Ellerstina and
Alegria win; set the stage for semifinal rematch
By Alex Webbe
Following a day on which rains postponed play,
Ellerstina (Facundo Pieres, Gonzalito Pieres, Nachi Du Plessis and Nico Pieres)
and Alegria (Polito Pieres, Hilario Ulloa, Lucas Monteverde and Alfredo Capella
Barabucci) scored wins in their second round of play in the 2014 Argentine Open
Championship at Palermo, Buenos Aries, Argentina.
The victories by Ellerstina and Alegria leave
them with identical 2-0 records, with their meeting on Sunday, November 30th
deciding their Zone winner and a berth in the Argentine Open final. Remember that it was Alegria who upset
Ellerstina last year in the semifinal match, ending a six year Argentine Open
final appearance. Ellerstina is expected
to ride onto the field next Sunday with 9-goaler Mariano Aguerre in the saddle. Aguerre was forced to Sunday’s game due to a
shoulder he sprained in last week’s game against Chapaleufú. Alegria, however, will take the field without
team captain Fred Mannix, who recently underwent an operation to repair a
damaged mallet hand suffered in their last meeting with Ellerstina in
Hurlingham Cup play.
In Sunday’s first match Polito Pieres and Hilario
Ulloa combined for 15 goals as Alegria registered an 18-15 win over a veteran Chapaleufú
lineup.
In a fast-paced game, Alegria went up 3-1
after first chukker play as Ulloa demonstrated his skills on the field. Chapaleufú
stormed back in the second.
Behind Pepe
and Eduardo Heguy, outscoring Alegria, 3-2, and cutting the lead to a single
goal, 5-4. The two teams exchanged goals
in the third, with each putting up a pair.
After three chukkers of play, Alegria held on to a one goal advantage,
7-6. Alegria got three goals in the
fourth, but Chapaleufú stayed close. Two
goals kept them in the hunt as they trailed by just two goals, 10-8, at the end
of the first half.
Two Alegria goals went unanswered in the fifth
as the pink-shirted Alegria foursome got some separation from Alegria, 12-8.
Four sixth chukker goals from Alegria extended
their lead to as Chapaleufú struggled to score twice in the period. Alegria rode off the field with a 16-10 lead
with just two chukkers left to play.
Chapaleufú dominated seventh chukker action as
they scored four times. Alegria was held
to a single goal but continued to lead, 17-14.
Alegria put the brakes on the Chapaleufú rally
in the eighth chukker. The two teams
scored single goals in the final seven minutes of play as Alegria celebrated
the 18-15 win.
Pieres led all scoring with eight goals (two
on penalty conversions). Ulloa added
seven goals; Lucas Monteverde scored twice; and Alfredo Capella Barabucci was credited
with a goal in the victory. Pepe Heguy
scored six times for Chapaleufú as his career goal total for Argentine Open
play surpassed the 400 mark (404).
Eduardo Heguy scored five of his team high six goals on penalty
shots. Nachi Heguy scored twice and
Bautista Heguy was held to a single goal in the loss.
Ellerstina 16,
La Aguada/Las Monjitas
In the second match of the day, a reshuffled
Ellerstina lineup, with Nachi Du Plessis replacing the injured Mariano Aguerre,
charged out to a one-sided 10-4 halftime lead before coasting to a 16-12 win
over an outgunned La Aguada/Las Monjitas team (Lucas James, Magoo Laprida,
Eduardo Novillo Astrada and Alejandro Novillo Astrada).
Ellerstina left Du Plessis to defend while the
Pieres brothers had their way with La Aguada/Las Monjitas. Ellerstina took the early 3-1 lead, extending
it to four goals, 6-2, in the second chukker.
La Aguada/Las Monjitas finally got back on
track in the third. Matching Ellerstina
goal for goal, La Aguada/Las Monjitas appeared to get their bearings in the
third, but Ellerstina erased that notion in the fourth chukker. Shutout defense and two goals extended the
Ellerstina lead to six goals at the end of the first half, 10-4.
While La Aguada/Las Monjitas tried to claw
their way back into the game in the second half, the Ellerstina attack
continued to sting. Four more goals in
the fifth period were answered by a single goal. The lead grew to nine goals, 14-5, with just
three chukkers left to play.
La Aguada/Las Monjitas outscored Ellerstina
4-2 in the final two chukkers of the game, but Ellerstina was content to save
their horses as they coasted to the 16-12 victory.
Facundo Pieres led all scoring with nine goals
(six on penalty conversions). Gonzalito
and Nico Pieres scored three goals apiece and Nachi Du Plessis added a gal for
the win. All six of Alejandro Novillo
Astrada’s scores came on penalty shots.
Magoo Laprida added five goals and Lucas James scored one goal in the
loss.
Saturday’s rain postponed games will be played
on Monday, November 24th with La Aguada (Facundo Sola, Sapo Caset,
Miguel Novillo Astrada and Ignacio Novillo Astrada) facing Miramar (Gonzalo Del
Tour, Valerio Zubiaurre, Inaki Laprida and Santiago Toccalino) at 2PM followed
by a match between La Dolfina (Adolfo Cambiaso, Pelon Stirling, Pablo
MacDonough and Juan Martin Nero) and Magual (Alejandro Muzzio, Ignacio Toccalino,
Marcos Di Paola and Jaime Huidobro) at 4:30PM.