Trinity to face California Polo/Matrix

in Coyote Cup Finals

 

By Alex Webbe

Tim Rudy scored three of his game high five goals in the first half as Trinity (Rick
Paicius, Tim Rudy, Erik Wright and David Flowers) rode away with a 10-4 win over
Kingscliffe (Kate Ewart, Santos Areolla, Brad Ramsby and Kendra Clark) in the opening
match of the Coyote Classic Saturday afternoon at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, CA.

Kingscliff received two goals by handicap but was unable to break through the Trinity
defense in the opening two chukkers of play.

Consecutive goals from Rudy tied it up at 2-2 in the first. Rudy added a third goal in the
second chukker, and teammate Rick Paicius added two more to the Trinity total for a 5-
2 halftime lead.

Third chukkers from Kate Ewart and Santos Areolla cut the Trinity lead to one goal, 5-4,
but David Flowers closed out the scoring with his first goal of the day for a two goal, 6-4
advantage.

Kingscliff continued to fire blanks in the final chukker as the Trinity game plan continued
to roll. Flowers scored Trinity’s opening goal of the fourth chukker followed by a pair of
goals from the field from Rudy. Erik Wright scored the final goal of the contest as Trinity
celebrated a 10-4 pummeling of the Kingscliff team.

Rudy led all scoring with five goals. Paicius and Flowers scored two goals apiece and
Wright accounted for a goal in the win.

Ewart and Areolla scored single goals and Kingscliff received two goals by handicap.

CALIFORNIA POLO/MATRIX WINS ROUND-ROBIN, IN FINALS

In late afternoon Coyote Cup action California Polo Club/Matrix (Ashton Wolf, Doug
Snyder, Domingo Questel and Grainger Hines) scored wins over Parklane (Jared
Sheldon, Bill Garlock, Cameron Smith and Tiamo Hudspeth) and the Toreodors (Lolo
Payan, Roxy Keyfauver, Goyo Mariscal and Pepe Alcaraz) in round-robin competition
to earn a berth in Sunday’s noon finals. Kingscliffe, Parklane and the Toreodors will
compete in a consolation round-robin at 2PM.

Round-robin action began with Parklane and the Toreodors battling to a 2-2 tie in the
first two chukkers of play, with neither team being able to control the pace of the game.

Parklane received one goal by handicap, but neither team was able to score from the
field in the open chukker of play.

Goyo Mariscal managed to get something going in the second period, scoring two
consecutive goals for a 2-1 Toreodors edge. Parklane’s Bill Garlock managed to knot it
up with the final goal of the mini-match for a 2-2 draw.

Parklane held the field for the second two chukkers, facing a strong California Polo/
Matrix team.

Parklane received one goal by handicap but quickly added to it on a penalty conversion
from Wolf. Sheldon responded for Parklane with a couple of goals, but a pair of
goals from the veteran Questel and a single goal from Snyder ended the chukker with
California Polo/Matrix on top of a 4-3 lead.

Sheldon tied it with the first goal of their second chukker, but Wolf put California Polo/
Matrix back on top with another penalty goal. Smith scored his first goal of the day to
make it all even at 5-5, with Questel coming through with the final and goal for the 6-5
win.

“They (Parklane) are a good team,” said Questel. “We needed to get everyone working
together to take the game from them today.”

For the final two chukkers of the three-team battle, California Polo/Matrix took an early
3-1 lead on a pair of goals from the field from Questel and a single goal from Snyder.
Lolo Payan accounted for the sole goal from the Toreodors in the opening period.

“we knew right away that we had our work cut out for us,” said Hines, “but with an
experienced player like Domingo (Questel) in command, the team coordinated offense
and defense as if we’d been playing together for weeks.”

Scoring was hard to come by in the final chukker with Mariscal scoring the only goal.
The Toreodors continued to press the attack but a resolute California Polo/Matrix
defense held on for the 3-2 win and an appointment with Trinity in Sunday’s noon finals.

“It’s great to see this kind of enthusiasm in some of the early tournaments,” said
Empire’s polo manager, Vicky Owens. “”It’s just this kind of participation that tunes up
players and horses for the regular season,” she added.