Ellerstina hammers La Aguada 17 to 10; will face La Dolfina in Tortugas Open final
By Alex Webbe
Ellerstina (Polito Pieres, Nico Pieres, Gonzalito Pieres and Facundo Pieres) pounded La Aguada (Agustín Merlos, Guillermo Terrera, Sapo Caset and Ignacio Novillo Astrada) 17-10 to earn a slot in the Tortugas Open final against the 40-goal La Dolfina polo team (Adolfo Cambiaso, Pelon Stirling, Pablo MacDonough and Juan Martin Nero) on Saturday, October 17th.
To no one’s surprise Ellerstina beat La Aguada Sunday afternoon at the Tortugas Country Club, earning the right to play La Dolfina for the title.
The new all-Pieres lineup rang up four first chukker goals while holding the La Aguada foursome to a single score, 4-1.
The two teams traded goals in the second period, each scoring twice. Ellerstina maintained their three goal lead, 6-3.Four more goals in the third period had La Aguada struggling to keep pace with the black-shirted Ellerstina squad. La Aguada managed a pair of goals themselves but found themselves trailing by five goals at the end of the third chukker, 10-5.
The pace slowed down a bit in the next three periods either because Ellerstina decided to save their horses for the final or because the quality of their horses allowed them to do so. Single goals were scored by each team through the fourth fifth and sixth chukkers. Ellerstina rode into the final period with a 13-8 advantage.
Ellerstina finished the game with a flourish, scoring four consecutive goals tor an intimidating 17-8 advantage. Agustin Merlos managed the final two goals of the game, a game that belonged to Ellerstina from the opening chukker, 17-10.
Facundo Pieres led the Ellerstina team with nine goals (eight on penalty conversions). Polito Pieres added five goals and Gonzalito Pieres scored five times for the win. Agustin Merlos scored five of his team-high seven goals on penalty shots. Sapo Caset added two goals (one on a penalty shot) and Guillermo Terrera scored a goal.
The much anticipated final of the Tortugas will pit the powerful defending championship La Dolfina team against the new-look, 39-goal Ellerstina lineup and Argentina’s newest 10-goaler, Polito Pieres. (Photo courtesy of AAP and Matias Callejo)
