Go HoneyTournament
3 Goal
Nov. 18 - 26th, 2000
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3 Goal
Nov. 18 - 26th, 2000
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Kerley power train
By DIANE HENSLEY
INDIO Boss Polo had made it to the crossroads in the Go Honey Finals Sunday. Led by Domingo Questal, Boss has struggled through near-certain defeat in two qualifying matches, twice pulling out all stops in overtime to win, and overcoming as wide as a four-goal deficit to emerge superior.
Yet despite an open game, big hitting and hard running, they were derailed in the finals match by Cassidy West twin engines Chris and Mike Kerley, who rode on locomotion from the first goal awarded on handicap. Boss fell to a 7-5 defeat in regulation.
The Kerleys, playing the middle at No. 2 and No. 3, quickly built a 3-0 lead in the first three minutes. Chris capitalized on a dead ball left by Boss's Andrew Bossom and powered in an offside through the posts. Mike picked up a ball batted out of the next line-up, shook off Boss's Christian Moon in the ride-off and took dead aim to fire the ball in from 35 yards.
"Our coach, Rob Roenisch,
said the only way to beat this team was by ball handling. They
play long and they run, and we were fortunate enough to pull
it off," Mike Kerley said.
Chris Kerley, ridden hard by Questal early in the second, skillfully
carried the ball close to his mount, using timing and control
to edge the ball beyond the reach of Questal's mallet. By resisting
a common strategy of powering through the tight spots with speed
and a big offside, Kerley worked through it with handiwork.
"To win, we knew we had to try to relax and not scramble. If you start scrambling, you can get into trouble," Kerley said.
Questal's penalty conversion and a goal necked in by Moon kept Boss in the match but trailing 4-2. A sketchy defense in the third chukker left Mike free to score on a breakaway and a line-foul left Boss open to a penalty shot that Mike easily sailed through the posts to widen that lead to four goals.
As expected, Questal and Moon
rallied late, capitalizing on a penalty shot and outriding Chris
Kerley for an offside winner with three minutes to go in the
final period. Frustration led Boss to a foul late in the chukker
and Mike tapped in the ball from the 60-yard hash at the 30-second
horn.
<Continued on page 2>