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La Herradura takes home $45,000 with a Champions Cup final victory

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The Empire Polo Club cashes out the season with a $60,000 money game for the Champions Cup.

Former 10-goaler Memo Gracida had guided his La Herradura (Meghan Gracida, Carlos Hernandez, Memo Gracida and Catlin Dix) through their first three Championship Cup wins but was forced into a coaching position in the tournament final against the imposing Evergreen lineup (Tom Sprung, Carlitos Galindo, Juan Jo Gonzalez and Shane Rice).

La Herradura (L to R) Santi Torres, Carlos Hernandez, Catlin Dix, Meghan Gracida and Memo Gracida celebrate a $45,000 win in teh final of the Champions Cup.

Evergreen had ruled the fields at the Empire Polo Club since the beginning of the year, taking top honors in 4-goal competition in the Stagecoach Challenge, the USPA Circuit Players Cup and the USPA General Patton Cup.  The Evergreen lineup changed for the 8-goal USPA Constitution Cup in March as they went undefeated once again, but for the season-ending $60,000 Champions Cup they ran into Memo Gracida’s La Herradura entry.

Both La Herradura and Evergreen bowled over their first three opponents before facing one another in the tournament final.  A fall suffered by Memo Gracida on Friday, March 30th, however, sidelined the Hall of Fame legend, forcing La Herradura to bring in 6-goaler Santi Torres in an effort to fill out the lineup.

A tenuous start saw Evergreen take advantage of a foul by La Herradura, with Shane Rice converting a 30-yard penalty shot for the early lead.  Carlos Hernandez, who had been a scoring powerhouse for La Herradura, tied the game with his first goal of the day.  Back-to-back goals from Santi Torres ended the first period with La Herradura on top of a 3-1 lead.

Fouls continued to plague the La Herradura lineup with, Rice converting two 40-yard penalty shots.   Hernandez scored his second goal of the game, keeping La Herradura in the lead,4-3 as the second chukker ended.

Torres scored the first goal of the third, extending the La Herradura lead to two goals, 5-3.  Two goals from Rice (one on a 30-yard penalty shot) leveled the score at 5-5, and Juan Jo

Shane Baum of Leisure Society presents the MVP trophy to La Herradura’s Carlos Hernandez.

Gonzalez scored the go-ahead goal for Evergreen to end the first half with a 6-5 advantage.

Memo Gracida might not have been on the field but he was in the team tent at the end of the field.

“It was more about Santi (Torres) and Carlos (Hernandez) talking to one another and coordinating their play on the field,” he said.  “I told the girls (Catlin Dix and his wife, Meghan Gracida) to continue pushing forward and to utilize the horses.”

The direction appeared to take hold.  Hernandez tied the game with a goal from the field followed by a penalty goal for a 7-6 lead.  Torres scored the final goal of the chukker as a solid defensive effort shut down the talented Evergreen attack and edged La Herradura ahead, 8-6.

Hernandez and Torres traded goals with Galindo and Rice in the fifth, with La Herradura maintaining their two goals lead, 10-8, with one chukker left in regulation play.

Playing as if the score was tied, La Herradura exploded in the sixth.  Meghan Gracida took the opening throw-in and raced 150-yards down the field for her first goal of the game and a three-goal, 11-8 lead.  Rice responded with a goal for Evergreen that cut the lead back to a manageable two goals, 11-9.  The teamwork between Torres and Hernandez continued to pay off. Torres scored twice from the field with the two La Herradura players taking turns passing the ball to one another and blocking out opponents for a 13-9 edge.  With time running out, Rice scored on a 60-yard penalty shot but it was too little, too late.  Torres scored the last goal of the game on a 40-yard penalty conversion as La Herradura celebrated the 14-10 win and a check for $45,000, the winner’s share of the purse.  Evergreen suffered their first loss of the winter season but were comforted with a check for $15,000 for their second-place finish.

Shane Rice with Midget, winner of the Best Playing Pony award.

“It was a tough match“, said Meghan Gracida after the game, “but our team played as a team and pushed hard.  Our horses were amazing and so was our coach (Memo Gracida)“, she added, “So happy”.

Torres led all soring with eight goals.  Hernandez scored five times and earned MVP honors while Meghan Gracida added a goal for the win.  Rice’s six goals (three on penalty conversions) led the Evergreen attack.  Galindo added three goals and Gonzalez scored once in the loss.

Rice’s horse, Midget, was named Best Playing Pony.

Buffalo 6, Vancouver/Mother Chukkers 3

La Herradura and Evergreen weren’t the only teams going home with money in their pockets as the Buffalos (Ross Adam, Tim Rudy, Felipe Sordelli and Riley Jordan) took the winners share of an $8,000 purse while the Vancouver/Mother Chukkers (Jay Garnett, Nicolas Maciel, Robert Payne III and Sukey Forbes) settled for $2,000 for a second-place finish in the 4-goal Lions Cup.

The Buffalos won the Lions Cup Final and $6,000. Ross Adam, Riley Jordan, Felipe Sordelli and Tim Rudy.

Robert Payne opened the scoring in the 4-goal Lions Cup final with a goal from the field for the Vancouver/Mother Chukkers.  Tim Rudy converted a penalty shot to tie it at 1-1 and teammate Felipe Sordelli added a goal from the field for a 2-1 Buffalo lead.

MVP was Felipe Sordelli.

Shutout defense by the Buffalos in the second period of the four chukker final was nearly all defensive in nature.  Riley Jordon scored the only goal of the period, giving the Buffalos a 3-1 halftime lead.

The two teams exchanged goals in the third, matching one another goal-for-goal.  A pair of goals from Payne were countered by single goals from Sordelli and Rudy (penalty goal).  The lead remained with the Buffalos, 5-3.

For the second time in the match, Vancouver/Mother Chukkers were unable to mount a successful attack.  Rudy’s third goal on the day accounted for all of the fourth chukker scoring as the Buffalos left the field celebrating the 6-3 win.

Rudy scored a team high three goals for Buffalo.  Sordelli added two goals and Jordan accounted for a single goal in the win.  All three Vancouver/Mother Chukkers goals came from Payne (two on penalty shots).

The Lions Cup and the Champions Cup were the final polo tournaments of the season at the Empire Polo Club and signaled the end of a 14-week season that included women’s competitions and Friday night polo under the lights as well as regular Sunday afternoon tournament action.

BPP was Renatta, owned and played by Robert Payne III.

The Empire Polo Club is located at 81-800 Avenue 51 in Indio, CA. For further information go to the club website at http://empirepolo.com or call 760-342-7755. Entrance for Friday night games is on Ave. 50 between Madison Street and Monroe Street.

Evergreen takes Stagecoach Challenge behind nine goals from Carlitos Galindo

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2018 Stagecoach Challenge winners-Evergreen (L to R), Juan Jo Gonzalez, Bayne Bossom, Carlitos Galindo and Tom Sprung were undefeated in two days of competition at the Empire Polo Club.

Evergreen (Tom Sprung, Carlitos Galindo, Juan Jo Gonzales and Bayne Bossom) and Hanalei Bay (Krista Bonaguidi, Ashton Wolf, Taylor Freeman and Ian Schnoebelen) rode into Sunday’s final of the 2018 Stagecoach Challenge at the Empire Polo Club with high-scoring offenses that had averaged about 13-goals-per game (Evergreen 13; Hanalei Bay, 12.6) after three games, setting the stage for a high-scoring championship match that would feature some of the tournament’s top scorers, and they didn’t disappoint.

Carlitos Galindo rocked the Hanalei Bay defenders in first chukker action that saw him score three consecutive goals for the early 3-1 edge (Hanalei Bay received one goal by handicap).  Taylor Freeman scored Hanalei Bay’s first goal from the field to end the first with Evergreen holding on to a 3-2 advantage.

Fouls by Hanalei Bay got them into trouble early in the second period, and Evergreen made them pay.  Galindo converted a penalty shot from 60-yards while teammate Bayne scored on a 30-yarder.  Both Galindo and Bossom added goals from the field as Evergreen rocketed out to a 7-2 lead.  Ashton Wolf scored the final goal of the period, but Hanalei Bay trailed by four goals, 7-3.

Hanalei Bay, (L to R)-Krista Bonaguidi, Ian Schnoebelen, Ashton Wolf and Taylor Freeman.

Hanalei Bay scratched their way back into the game in the third, cutting the lead back to 7-5 on goals from Wolf and Freeman (a 40-yard penalty conversion), but it wasn’t to be.  Galindo added a penalty goal and a goal from the field with Juan Jo Gonzalez scoring his first goal of the day on a penalty shot to give Evergreen a commanding 10-5 halftime lead.

The Hanalei Bay defense stepped it up in the fourth, holding Evergreen scoreless for the first time all day, but were unable to capitalize on it.  A single goal from Wolf was all they could muster, offensively, and continued to trail, 10-6.

Bossom’s single goal in the fifth for Evergreen was the only score of the period as solid defensive efforts slowed down both attacking efforts.  The Evergreen led returned to five goals, 11-6, with one period left in regulation play.

Gonzalez added a goal and Galindo scored twice (one on a penalty shot) while an impotent Hanalei Bay attack was unable to mount a successful scoring effort for the second consecutive chukker.  When the final horn sounded it was Evergreen with the convincing 14-6 victory.

Carlitos Galindo led all scoring with an impressive nine goals.  He also finished the tournament as high-scorer with a total of 26 goals in four games.  Bossom added three goals and Gonzalez scored twice for the win.  Wolf scored three times for Hanalei Bay.  Freeman added two goals and the team received one goal by handicap.

Empire 7, Granite Bay 5

In a noon Stagecoach Challenge consolation game, it was Empire (Rob Scapa, Eileen Duffy, Erik Wright and Nicolas Maciel) sneaking past Granite Bay (Eric Hammon, Julie Fernandez, Alvaro Tadeo and Goyo Mariscal), 7-5.

First chukker goals from Nicolas Maciel (substituting for Jim Wright) and Rob Scapa went unanswered as the Empire defenders turned aside one assault after another.  The first chukker ended with Empire on top, 2-0.

The Empire polo team of Erik Wright, Nicolas Maciel, Rob Scapa and Eileen Duffy downed Granite Bay in the consolation match.

Maciel’s second goal of the day extended the Empire lead to three goals, 3-0, before Granite Bay found their offense.  Countering with goals from Eric Hammon and Alvaro Tadeo, Granite Bay came within a goal of the lead, 3-2, as the period ended.

Goals were scarce in the third as both defenses held.  A single 30-yard penalty conversion by Erik Wright accounted for all of the scoring as Empire left the field at the end of the first half on top of a 4-2 score.

A fourth period goal from Maciel was supported by a defense that held Granite Bay without a goal for the second consecutive chukker.  After four periods of play, Empire remained in the lead, 5-2.

Granite Bay came alive in the fifth, with goals from Tadeo and Goyo Mariscal, 5-4, but Empire answered back.  Single goals from Maciel and Wright restored their 3-goal lead, 7-4, with one period left to play.

The defensive tone of the game carried into the final chukker, with Granite Bay’s Julie Fernandez accounting for the only goal in a 7-5 Empire victory.

Maciel led the Empire attack with four goals.  Wright scored twice and Scapa accounted for a goal in the win.  Tadeo’s two goals were a team high for Granite Bay.  Single goals were scored by Fernandez, Mariscal and Hammon.