Corleone defeated Aspen to win the 8-goal Holiday Cup. From left to right: Fergus Gould, Bill Freeman, Gabe Fernandez and Jason Crowder. Click here for all photos from this Tournament
Double Eagle won the 4-goal USPA Player’s Cup. From left to right: Doug Blumenthal, Zhenya Kirueshkin, Erik Wright, and Vladimir Rivkin. Click here for all photos from this Tournament
La Mancha won the 2-goal finals. From left to right: Dempsey Mork, Alvaro Tadeo, Antonio Juarez and Betty Pope. Click here for all photos from this Tournament
Double Eagle cinches U.S.P.A. Players Cup – Los Caballos falls 5-4 as Double Eagle earns its third tournament win in four-goal competition at Eldorado Polo Club.
By DIANE HENSLEY
INDIO –- Winning can be pretty. Winning can be ugly. Sometimes even pretty ugly. But no matter what it looks like on the outside, there remains one undisputed feature—it never gets old.
Double Eagle has tucked every kind of win under their wings this season, winning three of four tournaments the three-goal team has entered this fall at Eldorado Polo Club. Anchored by No. 2 Zhenya Kirueshkin, No. 4 Vladimir Rivkin and captain Erik Wright, Double Eagle sealed the season opening Roadrunner round robin against Park Lane and Springfield; defeated Aspen Oaks 8-4 in the World Gym final Dec. 10, then held their ground against Los Caballos Sunday in a 5-4 sleeper for the U.S.P.A. Players Cup trophy.
“We really have just played well together,” Rivkin said after the match. “That’s how it’s supposed to happen.”
The Players Cup final wasn’t pretty but it counts. The push-and-pull match was fought largely over territory—and the line of the ball, with 13 fouls called during the first half. Double Eagle’s Wright managed just a single goal from the field, forward Doug Blumenthal tallied two penalty conversions in the second and third chukkers and the team picked up a goal on handicap.
Double Eagle’s defense was strong, however, holding Los Caballos’ No. 3 Victor Soto at bay and allowing just two field goals from forward Nick Morrison and Remy Muller. Los Caballos couldn’t recover from a one-goal deficit at the half that increased three-fold by the end of the third.
The snap of an otherwise four-tournament winning streak for Double Eagle came with the Go Honey on Nov. 25. The 6-2 rout by Park Lane didn’t faze their resolve, but the mistakes and missed opportunities of that poor showing haven’t since been repeated. Double Eagle began the season with Morrison as their forward but picked up Blumenthal, who had played with Park Lane, before the World Gym tournament.
Double Eagle plans to enter the four-goal six-chukker tournament in January but has not yet selected their No. 1, Wright said.
U.S.P.A. PLAYERS CUP
DOUBLE EAGLE 5, LOS CABALLOS 4
Goals Scored
Double Eagle: Doug Blumenthal 2, Zhenya Kirueshkin, Erik Wright 2, Vlad Rivkin, one by handicap.
Los Caballos: Noel Muller, Remy Muller 1, Victor Soto 2, Nick Morrison 1.
Umpires: Mike Kerley, Andy Maze