by Alex Webbe
Angel Rae Glass received one goal by handicap from the California Polo Club Sunday afternoon as it fought its way to a 10-8 win in the finals of the 2011 Desert Challenge Cup at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.
In a back-and-forth contest that saw seven ties, Angel Rae Glass held on to score a 10-8 win over California Polo to capture the Desert Challenge Cup.
Angel Rae Glass: Hayward Pardue, Lolo Payan, Jared Sheldon and Fred Schneeberger /Shane Flock (not shown in photo).Angel Rae Glass received one goal by handicap and quickly added to it on a goal from the field from the talented Jared Sheldon for a 2-0 lead. California responded with a pair of goals from Ashton Wolf (one from the field and one on a 40-yard penalty
conversion) to knot it up at 2-2. Sheldon closed out the scoring in the opening from for the 3-2 Angel Rae Glass lead.
Domingo Questal tied it up at 3-3 with his first goal of the day for California Polo to open the second period. Sheldon and Wolf jockeyed for position throughout the remainder of chukker with each scoring a couple of goals for a 7-7 halftime score.
Wolf gave California Polo its first lead of the game with a goal in the third. Sheldon responded with his fifth goal of the day to even it up at 6-6. Wolf put California Polo on top once again with a goal from the field, but Angel Rae Glass’s Lolo Payan tied it up once again, 7-7, with a goal.
Sheldon opened the fourth and final chukker with a 60-yard penalty conversion to put Angel Rae Glass in front, 8-7. Two more goals from the field from Sheldon gave
them a 10-7, three goal lead as California Polo struggled to find its offense. A final goal from Wolf ended the match with Angel Rae Glass riding off with the 10-8 tournament win.
Sheldon led all scoring with eight goals (two on penalty shots). Payan added a goal and Angel Rae Glass received one goal by handicap.
Wolf led the California Polo effort with seven goals. Questel scored once in the loss.
KINGSCLIFF 7, KENTFIELD 2
Earlier in the day, Kingscliff charged out to a first chukker 6-1 lead before breezing to a one-sided 7-2 win over Kentfield in the consolation round of the Empire Polo Club’s Desert Challenge Cup.
Kingscliff was the winner of the consolation. Santos Areola, Kate Ewart, Kendra Clark and Brad Ramsby.The Kingscliff defense shut out Kentifeld in the opening chukker while Santos Areola scored twice from the field. Teammate Brad Ramsey added a penalty goal for the 3-0 lead.
Ramsey converted a second penalty shot in the second before Kentfield finally got on the score board with a penalty goal from Eric Hammon. Kentfield trailed 4-1. Additional goals from Areola and Kendra Clark ended the first half with Kingscliff holding on to a commanding 6-1 advantage.
Areola accounted for the only goal of the third chukker as both offenses bogged down in the third, and Kingscliff found itself on top of a 7-1 score with one chukker left to play.
Hammon scored the only goal of the fourth chukker as Kingscliff was content to control the final minutes of the match in the 7-2 win.
Areolla scored four times for Kingscliff. Ramsey converted two penalty shots for goals and Clark added a goal from the field in the victory.
Hammon led a punch-less offensive effort from Kentfield with one penalty goal and one goal from the field.
To view photos of these games please visit our photo gallery.