Ellerstina/Piaget 10-goaler Mariano Aguerre.
Heavy rains and wet fields caused the delay of the Tortugas Open debut of Ellerstina/Piaget (Facundo Pieres, Gonzalito Pieres, Mariano Aguerre and Nicolás Pieres) as the game that was scheduled with La Aguada (Guillermo Terrera, Facundo Sola, Miguel Novillo Astrada, and Nacho Novillo Astrada) was called just three minutes into the second chukker with Ellerstina/Piaget ahead, 2-1, but all was made well Tuesday afternoon as they recorded their first victory in defense of their 2012 title in an 11-10 win.
The game resumed with Ellerstina/Piaget in the lead 2-1 as the action was picked up halfway through the second period, and ended with La Aguada trailing 3-1.
Two more unanswered Ellerstina/Piaget goals were scored in the third as La Aguada struggled to stop the Ellerstina/Piaget attack while putting up goals of their own. After three, Ellerstina/Piaget was sitting on a four goal, 5-1 advantage.
La Aguada finally found some offense, scoring three times in the fourth while limiting the Ellerstina/Piaget offense to two goals. The lead was cut to three goals, 7-4.
The two teams exchanged scores in the fifth, with each accounting for a pair of goals. The Ellerstina/Piaget lead held at three goals, 9-6.
The sixth period saw La Aguada field a coordinated effort that had them outscoring Ellerstina/Piaget 3-1. Ellerstina/Piaget continued to lead, but the margin was cut to a single goal, 10-9 with one chukker left to play.
Mariano Aguerre scored the first goal of the seventh chukker, extending the Ellerstina/Piaget lead to two goals. La Aguada continued to battle, picking up a goal on a 60-yard penalty shot conversion by Miguel Novillo Astrada. La Aguada continued to press, but it would be Ellerstina/Piaget who would ride off with the 11-10 victory.
The Tortugas Open will resume on Thursday, October 3rd, with between La Dolfina La Dolfina (Adolfo Cambiaso, Pelon Stirling, Pablo MacDonough and Juan Martín Nero) and La Aguada Las Monjitas -La Aguada – Las Monjitas (Agustin Merlos, Magoo Laprida, Eduardo Novillo Astrada, Alejandro Novillo Astrada) at 3:30PM.