La Vanguardia wins big; Miramar drops La Natividad

La Vanguardia wins
big; Miramar drops La Natividad

By Alex Webbe



The second round of play in the qualifiers for the final two
berths in the Hurlingham Open and the Argentine Open featured wins by La
Vanguardia (Diego Cavanagh, Ezequiel
M. Ferrario, Rodrigo R. de Andrade and Tomas G. del Rio) and Miramar (Gonzalo
del Tour, Valerio Zubiaurre, Ignacio Laprida and Santiago Toccalino).

In the opening
game of the day La Vanguardia scored three first chukker goals while Santa
Teresa (Juan Martin Zavaleta, Salvador Ulloa, Francisco Elizalde and Alfredo C.
Barabucci) responded with two goals of their own.  It was La Vanguardia with the early 3-2 lead.

Two more second
chukker goals from La Vanguardia put them on top, 5-2.  Santa Teresa was unable to score and feel
behind by three.

A pair of third
period scores from La Vanguardia was answered by a single Santa Teresa
goal.  At the end of the third chukker La
Vanguardia was in control of the game with a 7-3 advantage.

The second half
of the game was all La Vanguardia as they outscored Santa Teresa 6-2 over the
final three chukkers.  La Vanguardia was La
Vanguardia added two more goals in the fourth. 
Santa Teresa managed a single goal and fell behind by five goals, 9-4.

It was 11-4 after
the fifth and 11-5 at the end of the sixth with Santa Teresa unable to break
through a resolute La Vanguardia defense. 

La Vanguardia scored
twice in the seventh, and buried Santa Teresa, 13-5, giving them their second
loss of the tournament and eliminating them from the competition.

Diego Cavanagh led all scoring with seven goals (five on
penalty shots).  Ezequiel Martínez
Ferrario and Rodrigo Andrade scored three goals apiece for the win.  Alfredo Barabucci’s two penalty conversions
led the Santa Teresa offense.  Salvador
Ulloa, Juan M. Zavaleta and Francisco Elizalde each scored a goal in the loss.  The victory places La Vanguardia (1-0) in a
showdown with Indios Chapaleufu II (1-0) with the winner qualifying for the
Hurlingham and Argentine Opens.

MIRAMAR 13, LA
NATIVIDAD 10

In the second match of the day, La Natividad (Guillermo Terrera, Ignatius Du Plessis, Alejandro
Agote and Bartolome Castagnola)
took control of the game early as they
shut out the Miramar offense in both the first, 1-0, and second chukkers,
3-0. 

Miramar finally got on track in the third as they scored
four times to tie it up at 4-4 (La Natividad added a single goal).

The Miramar attack added three more goals in the fourth
period while holding La Natividad to a pair. 
With three chukkers left to play, Miramar took a narrow 7-6 lead.

Three more goals in the fifth stretched the Miramar while La
Natividad was held to a single score. 
Miramar was leading 10-7 with just two chukkers remaining in regulation
play.

The two teams traded goals in the sixth, with La Natividad failing
to pick up any ground.  Miramar held
their three goals lead, 11-8.

La Natividad tried to stage a last chukker rally, but had each
of their goals matched by Miramar who evened their record (1-1) with the 13-10
win.   

Miramar: Gonzalo del Tour, Valerio Zubiaurre and Santiago
Toccalino scored four goals each.  Ignacio
Laprida added a goal for the win.  Nachi
Du Plessis led La Natividad with six penalty goals.  Lucas Criado scored three times and Piki
Alberdi scored once in a losing effort.

Although League B will be decided with the La
Vanguardia-Indios Chapaleufu II game, League A (La Quinta, Miramar and La
Natividad) is a bit more complicated.  A
win by La Quinta over La Natividad would automatically usher them into the
Hurlingham and Argentine Opens, but all three teams are still alive.