Mansour captured the Wickenden Cup title to finish off the Santa Barbara 8 goal season with a perfect record this past Sunday.
Wickenden Cup Champions Mansour: Santi von Wernich, Benji Soleimani, Glencito Holden, Santi Wulff. Photo by K. Kumpart.
The Wickenden Cup, which was established in 1903, was a short but sweet tournament. With only two teams remaining to vie for the title, Mansour and China Beach, the teams played a practice game on Saturday and then played for the final on Sunday.
The game started out well for China Beach, as they got field goals from Bowen Farrell and Henry Walker to build on their two handicap goals and take an early lead. Unfortunately for China Beach, that would be the last time they would enjoy the lead, as Mansour was ahead 5-4 after the second chukker and never looked back. Santi von Wernich and Santi Wulff each scored 5 goals for Mansour, and Benji Soleimani added 2 more to the tally en route to a 12-5 victory.
Godiva, played by Santi von Wernich and owned by Santi Wulff, was named BPP. Santi Wulff was awarded MVP.
In the curtain raiser game, Case Lago/ Klenter Ranch and Gehache/ BHI played a friendly game. The score was tied at the end of the game so in the spirit of good sportsmanship the teams accepted their prizes together.
For the last weekend at Santa Barbara of Oct 16 and 17, several outside teams are coming to compete in a 4 chukker “Last Chance” tournament and finish out the season. There will be a 2-4 goal flight and a 0-1 goal flight.