Casa Sombres takes Crown Cup Classic

Casa Sombres takes the Crown with a 10-7 final win
By Alex Webbe

 

Four goal competition in the Crown Cup Classic continued
at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California over the weekend with Flowers
Farms (David Flowers, Gina Padilla, Ernie Ezcurra and Erik Wright) opening up
with a 12-10 win over Horsewear-Ireland (Sinead Devine, Hayward Pardue, Manny
Rodriguez and Nicolas Maciel).

Flowers Farms surrendered a first chukker goal from the
field to Rodriquez and a 40-yard penalty conversion to Maciel, but the chukker
belonged to Flowers Farms.  Single goals
from Flowers and Wright were complimented by three goals from Ezcurra for a 5-2
advantage.

Second period play had Flowers Farms shutting down the Horsewear-Ireland
offense while adding goals from Flowers and Ezcurra.  The Flowers Farm lead had grown to five
goals, 7-2 after just two periods of play.

Wright and Padilla added single goals in the third
chukker for Flowers Farms while Horsewear-Ireland responded with a 60-yard penalty
conversion from Pardue.  The chukker
ended with Flowers Farms expanding their lead to sox goals, 9-3.

Padilla ran the lead up to seven goals, 10-3 before Horsewear-Ireland
got back on track.  Single goals from
Rodriguez and Maciel had them within five goals of the lead, trailing 10-5.

With Flowers Farms coasting in the final chukker of play,
Horsewear-Ireland had its most productive chukker of the afternoon with Rodriguez
scoring three times while Devine and Maciel (penalty goal) added single
goals.  Wright scored two goals from the
field for Flowers Farm, which allowed them the 12-10 victory.

Rodriguez led the field with five goals.  Maciel scored three times and Devine and
Pardue added single goals in the loss.

Ezcurra and Wright registered four goals apiece for
Flowers Farms while Padilla and Flowers accounted for two goals apiece in a
winning effort.

EMPIRE
11, HORSEWEAR-IRELAND 5

Empire 4 (Lee Pettigrew, Rob Scapa, Charlie Peterson and
Lolo Payan) got off to a slow start in Saturday’s opening game but wasted
little time in building on a 4-1 halftime lead to trample Horsewear-Ireland (Manny
Rodriguez, Sinead Devine, Hayward Pardue and Nicolas Maciel) 11-5 as four-goal
competition continued.

Scapa got Empire on the scoreboard first but Maciel
matched the goal and the first chukker ended in a 1-1 tie. 

A smothering defense in the second period was accompanied
by a pair of goals from Payan and a second goal from Scapa with Empire riding
out to an early 4-1 lead.

Two goals from Peterson went unanswered in the third as Horsewear-Ireland
struggled to find some offensive punch.  Horsewear-Ireland
found themselves trailing by five goals, 6-1, with just two chukkers left to
play.

Rodriguez finally sparked the Horsewear-Ireland attack,
accounting for three goals.  Empire
retaliated with three goals of their own (all from Payan) to maintain the five
goal lead, 9-4.

Final chukker goals from Empire’s Peterson and Payan were
more than enough for the 11-5 win. 
Rodriguez scored Horsewear-Ireland’s last goal.

 Payan led the
Empire attack with six goals.  Peterson
scored three times and Scapa added two goals for the victory.

Rodriguez scored four goals for Horsewear-Ireland.  Maciel added a single goal in the loss.

Saturday’s final 4-goal game had a balanced Casa Sombres
(Bolko Kissling, Conrad Kissling, Ernesto Bautista and Ashton Wolf) attack defeating
a plucky Parklane (Bill Garlock, Remy Muller, Champ Roth and Doug Blumenthal)
lineup 9-7.

Casa Sombres received one goal by handicap and added to
the early lead on goals from Bautista and Conrad Kissling while limiting the
Parklane offense to a single goal from Muller. 
The first chukker ended with Casa Sombres defending a 3-1 lead.

Bolko Kissling scored twice in the second chukker and
Conrad Kissling added another goal for Casa Sombres.  Parklane answered back with single goals from
Roth and Blumenthal.  Casa Sombres
continued to lead, 6-3.

Lights out defense by Parklane and single goals from
Muller and Blumenthal turned it back into a game.  At the end of the third chukker Parklane
trailed by a single goal, 6-5.

Parklane had their opportunity but failed to take
advantage of it.  Instead of building
momentum, Parklane failed to score. 
Bautista scored the only goal of the chukker as Casa Sombres left the
field at the end of the chukker with a 7-5 advantage.

To final chukker goals from Wolf ran the score to 9-5
with Parklane struggling to stay competitive. 
Goals from Muller and Blumenthal ended the match with Casa Sombres celebrating
the 9-7 victory.

Muller and Blumenthal scored three goals apiece for
Parklane.  Roth added a goal.

Conrad Kissling, Bolko Kissling, Bautista and Wolf scored
two goals each for Casa Sombres.  The
team received one goal by handicap.

CASA
SOMBRES 8, EMPIRE 4

On the strength of an 8-4 victory, Casa Sombres rode off
with the Crown Cup Sunday afternoon at the Empire Polo Club at the expense of
an anemic Empire attack.

Casa Sombres received one goal by handicap but was unable
to get any attack going in the opening seven minutes of play.  Charlie Peterson made good on a 60-yard
penalty shot and it was all even at 1-1. 

Peterson scored again from the 60-yard mark on a penalty
shot.  For the second consecutive chukker
Casa Sombres was unable to break through the Empire attack, trailing 2-1. 

Empire went ahead3-1 in the third with a goal from the field
from Peterson.  Conrad Kissling finally
found the range for a goal followed by a scoring effort from Wolf and the score
was all even at 3-3.

Conrad Kissling converted a 40-yard penalty shot in the
fourth for a 4-3 edge as Empire was unable to coordinate any effective offense
in the period. 

A four goal final chukker from Casa Sombres closed the
door on any thought of an Empire rally as they got two goals from Ernesto
Bautista and single goals from Wolf and
Bolko Kissling.  Empire managed a single
penalty conversion from Leigh Brecheen in the 8-4 Casa Sombres win.

Peterson scored three goals for Empire with Brecheen
adding the other. 

Casa Sombres received one goal by handicap and got two
goals apiece from Conrad Kissling, Wolf and Bautista.  Bolko Kissling added a goal in the victory.

FLOWERS
FARMS 10, PARKLANE 7

Later in the afternoon, Flowers Farm took the consolation
round of play in a 10-7 win over Parklane.

Goals from Ernie Ezcurra and Erik Wright had Flowers Farm
in the lead after the opening chukker with a single goal from Remy Muller being
the only offense Parklane could mount. 
Flowers Farm rode into the second period with a 2-1 advantage.

Two more goals from Wright (one on a penalty shot) and a
40-yard penalty conversion from Ezcurra had Flowers Farm ahead 5-3 after two
chukkers.  Parklane got single goals from
Remy Muller and Doug Blumenthal.

Ezcurra added two more goals from the field in the third
with Blumenthal responding with a 60-yard penalty conversion of his own.  After three periods, Flowers Farm continued
to dominate the game, 7-4.

Goals from David Flowers and Wright in the fourth went
unanswered as Parklane was unable to finish a play.  With one chukker left to play Flowers Farm
extended it lead to five goals, 9-4.

Parklane staged a last-chukker rally picking up a pair of
goals from Muller and a gaol from Blumenthal. 
A single goal from Ezcurra was all that was needed, however, as Flowers
Farms scored the 10-7 victory.

Ezcurra led all scoring with five goals.  Wright scored four times and Flowers added a
goal in the win.

Muller scored four times for Parklane.  Blumenthal was credited with three goals.