Tortugas Open play begins

Magual and Alegria
score opening wins at Tortugas

By Alex Webbe

A 33-goal Magual polo team (Alejandro Muzzio, Ignacio
Toccalino, Marcos Di Paola and Jaime Garcia Huidobro) upset a talented  36-goal La Aguada lineup (Facundo Sola,
Guillermo Caset Jr., Miguel Novillo Astrada and Ignacio Novillo Astrada) 13-12
I n the opening round of play in the 2014 Tortugas Open in Argentina, but they
needed overtime to accomplish it.

Magual matched La Aguada goal for goal in the opening
chukker, 2-2, but opened up a two goal lead, 5-3, after the second period.  La Aguada fought their way back into the game
in the third, outscoring Magual 2-1, and cutting the lead back to a single
goal, 6-5.

Three fourth chukker goals from Magual went unanswered as La
Aguada was unable to either stop their attack or put up an offense of their
own.  After four chukkers Magual had
built up a four goal lead, 9-5.

La Aguada scored twice in the fifth while limiting the
Magual offense to a single goal.  With
two chukkers left in regulation play, La Aguada trailed by three goals, 10-7.

The sixth period belonged to La Aguada.  The team rallied for three goals while
holding Magual scoreless.  The score was
all even at 10-10 going into the seventh and final chukker in regulation play.

Ignacio Toccalino’s two goals were countered by single goals
from Sapo Caset and Facundo Sola. 
Regulation time ended in a 12-12 deadlock.  The two teams retired from the field for the
sudden-death overtime period.

It was Magual with the golden goal in overtime, dealing La
Aguada an opening 13-12 loss in the Tortugas opener.

ALEGRIA 15, LA
AGUADA/LAS MONJITAS 12

A tentative first chukker greeted Alegria (Polito Pieres,
Hilario Ulloa, Lucas Monteverde and Frederick Mannix) as they tied La
Aguada/Las Monjitas (Lucas James, Cristian Laprida, Eduardo Novillo Astrada and
Alejandro Novillo Astrada) with two goals in the first period, 2-2.

They outscored La Aguada/Las Monjitas 3-1 in second period
play as they rode out to a two goal advantage, 5-3.

The La Aguada/Las Monjitas cranked up their defense in the
third, limiting the Alegria attack to a single goal.  Alegria returned the favor, shutting out La
Aguada/Las Monjitas and extending their lead to three goals, 6-3.

La Aguada/Las Monjitas tacked three goals onto their total
in the fourth while limiting a potent Alegria attack to a pair of goals.  With three periods of play left, the Alegria
lead stood at two goals, 8-6.

The Alegria defense was tested in the fifth as La Aguada/Las
Monjitas added two more goals.  The
Alegria offense scored once, but the lead had been cut to one goal, 9-8, with
two periods left in the game.

The action intensified in the sixth on both sides.  Two goals from Alegria were matched by a pair
of goals from La Aguada/Las Monjitas.  La
Aguada/Las Monjitas was nipping at the heels of the Alegria players, trailing
by a single goal, 11-10, with once chukker left to be played.

Alegria re-doubled their efforts in the final seven minutes
of play, outscoring La Aguada/Las Monjitas 4-2 and recording their first win of
the tournament, 15-12.

Tortugas Open action continues on Saturday with the 40-goal
defending championship La Dolfina team (Adolfo Cambiaso, David Stirling, Pablo
MacDonough and Juan Martin Nero) facing La Aguada.

Ellerstina (Facundo Pieres, Gonzalo Pieres Jr., Mariano
Aguerre and Nicolas Pieres) will meet La Aguada/Las Monjitas in Sunday’s
Tortugas Open play.