The third day of the 83rd Tortugas Open featured play in Zone A, beginning with La Dolfina Saudi (Adolfo Cambiaso, David Stirling, Poroto Cambiaso, Juan Martin Nero, Gonzalo Ferrari) remaining undefeated after the 14-7 victory over Cria La Dolfina (Guillermo Terrera, Tomas Panelo, Diego Cavanagh, Alejo Taranco) at Tortugas Country Club.
Coming forward from back, Nero led the charge offensively for La Dolfina Saudi, accounting for three of their first four goals in the opening two chukkas, but Cria La Dolfina remained within a single goal with Cavanagh singlehandedly producing three goals of his own, two of which came from the penalty line. The match changed over the third and fourth chukkas with la Dolfina Saudi asserting their dominance on possession, as Stirling scored three unanswered goals from the field, while their defense held Cria La Dolfina scoreless during that stretch to leave the score at 9-3 entering the break.
Picking up where he left off, Stirling continued to attack goal relentlessly, adding his fourth and fifth goals, shooting an impressive 5 for 7 in the contest. An injury forced Stirling from the match in the sixth chukka, replaced by 6-goaler Gonzalo Ferrari for the remaining two chukkas of play. Holding an 8-goal advantage at that point in the match, La Dolfina Saudi limited the scoring opportunities for Cria La Dolfina to maintain their stronghold on the match. Poroto Cambiaso found an opening in the seventh chukka to score his fifth goal and despite Cria La Dolfina matching La Dolfina Saudi on the scoreboard in the final two chukkas, the result was a 14-7 victory for La Dolfina Saudi.
Trying to join La Dolfina Saudi with a 2-0 record, La Natividad (Facundo Pieres, Camilo Castagnola, Pablo Mac Donough, Bartolome Castagnola) met La Ensenada Brubank (Juan Britos, Alfredo Bigatti, Juan Martin Zubia, Jeronimo del Carril) on Field 6 at Tortugas Country Club. The normally potent La Natividad attack was held scoreless in the opening chukka, resulting in La Ensenada Brubank taking a 2-0 lead after goals from del Carril and Bigatti. However, the Castagnola brothers provided a swift response, combining for all three goals in the second chukka to take their first lead. Producing three goals each in the first half, the duo kept La Natividad ahead, but La Ensenada Brubank was displaying a valiant effort, trailing just 6-4 at halftime.
The first La Natividad goal from someone other than a Castagnola came off the mallet of Pieres halfway through the fifth chukka to help his team inch one goal further ahead, but La Ensenada Brubank turned to Bigatti to provide a response. Adding his third and fourth goals in the sixth chukka, Bigatti kept his team within striking distance, facing an 11-7 deficit entering the final seven minutes of play. Any hope of a comeback was thwarted in the opening minutes as Camilo Castagnola scored from the field in the opening minute, followed by consecutive penalty conversions from Pieres to put the game out of reach. La Natividad completed the 14-10 victory to join La Dolfina Saudi with a 2-0 record, with the winner of their upcoming matchup securing their place in the Tortugas Open final.
Photo Credit: ©Matías Callejo/Prensa AAP