2013 Hurlingham Open winners-La Dolfina-L to R-Adolfo Cambiaso, Pelon Stirling, Pablo MacDonough and Juan Martin Nero.
La Dolfina (Adolfo Cambiaso, Pelon Stirling, Pablo MacDonough and Juan Martin Nero) won a penalty-riddled Hurlingham Open over Ellerstina (Facundo Pieres, Gonzalito Pieres, Mariano Aguerre and Nico Pieres) Saturday afternoon in an 18-16 victory to move one step closer to sweeping the 2013 high-goals season in Argentina.
La Dolfina beat Ellerstina last month to capture the Tortugas Open and win the first leg of Argentina’s Triple Crown of polo, handing Ellerstina their first defeat at Tortugas in seven years.
Facundo Pieres scored the first goal of the game on a 60-yard penalty shot for the early 1-0 lead. Pelon Stirling scored on a 20-yard pass from Adolfo Cambiaso to tie it up at 1-1. Facundo Pieres closed out the scoring in the opening chukker with a 75-yard shot that carried through the La Dolfina goalposts and a five yard penalty goal for a 3-1 advantage.
Nico Pieres gave Ellerstina a three goal lead, 4-1, on a three-yard tap in less than two minutes into the second period. Juan Martin Nero responded with a goal less than a minute later, 4-2, and Cambiaso added two penalty goals to lock it up at 4-4. Facundo Pieres shot at the La Dolfina goal and hit the goalpost with a minute left in the chukker. Mariano Aguerre tapped it in for the 5-4 Ellerstina lead.
Pablo MacDonough followed up a run by Cambiaso, and scored for a 5-5 tie early in the third chukker. Cambiaso gave La Dolfina a 7-5 lead with a pair of penalty conversions. Facundo Pieres responded with two penalty goals of his own, and it was all even once again at 7-7.
Goals were scarce on the fourth. Cambiaso converted a 30-yard penalty shot just three minutes into the period and followed it up with a 50-yard neck-shot two minutes later. Ellerstina was held scoreless and trailed 9-7 at the end of the first half.
Cambiaso scored the first goal of the second half, driving the ball 150 yards down the field on three shots for a goal, 10-7. A La Dolfina foul sent Facundo Pieres to the penalty line where he converted a 60-yard penalty shot for a goal, 10-8. Aguerre sliced a neck-shot through the La Dolfina goalposts to cut the lead to a single goal, 10-9, with two minutes left in the chukker. Cambiaso scored on a 40-yard penalty shot, 11-9, and Nico Pieres took the ensuing throw-in and raced down the field to score the final goal of the chukker. After five chukkers the La Dolfina stood at only one goal, 11-10.
MacDonough scored his second goal of the game to open the sixth period, 12-10. Cambiaso added two more to extend the La Dolfina lead to four goals, 14-10. A La Dolfina foul got Ellerstina on the scoreboard in the final minute of play with Facundo Pieres converting a 60-yard shot. The La Dolfina lead stood at three goals, 14-11 with two chukkers left in regulation time.
An Ellerstina foul in their own goalmouth allowed La Dolfina to go up by four goals once again as Cambiaso converted the two-yard tap in, 15-11. Ellerstina rallied with three consecutive goals. Facundo Pieres scored on three penalty shots. The La Dolfina lead had been cut to a single goal, 15-14, going into the final chukker, and it appeared that Ellerstina had built up some momentum.
In one swift play, the Ellerstina rally was halted. Stirling scored the goal of the game when at full speed he hit the knee-high ball out of the air and drove it through the goalposts on a neck shot from some 60-yards out, 16-14. Cambiaso ran it up to 17-14 on a penalty shot and Stirling followed up a 200-yard run by Cambiaso by driving it through for an 18-14 advantage with two minutes left to play. Facundo scored on a 30-yard penalty shot and Gonzalito Pieres added a 22-yard ground ball, but the last two goals were insignificant and it was La Dolfina that was celebrating the 18-16 win when the final bell sounded.
Cambiaso led all scoring with twelve goals (seven on penalty shots. Stirling added three. MacDonough scored twice and Nero added a goal for the win. Facundo Pieres led the Ellerstina attack with a team high eleven goals, ten on penalty conversions. Nico Pieres and Aguerre scored two goals each with Gonzalito Pieres adding a single goal in the loss.
The win puts La Dolfina on track for a run at the Triple Crown of polo with action in the Argentine Open scheduled to get underway next week. Ellerstina is slated to play in the opening game of the tournament with a Saturday, November 16th game against Chapaleufu. La Dolfina will get started with a Sunday, November 17th game against Magual. The finals of the Argentine Open are set for Saturday, December 7th, with the possibility of the two 39-goal teams meeting once again.