Four games kick off Empire’s Lion’s Cup 4-goal Polo Tournament

By Alex Webbe

The 4-goal Lions Cup at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California got underway with
little fanfare Friday afternoon as Rocky Mountain High (Noah Sprung, Roxy Keyfauver,
Kimo Huddleston and Cybele Jordan) scored snuck past a determined Thermal
team (Hayward Pardue, Dayelle Fargey, Ramiro Gonzalez and Reg Whyte) in a 9-8
squeaker.

Rocky Mountain High received one goal by handicap and added to it with an opening
goal from Jordan. Thermal responded with a goal from Pardue and a pair of goals from
the field from Gonzalez. Thermal took the early lead, 3-2.

Rocky Mountain High took the lead after the second period with a pair of unanswered
goals from Huddleston (one on a penalty goal and one from the field). Thermal now
trailed by a single goal, 4-3.

Pardue tied it up at 4-4 with a goal from the field in the third chukker. Fargey added two
more goals while Rocky Mountain High fired blanks. The first three periods ended with
Thermal on top, 6-4.

A regrouped Rocky Mountain High team took the field in the second half, shutting down
the Thermal attack and putting four goals on the scoreboard. Sprung and Keyfauver
scored single goals while Huddleston scored twice from the field. After four chukkers of
play, Rocky Mountain High was back in the lead, 8-6.

Thermal got a goal from the field from Gonzalez in the fifth. Fargey tied it at 8-8 with a
60-yard penalty conversion. Huddleston came to the rescue for Rocky Mountain High,
scoring on a 60-yard penalty shot of his own and registering the winning goal in the 9-8
contest.

Huddleston led the Rocky Mountain High offense with five goals. Teammates Sprung,
Keyfauver and Jordan scored single goals in the win, and the team received one goal
by handicap.

Gonzalez and Fargey scored three goals apiece for Thermal. Pardue added two goals
in a losing effort.

CASA SOMBRES 9, MANSOUR 4

Casa Sombres (Conrad Kissling, Jared Sheldon, Ashton Wolf and Ernesto Bautista)
took advantage of the change in the lineup that had 2-goaler Jared Sheldon filling out
the lineup as they rolled to a 9-4 victory over an anemic Mansour (T. J. Elordi, Rodrigo

Moran, Ben Soleimani and Alex Main) attack.

A pair of first chukker goals from Casa Sombres’ Wolf was answered by a goal from the
field from Main. Casa Sombres took the early 2-1 lead.

Rodrigo scored the only goal of the second chukker on a 60-yard penalty conversion
with defense taking priority. Two chukkers into the game had it all even at 2-2.

The game remained tied, 4-4, after the third chukker with Sheldon scoring twice from
the field for Casa Sombres while Elordi scored once from the field and once on a
penalty shot.

Sheldon scored the only goal in the fourth period to break the tie and put Casa Sombres
in front, 5-4. Mansour struggled with its offense, but was unable to penetrate the Casa
Sombres defense.

The fifth chukker belonged to Casa Sombres, getting two goals from Sheldon and
another two goals from Wolf. For the second consecutive chukker Mansour was kept
off of the scoreboard and Casa Sombres registered the 9-4 victory.

Sheldon led the field with five goals. Wolf added four goals in the win.

Elordi led the Mansour team with a two scores. Moran and Main added single goals in
a losing effort.

PARKLANE 9, CASA LAGO 8

Six goals from Manny Questal weren’t enough as Parklane (Bill Garlock, Doug
Blumenthal, Champ Roth and Remy Muller) overcame a 7-5 deficit in the fourth chukker
to score a 9-8 win over Casa Lago (Jacob Deutsch, Cameron Smith, Manny Questel
and Domingo Questel) in Lion’s Cup action.

Casa Lago scored early with Manny Questal converting a penalty shot for a goal
followed by a goal from the field from his father, Domingo Questel. Parklane was
unable to get on the scoreboard and Casa Lago led, 2-0.

Manny Questal scored the opening goal of the second period for a 3-0 led, but Parklane
stormed back. Blumenthal scored on a 60-yard penalty shot followed by a pair of goals
from teammate Muller (one from the field and one by penalty). After two periods of play
it was all even at 3-3.

Casa Lago retook the lead in the third chukker. Manny Questel scored twice and Smith
added a goal as they took the lead. Muller supplied the only goal of the period for
Parklane, on a penalty conversion. The third chukker ended with Casa Lago guarding a
6-4 lead.

The two teams exchanged single goals in the fourth, with Roth scoring from the field
for Parklane and Casa Lago getting a penalty goal from Manny Questel. After four
chukkers, Casa Lago was ahead, 7-5.

A reversal of fortunes found Parklane scoring four goals in the fifth while holding Casa
Lago to a single goal from Manny Questel. A pair of penalty goals from Blumenthal
and single goals from the field from Muller and Roth proved to be the difference in
Parklane’s unlikely 9-8 victory.

Muller led the Parklane attack with four goals. Blumenthal scored three times and Roth
added a pair of goals for the win.

Manny Questel led all scorers with six goals. Smith and Domingo Questel scored single
goals in the loss.

EMPIRE 7, CELEBRITY RANCH/BLACK DIAMOND 6 OT

Empire (Dylan Foster, Rob Scapa, Charlie Peterson and Lolo Payan) scored the first
two goals of the game while holding Celebrity Ranch/Black Diamond (Scott Walker,
Santos Arriola, Stephen Cobb and Miguel Gutierrez) scoreless for a first chukker 2-0
advantage. Scapa opened the game with a goal followed by another goal from the field
from Peterson.

Celebrity Ranch/Black Diamond pressed its attack in the second chukker, picking
up two goals from Miguel Gutierrez (one from the field and one on a penalty shot).
A smothering defense helped shutout the Empire attack as Celebrity Ranch/Black
Diamond tied it up at 2-2.

The two teams traded goals in the third period. Payan scored the first two goals of
the chukker for a 4-2 empire lead, but Celebrity Ranch/Black Diamond responded with
single goals from Gutierrez and Walker to deadlock it at 4-4.

Celebrity Ranch/Black Diamond jumped out to a 6-5 lead in the fourth with a pair of
goals from Arriola. Peterson responded with a penalty goal, but Celebrity Ranch/Black
Diamond left the field with a 6-5 edge with one period left to be played.

The teams battled for control of the ball and the game in the fifth chukker. Finally Payan
broke loose and drove the ball through the goalposts for a 6-6 tie that would force the
game into sudden death overtime.

After a brief intermission, both teams returned to the field for the overtime chukker.
A foul by Celebrity Ranch/Black Diamond sent Payan to the penalty line where he
converted the winning goal for the 7-6 Empire victory.

Payan led Empire with four goals. Peterson scored twice and Scapa added a goal in
the win.

Gutierrez scored three times for Celebrity Ranch/Black Diamond. Arriola added two
goals and Walker scored one goal in the loss.