La Dolfina beats
Ellerstina in the Tortugas Open, 16-14
By Alex Webbe
Well, the gauntlet has officially been thrown. Following a 16-14 win over Ellerstina (Facundo
Pieres, Gonzalito Pieres, Mariano Aguerre and Nicolás Pieres) in the finals of
the Tortugas Open—the first Tortugas Open championship for La Dolfina—two
challenges have been made. The first
challenge was made by La Dolfina (Adolfo Cambiaso, Pelon Stirling, Pablo MacDonough
and Juan MartÃn Nero) to the defending Argentine Open champion, Ellerstina. The second by the Number two rated player in
the game today, Adolfo Cambiaso to Ellerstina’s Facundo Pieres.
Ellerstina had captured the Tortugas Open for six
consecutive years and seven out of the last ten years while La Dolfina had, in
the past, been accused of not even offering serious competition for the first
leg of Argentina polo’s Triple Crown.
Over the course of the past year Ellerstina’s Facundo Pieres
won the United States Open, the Queens Cup and British Open in England and the
Gold and Silver Cups in Spain. His
string of victories propelled him past Cambiaso as the top rated polo player in
the world, and cries of “the king is dead, long live the king†echoed
throughout the polo world, but in the words of American novelist Mark Twain,
the reports of his death were greatly exaggerated.
Facundo Pieres scored the first two goals of the game for an
early 2-0 Ellerstina lead, but ensuing penalty goals by Pelon Stirling and
Cambiaso ted it up at 2-2 with a third La Dolfina goal ending the chukker with
Ellerstina trailing 3-2.
A La Dolfina goal stretched the lead to two goals, 4-2 in
the second period before goals from Facundo Pieres and Mariano Aguerre tied it
up at 4-4. The two teams exchanged goals
for a 5-5 tie with Facundo Pieres scoring the go-ahead goal to end the chukker with
Ellerstina on top of a 6-5 score.
Cambiaso opened the third by converting a 60-yard penalty
shot followed by goals from Pablo MacDonough and Juan Martin Nero. The third period ended with La Dolfina in the
lead, 8-6.
Fourth chukker action had Facundo Pieres open the period
with a goal. A second score had it all
even at 8-8. Consecutive goals from La
Dolfina had them in front, 10-8. Facundo
Pieres converted a 30-yard penalty shot to end the chukker, but La Dolfina
remained in front, 10-9.
The Ellerstina defense tightened in the fifth, limiting La
Dolfina to a single goal while scoring twice themselves. With two chukkers left to play the score was
all even at 11-11.
The two teams matched one another goal for goal in the
sixth. With seven minutes left in
regulation play, the score was deadlocked at 13-13.
La Dolfina scored first in the seventh, 14-13, but a goal
from Nico Pieres locked it up again at 14-14.
Cambiaso scored to make it 15-14 and a final La Dolfina goal ended the
game in a 16-14 victory.
Ellerstina was beaten by a 39-goal team that wants to atone
for a loss in last year’s Argentine Open finals. They were beaten by Adolfo Cambiaso, one of
the greatest players in the history of the game, who was written off as the
world’s top ranked player after a stellar run by Facundo Pieres. La Dolfina has alerted the polo community
that it is not ready to retire to the sidelines while Ellerstina and Facundo
Pieres have their way. The La Dolfina
win, in a hotly-contested match, has alerted the polo community that it is
going to be a very exciting Argentine open season.
La Dolfina is scheduled to return to the field on Tuesday,
October 15th in the opening match of the Hurlingham Open where they
will face Chapaleufú (Alberto Heguy, Francisco Elizalde, Bautista Heguy and
Eduardo Heguy). Ellerstina (Facundo Pieres, Gonzalito Pieres, Mariano Aguerre and
Nicolás Pieres) won’t return to action until Sunday, October 16th
when they face Magual (Alejandro Muzzio, Ignacio Toccalino, Marcos Di Paola and
Jaime Huidobro).