Argentine
Open play begins as Ellerstina takes Chapaleufú apart, 23-14 and AlegrÃa downs
La Aguada 16-13
By Alex Webbe
A determined and
veteran Chapaleufú team (Alberto Heguy, Francisco Elizalde, Bautista Heguy and
Eduardo Heguy) rode onto the Number 2 field at Palermo Saturday afternoon and
took an early 2-1 lead after the opening chukker, but that would be the last
lead Chapaleufú would enjoy all day as Ellerstina/Piaget (Facundo Pieres,
Gonzalito Pieres, Mariano Aguerre and Nicolás Pieres) rode on to register a
commanding 23-14 win.
A great deal of
anticipation awaited Ellerstina as they took the field for the opening match of
the 2013 Argentine Open, and the fact that they were outscored 2-1 by Chapaleufú
in the opening chukker didn’t bode well for the defending
Argentine Open champion.
Following the
opening seven minutes of play, however, a revitalized Ellerstina went to work. A combination of five goals and shutout
defense had a stunned Chapaleufú team scratching their heads as they left the
field at the end of the second chukker of play trailing 6-2.
Chapaleufú slowed down the Ellerstina offense
in the third period, limiting them to just two scored, but were only able to
ring up one goal of their own.
Ellerstina has extended their lead to five goals, 8-3.
The two teams marked
one another pretty evenly in the fourth period.
Ellerstina continued to control the flow of the game, outscoring Chapaleufú
three goals to two and sitting on a comfortable six goal, 11-5 halftime
advantage.
Chapaleufú fought
valiantly in the fifth chukker, matching Ellerstina goal for goal, but attained
no advantage. After five periods of play
Ellerstina continued to lead by six goals, 14-8.
Four more sixth
chukker Ellerstina goals extended the black-shirted team’s lead once
again. Chapaleufú managed three goals in
the chukker but fell behind by seven goals, 18-11.
Ellerstina coasted
through the seventh while Chapaleufú continued to try breaking through a
resolute defense. Each team was limited
to a single goal. Ellerstina’s seven
goal lead held, 19-12.
Ellerstina seemed to
be getting stronger with each passing chukker.
Four more Ellerstina goals in the eighth were countered by a pair of
goals by Chapaleufú. The final bell
sounded and Ellerstina rode off with a convincing nine goal win, 23-14.
Facundo Pieres
scored seven of his game-high 12 goals on penalty shots. Mariano Aguerre and Nico Pieres added four
goals apiece and Gonzalito Pieres was credited with three goals in the win. Eduardo Heguy scored all six of his goals on
penalty conversions. Pepe Heguy added
four goals; Francisco Elizalde scored three times; and Bautista Heguy scored
once for Chapaleufú.
ALEGRÃA 16, LA AGUADA 13
In the second
Argentine Open game of the day, Polito Pieres returned successfully to AlegrÃa
(Polito Pieres, Lucas Monteverde, Hilario Ulloa and Frederick Mannix), scoring twelve
times as his team recorded a 16-13 win over La Aguada (Guillermo Terrera,
Facundo Sola, Miguel Novillo Astrada, and Nachi du Plessis).
Pieres had missed
both the Tortugas Open and the Hurlingham Open as he was recuperating from an appendectomy,
and would be playing in his first tournament game in weeks. Diego Cavanagh had filled in for him in his
absence, but now it was time to see if the lineup that team captain Fred Mannix
had assembled would perform as hoped.
First chukker action
was tentative as the teams felt one another out. It had been weeks since La Aguada had last
met (Tortugas Open), and it had been AlegrÃa that had taken the win by a five
goal margin. La Aguada team captain,
Miguel Novillo Astrada and his team had developed their teamwork in the
interim, and were looking to atone for the earlier loss, but could do no better
than a 1-1 tie after the first chukker.
AlegrÃa stepped it
up in the second period, outscoring La Aguada 3-2, but the game remained tight
as AlegrÃa held a narrow 4-3 edge.
Neither team could
break from the other as the match continued.
La Aguada matched AlegrÃa goal for goal in the third. The chukker ended with AlegrÃa on top by a
paper thing 6-5 margin.
By the fourth
chukker, Pieres had settled in with the AlegrÃa team. Two goals went unanswered as Fred Mannix and
company held La Aguada scoreless while picking up a pair of goals
themselves. At the end of the first half
of play, Alegria had stretched its lead to three goals, 8-5.
Three more AlegrÃa goals
were countered by a single La Aguada score in the fifth chukker. The AlegrÃa lead had grown to five goals,
11-6, and it began to look like a replay of their meeting in the Tortugas Open.
A determined
defensive effort by La Aguada shut down the AlegrÃa attack for the first time
all day in the sixth. Two La Aguada
goals went unanswered as they cut into the AlegrÃa lead. La Aguada continued to trail, but the margin was
cut to a manageable three goals, 11-8.
For the second
straight chukker La Aguada outscored AlegrÃa, adding three goals to their total
while limiting the AlegrÃa attack to two scores. La Aguada was working on a mini-rally as the
lead was cut to just two goals, 13-11 with one chukker left to play in
regulation time.
AlegrÃa stopped the
bleeding in the final chukker, scoring three times while limiting the La Aguada
attack to just two goals. AlegrÃa had
Pieres back in the lineup and had beaten a talented La Aguada challenger by
three goals, 16-13.
Polito Pieres amazed
spectators as he scored twelve times in the AlegrÃa victory (four on penalty
conversions). Lucas Monteverde added two
goals and Hilario Ulloa and Fred Mannix each scored once. Facundo Sola’s five goals (two on penalty
shots) led the La Aguada attack.
Guillermo Terrera and Miguel Novillo Astrada added three goals each
while Nachi du Plessis registered two goals in a losing effort.
Argentine Open continues
with two games slated to be played on Sunday, November 17. La Dolfina (Adolfo Cambiaso, Pelon Stirling, Pablo
MacDonough and Juan MartÃn Nero) will start their run for the final leg of the Argentine
Triple Crown (having won both the Tortugas Open and the Hurlingham Open) in a
2PM contest with Magual (Alejandro Muzzio, Ignacio Toccalino, Marcos Di Paola
and Jaime Huidobro); followed by a 4L30PM match between La Natividad (Sapo
Caset, Nachi Heguy, Rodrigo Andrade and Lolo Castagnola) and La Aguada – Las
Monjitas (Lucas James, Magoo Laprida, Eduardo Novillo Astrada, Alejandro
Novillo Astrada).