Cambiaso Leads Crab Orchard to Stanford U.S. Open Title with 15-14 Victory over Jedi in front of a record 8,273 Spectators Sunday at International Polo Club
WELLINGTON, FL (April 22, 2007) – Whatever the sport, the best players always want the ball in the end.
Adolfo Cambiaso’s legend grew even larger as he scored on a breakaway with 17 seconds remaining to carry pre-tournament favorite Crab Orchard over arch-rival Jedi 15-14 in the final of the Stanford U.S. Open before a record 8,273 spectators Sunday at International Polo Club Palm Beach.
“What they were looking at, I don’t know,” said Cambiaso after the game. “They forgot about me.”
Nine-goaler Matias Magrini of Crab Orchard somehow passed the ball to Cambiaso despite a lot of traffic near midfield from the throw-in.
“Once he got the ball, it’s a goal,” said Magrini. “I didn’t worry about it.”
“The last throw-in was like overtime, it’s 50-50,” said Pablo MacDonough of Jedi. “They have a chance to win, we have a chance. Both teams deserved to win.”
“What a game. This is the experience of a lifetime,” said Crab Orchard patron George Rawlings. “I liked it the best when the horn blew the last time.”
After the final horn, a smiling Rawlings received long hugs and congratulatory pounding on his back from Cambiaso, Magrini and David Stirling Jr.
The 29 goals are the most goals by both teams in a U.S. Open final. The previous record was 26 when Outback defeated Orchard Hill 14-12 in 2001, ironically the last time Cambiaso won the tournament. This is his fourth U.S. Open crown and the fourth time he received the Most Valuable Player award. Cambiaso’s mare, Noreuga, received the Best Playing Pony Award.
It was the 29th time a U.S. Open final was decided by one goal. The most recent was in 2005 when White Birch defeated Skeeterville 11-10. Crab Orchard’s 15 goals tied for the second most goals by a winning team with Outback in 1995. Templeton in 1932, Old Westbury in 1938 and Outback in 1996 each scored 16 goals while winning the U.S. Open.
Jedi, in its first U.S. Open since 2002, defeated Crab Orchard 10-8 earlier this month during divisional play. It looked like they might have the key to beating Crab Orchard, jumping out to a 5-1 lead.
But Cambiaso scored three goals as Crab Orchard rallied to take a 6-5 lead with 4:25 left in the third chukker.
Crab Orchard extended its lead to 10-7 on Magrini’s goal with 1:10 left in the fourth chukker. Jedi refused to give up, scoring three unanswered goals, to tie the game at 10-10 with 3:29 remaining in the fifth chukker on Magoo Laprida’s drive down the middle after picking up a loose ball.
Crab Orchard responded with consecutive goals by Stirling and Magrini to take a 12-10 margin into the final chukker.
Jedi battled back again to tie it at 14-14 on Laprida’s 20-yard neck shot with 60 seconds left, setting the stage for Cambiaso’s heroics.
Crab Orchard, playing in its first U.S. Open since 2000, was the dominant team at International Polo Club, going 12-2 in 26-goal games in 2007. Cambiaso and Magrini, who were teammates on New Bridge La Dolfina in the 22-goal season at IPC, went undefeated in 10 games. Together, Magrini and Cambiaso won four of the five tournaments at International Polo Club. They also won the subsidiary tourney, the Iglehart Cup, of the only event they did not win.
Cambiaso finished with six goals while Magrini scored five goals, four on penalty shots, and David Stirling Jr. added four goals. Patron George Rawlings did not score.
Pablo MacDonough led Jedi (4-1) with five goals while Juan Martin Nero and Magoo Laprida finished with four goals each. Patron Torsten Koch did not score.
The championship match of the Stanford U.S. Open presented by Bombardier is the culmination of the ultra-competitive winter polo season. Historically, the U.S. Open has always been the grand prize of polo in North America. It is one of only three tournaments played at the 26-goal echelon, the highest-rated tournament in the United States. The others are the C.V. Whitney Cup and USPA Piaget Gold Cup, both also played at International Polo Club.
The first U.S. Open title game was played in 1904 at Van Cortlandt Park in New York City where the Wanderers defeated the Freebooters 4 ½-3, the lowest scoring final in the history of the tournament.
The 2008 high-goal winter season is expected to begin in mid-January.
International Polo Club Palm Beach is located at 3667 120th Avenue South, between Pierson Road and Lake Worth Road in Wellington. For information, directions or ticket purchases, please call the club at (561) 204-5687 or visit the website at www.internationalpoloclub.com.
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