Thermal, CA (January 27, 2008) – The participants for the final game of the Hidden Creek Open, the first tournament of the 2008 La Quinta Polo Club season, were determined late Saturday afternoon, January 26, 2008. As had been mentioned earlier, Bill Freeman’s Corleone had qualified during play the previous weekend by winning both of their games. An opponent, however, had not been decided and day three’s games would do that.
With a less than enviable record of a tie and a loss,Hidden Creek/Shanghai had an outside chance of playing in the Sunday feature. To do so, the Sean Keys/Steve Armour bunch would need a big win over David Ragland’s winless Pink Deco and then hope that Freeman and Chris Maloney would have an equally large effort over Kelly Maloney and Craig Steinke’s Ohana/Stormcat.
The needed victory was in the cards for Keys and Armour, but unfortunately it was only by one at 7 – 6 and not nearly enough. A two goal lead after the first was the largest gap the Hidden Creek/Shanghai guys could achieve and it would not be enough to place their net goal situation in the black.
Keys led his teams scoring with three goals, Rob Yackley had a pair, while Steve Armour and Graham Bray provided one each.
For Pink Deco, Mariano Fassetta (replacing injured Marcos Araya) raised the flag three times with Ragland, Jesse Bray, and Kimo Huddleston getting one each.
With Hidden Creek/Shanghai now pretty much out of it, the Sunday feature was easily attainable for Ohana/Stormcat as long as they didn’t lose by a bunch to Corleone/Tri Tech. With a final spot assured for Freeman and Chris Maloney, and therefore no need to push, the game ended in a 7 – 7 tie and earned second place in the standings for Kelly Maloney and Steinke and a repeat match with the gangsters – this time for everything.
Jason Crowder (replacing injured Santigo von Wernich) scored three times for the finals bound group. Danny Juarez contributed two with Craig Stenke and Kelly Maloney getting one each.
Freeman scored three times for his side, Gaston von Wernich had two, and Chris Maloney potted one. A handicap award at the start made seven.
With the first final of the 2008 season now set for Sunday afternoon between Corleone/TriTech and Ohana/Stormcat, everything appeared to be in place – except for one thing. Over an inch of rain fell overnight and continued througout the morning, making play out of the question. The final of the Hidden Creek Open will be re-scheduled.
Standings: Corleone/Tri Tech 2-0-1 +4net 5pts, Ohana/Stormcat 1-0-2 +2 4, Hidden Creek/Shanghai 1-1-1 -2 3, Pink Deco 0-3-0 -4 0
tony gregg