La Dolfina,
Pilara Piaget score Argentine Open wins
By
Alex Webbe
The 2012 Argentine Polo Association got underway and La
Dolfina wasted little time in showing why they are the heavy favorite as they
raced out to an eight goal lead that they maintained through much of the game
in their 17-9 win over Magual.
La Dolfina and Magual started cautiously, with Cambiaso
and company putting up two unanswered goals in the opening chukker. La Dolfina 2, Magual 0.
Magual found its offense in the second period, scoring
two goals to La Dolfina’s three. At the
end of the chukker La Dolfina held a 5-2 advantage over a struggling Magual
foursome.
Three more goals were scored on a silent Magual
team. The defensive strength of the La
Dolfina four shutout Magual for the second time. La
Dolfina’s offensive talents accounted for three more goals. Three periods into the game La Dolfina was on
top of an 8-2 score.
Magual managed another goal in the fourth, but the
teamwork of the 40-goal La Dolfina lineup proved to be too much. The lead was stretched to eight goals to end
the first half with La Dolfina leading, 11-3.
La Dolfina and Magual each scored a single goal in the
fifth as the defending champion appeared to be saving their horses for another
day. The period ended with La Dolfina in
front, 12-4.
For the first time all day, Magual outscored La Dolfina,
putting two goals on the scoreboard. La
Dolfina added a single goal as they continued to lead, 13-6.
Three more goals from La Dolfina in the seventh restored
the eight goal lead they enjoyed earlier in the game. Magual scored twice but fell behind, 16-8.
The outcome was inevitable as the teams went through the
motions. The teams scored one goal
apiece in a 17-9 La Dolfina win.
PILARA
PIAGET 13, ALEGRIA 12
In their last meeting (Hurlingham Open), Pilara Piaget
(Francisco Bensadon, Hilario Ulloa, Sebastian Merlos and Paco de Narvaez) beat
Alegria by four goals, 22-18, but the Argentine Open was another story. After trailing by two goals to start the
game, 3-1, Alegria came charging back in the second chukker to tie it up at
4-4.
In the third, Alegria got its offense on track and scored
three goals while holding Pilara Piaget to a single score. Alegria led by two goals, 7-5 at the end of
the chukker.
Alegria scored twice in the fourth while shutting out the
Pilara Piaget offense, and at the end of the first half of play, Alegria
boasted a four goal lead, 9-5.
A refocused Pilara Piaget team took the field in the
second half disabling Alegria’s offense and scoring two goals. At the end of the fifth period the Alegria lead
had been cut to two goals, 9-7.
Pilara tightened its defense in the sixth chukker,
shutting out the Alegria attack.
Sebastian Merlos suffered a hard fall in which his protective glasses
caused cuts to his nose and forehead.
After a brief pause, he remounts and the game goes on. Pilara Piaget adds a couple of goals to tie
the game at 9-9.
For the fourth chukker in a row, Alegria allowed
themselves to be outscored. Pilara
Piaget scored three times while holding Alegria to two goals. Pilara Piaget ended the seventh period with
its first lead since the opening chukker, 12-11.
Both teams battled furiously through the final seven
minutes of the game. Alegria scored a
goal, but so did Pilara Piaget. The
final horn sounded with Pilara Piaget taking the match, 13-12.
Argentine Open action will continue on Sunday with Ellerstina
facing La Aguada/Las Monjitas. The
second match of the day pits La Natividad against La Aguada.