D'Ambrose MD will play Curator Sunday at 10 a.m. in the final of the 8-Goal Super Series.

$100,000 U.S. Open

Sunday, 3 p.m.

National Polo Center, 3667 120th Ave., WellingtonAdmission: General admission, $25; green seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Box seats also are available. For information, call 561-204-5687, ext. 207.TV: ESPN (April 24 at 9:30 p.m. on its various platforms). Live stream at uspolo.org.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Winter polo season-ending $100,000 U.S. Open pits Valiente vs. Park Place