La Aguada punished Chapaleufu, 19-8, and will face Ellerstina in the 2014 Hurlingham Open semifinal.
La Aguada (Facundo Sola, Guillermo Caset Jr., Miguel Novillo Astrada and Ignacio Novillo Astrada) and Ellerstina (Facundo Pieres, Gonzalo Pieres Jr., Mariano Aguerre and Nicolas Pieres) each recorded their second consecutive win in their bracket Thursday afternoon, settling the final semifinalists in the 2014 Hurlingham Open championship.
La Aguada destroyed Chapaleufu (Pepe Heguy, Nachi Heguy, Francisco Bensadon and Bautista Heguy) 19-8 to open the day and earn a berth in Sunday’s semifinal. Ellerstina knocked Magual (Alejandro Muzzio, Ignacio Toccalino, Marcos Di Paola and Jaime Garcia Huidobro) out of the competition on the strength of a 15-7 win to close out the day and earn the right to face La Aguada in the semifinals.
La Aguada and Chapaleufu went scoreless in the opening chukker before La Aguada put a couple of goals on the scoreboard in the second period. Chapaleufu scored once as La Aguada took a 2-1 lead into the third chukker.
La Aguada added three goals in the third while Chapaleufu responded with a pair of goals of their own. La Aguada continued to lead but Chapaleufu remained in striking distance, just two goals off the 5-2 lead.
La Aguada stretched their lead to three goals in the fourth. Outscoring Chapaleufu, 2-1, La Aguada rode off the field at the end of the first half on top of a 7-3 lead.
La Aguada got serious in the fifth chukker behind the impressive play of Sapo Caset. La Aguada scored five times while holding Chapaleufu to a single goal. With three chukkers left to play, La Aguada led by seven goals, 12-5.
Chapaleufu scored twice in the sixth, but Caset and the La Aguada offense continued to control the game. Three more goals pushed the La Aguada lead to seven goals, 15-7, as the chukker ended.
Disciplined defensive efforts in the seventh chukker kept the scoring to a minimum. The two teams traded goals and the chukker ended with a La Aguada lead, 16-8.
Chapaleufu floundered thru the final chukker of play, unable to execute a successful offensive rally. La Aguada added three more goals for the 19-8 final.
Sapo Caset led all scoring with 12 goals (two on penalty conversions). Facundo Sola and Miguel Novillo Astrada each added three goals with Ignacio Novillo Astrada scoring once for the win. Bautista Heguy scored three of his team high six goals on penalty shots. Francisco Bensadon and Nachi Heguy each scored single goals in the loss.
Ellerstina 15, Magual 7
In a surprising start, the 33-goal Magual team scored early as Ellerstina had difficulty establishing a rhythm to their play in the opening minutes of the game. At the end of the opening chukker it was Magual in the lead, 2-1.
Ellerstina bounced back in the second, scoring four consecutive goals. Shutout defense held Magual scoreless and Ellerstina had moved in front, 4-2.
The two teams traded goals in the third with Magual doing a meritable job slowing down the talented Ellerstina lineup. Ellerstina held their two goal lead to end the chukker on top of a 6-4 score.
The defenses continued to dominate in the fourth chukker. Magual was shutout while Ellerstina managed just a single goal. At the end of the first half Ellerstina led by three goals, 7-4.
Ellerstina was coming into their own as the second half started. Three more fifth chukker goals had them ahead 10-5. Magual struggled on offense but managed to score one goal.
Magual stepped up on defense again in the sixth, holding Ellerstina to a single score. Once again, however, there was little offense and Magual fell behind by six goals, 11-5.
Ellerstina had shown a great deal of offensive punch in their 24-13 win over Chapaleufu but didn’t look as intimidating against Magual. The two teams traded goals again in the seventh chukker. Ellerstina continued to lead, 12-6.
Three eighth period Ellerstina goals were answered by a single goal from Magual. Ellerstina would finish preliminary play with a 2-0 record and would face La Aguada in the tournament semifinals on Sunday.
Ellerstina’s Facundo Pieres scored seven of his nine goals from the field. Gonzalito added three goals while Mariano Aguerre scored twice and Nico Pieres added a goal in the win. Alejandro Muzzio led Magual with four goals (two on penalty shots). Ignacio Toccalino scored twice on penalty conversions and Jaime Huidobro added a goal in the loss.
The earlier semifinals had already been established with the defending championship 40-goal La Dolfina team (Adolfo Cambiaso, David Stirling, Pablo MacDonough and Juan Martin Nero) facing Alegria (Polito Pieres, Hilario Ulloa, Lucas Monteverde and Frederick Mannix) on Saturday, October 25th. The winners of the semifinal matches are scheduled to face one another on Saturday, November 1st.