Ellerstina and La Aguada/Las Monjitas register Argentine Open wins
By Alex Webbe
In an unimpressive Argentine Open debut, Ellerstina (Polito Pieres, Nico Pieres, Gonzalito Pieres and Facundo Pieres) recovered by a 7-6 halftime deficit to beat Washington (Diego Cavanagh, Ezequiel M. Ferrario, Facundo Sola and Alfredo Cappella) 14-10 in the second day of tournament play.
The two teams traded goals in the opening two chukkers as they vanished the first chukker in a 1-1 tie and kept the score even at 3-3 after two periods of play.
Washington showed early strength as they broke through the Ellerstina defense to score three times. Washington’s held the talented 39-goal Ellerstina team scoreless and led, 6-3.
The Pieres boys fought back in the fourth period, out-scoring Washington 3-1. At the end of the first half it was the 31-goal Washington foursome with the lead, 7-6.
A regrouped Ellerstina team took the field in the fifth chukker and got right to work. This time it was Ellerstina with three unanswered goals as the Washing ton lead disappeared and Ellerstina rode off the field with a 9-7 advantage.
Washington came up with a sixth chukker goal but Ellerstina had the engine running and added three more goals. After six periods of play it was Ellerstina with a four goal lead, 12-8.
The Washington defense continued to impress as they held Ellerstina to a single goal in the seventh. Washington was unable to score themselves, however, and fell behind 13-8.
Washington added two more goals in the eighth and final chukker while Ellerstina added a single goal for the 14-10 win.
Facundo Pieres seemed to have recovered from the fall he suffered in the Hurlingham Open final and scored six of his game-high nine goals on penalty conversions. Gonzalito Pieres added three goals with Polito Pieres and Nico Pieres each chipping in a goal for the win. Facundo Sola led the Washington attack with six goals (four on penalty shots). Diego Cavanagh was credited with three goals and Ezequiel Ferrario scored once.
La Aguada/Las Monjitas 17, Chapaleufú 15
La Aguada/ Las Monjitas (Ignacio Toccalino, Pite Merlos, Eduardo N. Astrada Jr. and Alejandro Novillo Astrada) and Chapaleufú (Pepe Heguy, Nachi Heguy, Bautista Heguy and Eduardo Heguy) faced off against one another in the day’s 4:30 match with La Aguada/Las Monjitas taking it to Chapaleufú in the opening chukker, 3-1. The two teams traded goals in the second period, with La Aguada/Las Monjitas continuing to trail, 5-3.
Three more La Aguada/Las Monjitas goals in the third were countered by a pair of Chapaleufú scores. The La Aguada/Las Monjitas lead continued to grow and had Chapaleufú behind by three goals, 8-5.
The Heguys stepped up their defense in the fourth period and managed to shut down the La Aguada/Las Monjitas attack while netting a pair of goals of their own. La Aguada/Las Monjitas continued to lead at the end of the first half, but Chapaleufú had shaved their lead down to a single goal, 8-7.
It was Chapaleufú on the attack in the second half with two goals while keeping La Aguada/Las Monjitas off the scoreboard. After five chukkers of play it was Chapaleufú with a 9-8 lead.
It didn’t take La Aguada/Las Monjitas to get refocused in sixth chukker action. It was La Aguada/Las Monjitas supplying all of the offense in the period as they rang up four goals and held Chapaleufú scoreless. The sixth chukker ended with Chapaleufú trailing by three goals, 12-9.
Just as La Aguada/Las Monjitas bounced back in the sixth chukker, so did Chapaleufú in the seventh. Chapaleufú scored four times for their most productive chukker of the game. La Aguada/Las Monjitas managed just a single goal, and with one period left in regulation play the score was all even at 13-13.
La Aguada/Las Monjitas unleased a desperate assault on the Chapaleufú goal in the eighth period, scoring four times. Chapaleufú responded with a pair of goals of their own but were no match for La Aguada/Las Monjitas in the final seven minutes of the game, falling by a score of 17-15.
Ignacio Toccalino led the La Aguada/Las Monjitas attack with nine goals (five on penalty conversions). Eduardo Novillo Astrada and Sebastian Merlos scored three goals apiece and Alejandro Novillo Astrada scored twice for the win. Eduardo Heguy scored all ten of his goals on penalty shots. Nachi Heguy and Pepe Heguy scored two goals each with Bautista Heguy adding a goal in the loss.
Argentine Open play is scheduled to return on Saturday, November 28th with La Aguada facing Magual while La Dolfina will try to keep their perfect record intact as they battle Alegria. On Sunday La Aguada/Las Monjitas will meet Washington with Ellerstina taking on Chapaleufú in the second match of the day.
(Photo courtesy of AAP and Matias Callejo)