Dos Lunas Captures Victory in Copa de Oro Opener
The opening game of the prestigious Copa de Oro at Santa Maria Polo Club featured a back and forth affair between Dos Lunas and Bardon, as the two teams traded goals throughout the second half, with Dos Lunas maintaining their two-goal lead from the opening half to claim the 9-7 victory.
Holding the possession advantage, Dos Lunas swarmed Bardon throughout the game causing turnovers to ignite their offense and produce 16 shots at goal compared to just 7 for Bardon, yet shot just 31% from the field to keep Bardon in the game. Overcoming early foul trouble, Dos Lunas managed their lead with an organized team defence that limited the opportunities of Bardon, holding elite players Rodrigo Andrade and Santiago Laborde to just two combined goals. Behind four penalty goals from Joaquin Pittaluga, Dos Lunas opened the Copa de Oro with the two-goal victory.
In the opening chukka, Dos Lunas displayed a balance attack that saw contributions from all four players, with Pittaluga and Martin Iturraspe scoring field goals, with Pascual Sainz de Vicuna adding an assist. The fast pace set by Dos Lunas was countered by Matias Machado, who scored a goal from the field and the penalty line to tie the score at 2-2. Two more penalty goals for Machado resulted in the only offense for Bardon, with Pittaluga taking control of the game with four straight goals for his team to end the half with the 6-4 advantage.
The script flipped in the second half, with Dos Lunas generating their offense from the penalty line, while Bardon found momentum from the field to score a field goal in each of the final three chukkas. Laborde’s first goal of the game gave Barodn their first field goal since the opening chukka, but Dos Lunas continued to keep their two-goal lead throughout the second half. Despite converting just one of their nine shots in the second half, Dos Lunas remained ahead by relying on the indiscipline of Bardon and accurate penalty shooting from Pittaluga. A field goal from Itturaspe in the sixth chukka extended the lead to three, with a late goal from patron Andras Tombor not enough to match Dos Lunas, who secured the 9-7 victory.