By Alex Webbe
Casa Sombres (Conrad Kissling, Bolko Kissling, Ashton Wolf and Ernesto Bautista) secured a spot in the 4-goal Lions Cup finals with a 10-6 win over Thermal (Hayward Pardue, Dayelle Fargey, Ramiro Gonzalez and Reg Whyte) Friday afternoon at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California and will face a yet-to-be-determined opponent who will be decided in Saturday’s competition.
Dayelle Fargey scored the first goal of the game but a pair of goals from Ashton Wolf and one goal by handicap gave Casa Sombres an early 3-1 advantage.
Second chukker play saw Wolf add another goal from the field while teammate Conrad Kissling converted a 40-yard penalty shot. Thermal answered with a penalty goal of their own by Reg Whyte, but continued to trail, 5-2 after two chukkers of play.
Conrad Kissling added another penalty goal in the third and a goal from the field. Wolf chipped in his fourth goal of the day as Casa Sombres charged out to an 8-4 halftime lead. Fargey and Whyte recorded single goals for the Thermal team.
Casa Sombres scored two unanswered goals in the fourth chukker with Wolf and Bautista getting on the scoreboard for a commanding 10-4 advantage as Thermal struggled to put together an effective attack.
Thermal picked up single goals from Pardue and Whyte in the final chukker as Casa Sombres coasted to the 10-6 victory.
Wolf led the Casa Sombres attack with five goals. Conrad Kissling scored three times (twice on penalty shots) and Bautista added a goal. The team received one goal by handicap.
Whyte scored three times for Thermal. Fargey added two goals and Pardue added a goal in a losing effort.
Saturday action will determine who Casa Sombres will face in the finals of the Lions Cup. Each team contributed a $1,000 entry fee with the Empire Polo Club matching funds in the purse. The first place team will receive $75 of the purse. Second place takes home the remaining 25%.