2014 Tortugas Open winner-La Dolfina (L to R) Juan Martin Nero, Pablo MacDonough, Pelon Stirling and Adolfo Cambiaso. (Photo courtesy of Melito Cerezo)
La Dolfina (Adolfo Cambiaso, Pelon Stirling, Pablo MacDonough and Juan Martin Nero) reinforced their dominance over Ellerstina (Facundo Pieres in this year’s Tortugas Open in the final of the Tortugas Open by totally dominating them in a 14-8 victory.
The win is the second in a row for La Dolfina over an Ellerstina team that had won the previous six tournaments until last year’s loss. This year’s showdown, however, looked nothing like the closely contested 16-14 La Dolfina win that was tied at 14-14 in the final chukker.
La Dolfina took immediate control of the game, scoring three unanswered goals in the opening chukker. Ellerstina fought to gain control of the ball, but the ball just didn’t bounce their way in the early goings, and the defensive efforts put forth by La Dolfina stymied the black-shirted Ellerstina foursome.
Two second chukker goals from Ellerstina got them on the scoreboard. La Dolfina added a single goal and continued to lead, 4-2.
The Ellerstina defense held La Dolfina to a single goal in the third, matching them with a goal of their own. La Dolfina continued to lead, 5-3.
La Dolfina took control of the game again in the fourth. Three consecutive goals from La Dolfina had them on top, 8-3. Ellerstina was held scoreless for the second time in four chukkers and trailed by five goals, 8-3.
Defenses tightened again on both sides in the fifth. Ellerstina’s defense blanked La Dolfina but their offense managed just a single goal. La Dolfina took a four goal, 8-4 lead into the sixth as a frustrated Ellerstina attack continued to look for an answer.
The two teams got some offense going again in the sixth. Ellerstina scored a pair of goals but La Dolfina got the edge by scoring three times. With one chukker left in regulation time La Dolfina boasted a comfortable five goal lead, 11-6.
Three more La Dolfina goals in the seventh buried Ellerstina who managed just two goals in a very important chukker. The final horn sounded with La Dolfina celebrating the 14-8 win and the possibility of a repeat of last year’s Triple Crown sweep.
Adolfo Cambiaso scored seven of his game high eight goals on penalty conversions. Pablo MacDonough added four goals and Pelon Stirling scored twice in the win. Juan Martin Nero was held scoreless but was credited with a superior defensive effort that held the high-scoring Ellerstina offense to just eight goals. Facundo Pieres and Mariano Aguerre scored three goals each in the loss. Gonzalito Pieres and Nico Pieres scored single goals.