Ellerstina and Cria La Dolfina Reach Tortugas Open Semifinals
Continuing action in the Tortugas Open at Tortugas Country Club, reigning champions Ellerstina (Facundo Pieres, Hilario Ulloa, Gonzalo Pieres, Nicolas Pieres) took to the field against La Irenita G2 Gsquared (Segundo Bocchino, Santiago Loza, Martin Podesta, Felipe Dabas). Featuring a lineup of two 10-goalers in Facundo and Nicolas Pieres, a nine-goal performance from Facundo led Ellerstina to a commanding 18-7 victory.
In the second match of Wednesday’s doubleheader, La Irenita Grand Champions (Juan Britos, Francisco Elizalde, Pablo Mac Donough, Juan Martin Zubia) faced Cria La Dolfina (Rufino Bensadon, Tomas Panelo, Diego Cavanagh, Alejo Taranco), with Cria La Dolfina finally pulling away from their opponents in the sixth, as a combined three goals in the final two chukkas of regulation sealed the 10-7 win.
Seeking to extend their Tortugas Open winning streak to a fourth consecutive year, Ellerstina’s Facundo Piers and Hilario Ulloa emerged with a charge to send four goals through the posts for an early 4-1 lead. Continuing their scoring blitz in the second, Ellerstina added four more field goals to their total, as Nicolas Pieres added his name to the scoreboard. Managing to score just twice in the opening two chukkers with contributions from Loza and Dabas, La Irenita G2 Gsquared finally outscored their opponents in a two-goal chukker and shrinking their deficit to five. Making a statement before the horn, Ellerstina was back on top in the fourth, sending three through the posts and doubling La Irenita G2 Gsquared in shots from the field to take a commanding 12-4 lead at the half.
Generating their first half offensive entirely from the field, Ellerstina’s offensive pressure picked-up in the second half with another blitz of four field goals, as La Irenita G2 Gsquared’s Dabas accounted for his teams’ first goal since the fourth. Entering the final chukka of regulation, Facundo Pieres hit his first from the penalty line, and despite two final efforts from La Irenita G2 Gsquared’s Bocchino and Podesta, Ellerstina sailed to 18-7 victory and into the semifinals.
Completing competition in the quarterfinals, a close match between La Irenita Grand Champions and Cria La Dolfina saw a back-and-forth first half with Cavanagh striking first for Cria La Dolfina to earn a 2-1 lead. Outscoring La Irenita Grand Champions once more the in second chukka, two more off the mallet of Cavanagh came in between a successful conversion from La Irenita Grand Champions’ Britos. Finding momentum in the second, Britos would find space in the field to account for the only goal in the third to cut La Irenita Grand Champions’ deficit to just one. Taking advantage of La Irenita Grand Champions’ foul troubles in the fourth, Panelo made two of his three penalty attempts, as final conversion from Zubia gave Cria La Dolfina a slim 6-4 halftime advantage.
Trading goals in the fifth between Cria La Dolfina’s Panelo and La Irenita Grand Champions’ Zubia, Cria La Dolfina broke through in the sixth on back-to-back goals from Panelo and Cavanagh to increase their lead to four. Attempting a final comeback Mac Donough and Zubia each contributed from the field, but Cria La Dolfina ultimately hung on for the 10-7 win to earn their spot as semifinalists.
Next Fixture:
October 1
La Irenita Clinova will face La Ensenada RS Murus Sanctus in the subsidiary semifinal, followed by La Natividad against La Dolfina Saudi in the first semifinal match-up.
Photo Credit ©Matias Callejo