Ellerstina needs overtime to win; Alegriabeats Chapaleufú, 19-16
By Alex Webbe
La Aguada (GuillermoTerrera, Facundo Sola, Miguel Novillo Astrada, and Nachi du Plessis) hadArgentine Open defending champion Ellerstina (Facundo Pieres, GonzalitoPieres, Mariano Aguerre and Nicolás Pieres) on the ropes Saturday afternoon onthe Number 1 field at Palermo in Buenos Aires before an eighth chukker rallytied it up and allowed Ellerstina to score the winning goal in the 14-13overtime win.
Following Ellerstina’s impressive 23-14 win over Chapaleufúin last week’s opening game of the 2013 Argentine Open, the meeting with LaAguada appeared to be nothing more than a warm-up as the black-shirtedEllerstina team got ready for a rematch with La Dolfina in the tournamentfinals—but that wasn’t the case.
The two teams felt one another out in the opening chukker ofplay, leaving the field in a 1-1 tie, with no idea of what was to unfold.
In second chukker play, La Aguada matched Ellerstina goalfor goal as the two teams remained even at 3-3 after two chukkers of play.
Goals were hard to come by in the third. Each team managed just a single goal. Ellerstina and La Aguada remained knotted upat 4-4 as the bell sounded at the end of the chukker.
The 31-goal La Aguada team continued to give the 39-goal Ellerstinafits as the fourth chukker got underway. La Aguada put three goals on thescoreboard while Ellerstina came up short for the first time with only twogoals. The first half ended with LaAguada holding a surprising 7-6 lead.
Both defenses doubled down in the fifth chukker. Ellerstina managed the only goal of theperiod and tied it up once again, at 7-7.
A determined La Aguada team took the field in the sixthchukker, outscoring Ellerstina 3-1. Abewildered Ellerstina team left the field trailing by two goals, 10-8.
La Aguada tacked three more goals on the scoreboard in theseventh period as Ellerstina continued to struggle on offense. Ellerstina scored once in the chukker but withone goal left in regulation time they trailed by four goals, 13-9.
Ellerstina finally got serious in the final chukker. Four consecutive goals and shutout defensemanaged to tie it up at 13-13 and force overtime. La Aguada had managed to control most of thegame but the defending Argentine Open champion still had enough life in it tostrike back.
The winning goal was scored by Mariano Aguerre in theovertime period and Ellerstina dodged a bullet and scored their secondconsecutive Argentine Open win. LaAguada displayed seamless teamwork but came up short in the 14-13 loss.
Facundo Pieres scored ten times (six on penalty goals). Mariano Aguerre and Nico Pieres added twogoals apiece for the win. Facundo Solaand Miguel Novillo Astrada scored five goals apiece (three of Astrada’s were onpenalty conversions). Guillermo Terrerawas credited with three goals in a losing effort.
ALEGRIA 19, CHAPALEUFÚ16
Earlier in the day AlegrÃa(Polito Pieres, Lucas Monteverde, Hilario Ulloa and Frederick Mannix) scoredtheir second victory in as many outings with a 19-16 win over Chapaleufú (AlbertoHeguy, Francisco Elizalde, Bautista Heguy and Eduardo Heguy) on Palermo’s Field2 in Argentine Open play, but not without a strong challenge from the veteran Chapaleufúlineup.
Alegria (1-0) jumped out to an early 3-1 lead in the openingchukker, but Chapaleufú (0-1) fought right back in the second, scoring threetimes and cutting the Alegria lead to a single goal, 5-4.
The two teams exchanged goals in the third, with each sidescoring a pair. After three chukkersAlegria continued to defend a 7-6 one goal lead.
Chapaleufú scored three times in the fourth chukker whilelimiting the Alegria offense to two goals. At the end of the first half of play it was all even at 9-9.
A pair of Alegria goals went unanswered in the fifth. Chapaleufúfell behind by two goals, 11-9.
Chapaleufú took control of the sixth scoring four timeswhile holding a potent Alegria offense to two goals. It was all even once again at 13-13.
A re-focused Alegria team rode onto the field for theseventh period and promptly scored six times. Chapaleufú manages no more than a single goal as they fell behind,19-14.
Chapaleufú scored twice in the final chukker as the Alegriateam coasted to a 19-16 win.
Polito Pieres proved that the 12 goals he scored last weekin his debut return to open polo was no fluke. His 11 goals (four on penalty conversions) led the Alegria team. Hilario Ulloa added six goals while LucasMonteverde scored twice for the victory. All 13 of Eduardo Heguy’s game leading goals came on penalty shots for Chapaleufú. Pepe Heguy added two goals and Bautista Heguyadded a goal in the loss.
Argentine Open action continues on Sunday, November 24thwith La Natividad (1-0) meeting Magual (0-1) in the 2PM opener and La Dolfina(1-0) facing La Aguada/Las Monjitas (0-1) at 4:30PM. The final of the 2013 Argentine Open isscheduled to be played on Saturday, December 7th.