Wins for La Dolfina
and La Aguada get Argentine Open started
By Alex Webbe
La Dolfina and La Aguada each scored a win in the opening
round of play in the 2014 Argentine Open Championship in Buenos Aires Saturday
afternoon.
In the opening game it was La Dolfina (Adolfo Cambiaso,
Sebastian Merlos, Pablo MacDonough and Juan Martin Nero) from the opening
throw-in as they took an early lead and never looked back in the 17-6 win over
Miramar (Gonzalo Deltour, Valerio Zubiaurre, Ignacio Laprida and Santiago
Toccalino).
With Sebastian Merlos substituting for the injured Pelon
Stirling (tendonitis of the elbow), La Dolfina rumbled out to an early 2-0
start against a team that they had beaten in Hurlingham Cup competition by 13
goals last month (19-6).
Miramar fought back
in the second chukker, outscoring La Dolfina 3-2. At the end of two periods of play, La Dolfina
held a 4-3 advantage.
Two La Dolfina goals went unanswered in the third as the La
Dolfina defense stiffened. La Dolfina
had stretched its lead to three goals, 6-3.
Miramar scratched their way back into the game in the
fourth, putting up two goals of their own while holding La Dolfina scoreless. At the end of the first half La Dolfina was
defending a paper thin 6-5 lead.
La Dolfina got their footing in the fifth period, scoring
four times while holding La Dolfina scoreless. Sixth period action continued
much the same as La Dolfina showed superiority on both offense and
defense. Four more goals went up on the
La Dolfina side of the scoreboard while Miramar was held scoreless once
again. At the end of the sixth chukker
La Dolfina was riding a nine goals lead, 14-5.
The two teams traded goals in the seventh period, 15-6, and
La Dolfina ran over them in the eighth as they added two goals and served up
Miramar’s fifth scoreless chukker on their way to a convincing 17-6 win.
Adolfo Cambiaso scored eight times for La Dolfina (once on a
penalty conversion). Pablo MacDonough
and Juan Martin Nero scored four goals apiece and Sebastian Merlos scored a goal
in the win. Santiago Toccalino led the Miramar
attack with three goals (one on a penalty shot attempt). Inaki Laprida scored twice and Toccalino added
a goal in the loss.
La Aguada 12, Maguel10
La Aguada (Facundo Sola, Sapo Caset, Miguel Novillo Astrada
and Alejandro Novillo Astrada) managed to sneak past Magual (Alejandro Muzzio,
Ignacio Toccalino, Marcos Di Paola and Jaime Huidobro) but the beating wasn’t as disheartening for
Magual as their previous meeting in Hurlingham Cup play in which they lost by
nine goals, 19-10.
The two teams traded goals in the opening chukker with
Magual outscoring La Aguada in the second period and took a 3-2 lead.
La Aguada made it up in the third, outscoring Magual 2-1 and
tying the score at 4-4.
Both defenses tightened in the next three chukkers as the
two teams traded goals one for one. The
score remained even in the fourth 5-5, the fifth, 7-7 and the sixth, 8-8,
before one of the teams broke loose.
Two seventh period goals from La Aguada finally broke it up
as they moved ahead, 10-8. Magual tried
to rally in the eighth, scoring twice, but La Aguada was ready. Each team scored a pair of goals as La Aguada
rode off the field with the 12-10 win.
Argentine Open play continues on Sunday with Ellerstina
(Facundo Pieres, Gonzalito Pieres, Mariano Aguerre and Nico Pieres) facing
Chapaleufu (Pepe Heguy, Nachi Heguy, Bautista Heguy and Eduardo Heguy) at 2PM followed
by a 4:30 PM contest between Alegria (Polito Pieres, Hilario Ulloa, Lucas
Monteverde and Alfredo Capella Barabucci) and La Aguada/Las Monjitas (Lucas
James, Magoo Laprida, Eduardo Novillo Astrada and Alejandro Novillo Astrada).