Hilario Ulloa scored seven goals as Alegria held on to beat Washington 14-11 Sunday afternoon in Hurlingham Open play at the Hurlingham Club in Argentina.
La Dolfina (Adolfo Cambiaso, David Stirling, Pablo MacDonough and Juan Martin Nero) took immediate control of their match with Cria Yatay (Lucas James, Magoo Laprida, Joaquin Pittaluga and Inaki Laprida) on the Argentine Polo Association grounds at Pilar, racing out to a 5-0 start in the opening chukker. Three goals from Adolfo Cambiaso (two on penalty conversions) and single goals from teammates Pablo MacDonough and Juan Martin Nero were recorded before Nero suffered an injury in a fall at the 6:27 mark and was replaced by Sebastian Merlos.
Two more goals from Cambiaso (one on a penalty shot) and a goal from Merlos were countered by a single goal from Joaquin Pittaluga. At the end of the second chukker La Dolfina held a seven-goal advantage, 8-1.
Ten-goaler Pelon Stirling sounded off in the third period, scoring three times from the field. A resolute La Dolfina defense held Cria Yatay scoreless as they stretched their lead to ten goals, 11-1.
Guillermo Terrera came up with a pair of goals for Cria Yatay in the fourth, but La Dolfina continued to dominate. Single goals from Cambiaso, Stirling and Merlos extended the La Dolfina advantage to eleven goals at the end of the first half, 14-3.
La Dolfina continued to have their way with Cria Yatay in the fifth, with Cambiaso adding three more goals (one on a penalty conversion). Guillermo Terrera scored twice from the field for Cria Yatay, but La Dolfina put the game out of reach with a thirteen-goal lead, 17-4.
Two sixth chukker goals from Stirling and a goal from Merlos had La Dolfina leading by fifteen-goals, 20-5. Terrera managed a goal for a besieged Cria Yatay attack.
La Dolfina continued to hammer the Cria Yatay defense with seventh chuker goals from MacDonough and Merlos. Terrera managed a single goal but the game continued to belong to La Dolfina, 22-6.
Cria Yatay got eighth chukker goals from Terrera, Inaki Laprida and Pittaluga (penalty conversion) to a single La Dolfina goal from Stirling but the defending champion ran away with the game in a 23-9 victory.
Cambiaso led all scoring with nine goals (four on penalty shots). Stirling added seven goals; Merlos scored four times; MacDonough was credited with two goals and Nero added a goal for the win. Terrera’s five goals led the Cria Yatay attack. Pittaluga scored two of his three goals on penalty shots and Inaki Laprida scored once in the loss.
Ellerstina 21, La Irenita 6
The combination of Facundo and Pieres Polito Pieres combined for three first chukker goals for Ellerstina (Facundo Pieres, Gonzalo Pieres, Polito Pieres and Nico Pieres) with Facundo scoring once from the field and once on a penalty shot. Polito Pieres added a goal from the field. Matias MacDonough scored on a penalty shot for La Irenita (Juan Ruiz Guiñazu, Juan M. Zavaleta, Matías MacDonough and Clemente Zavaleta) who trailed 3-1 after the opening chukker.
Four more second period goals from Facundo Pieres (one on a penalty conversion) and a goal from Polito Pieres were complimented by shutout defense from the Ellerstina foursome. After two chukkers Ellerstina was running away with the game, 8-1.
La Irenita staged a mini-rally in the third behind goals from MacDonough (penalty shot) and Juan Martin Zavaleta. Facundo Pieres scored Ellerstina’s only goal of the chukker as they continued to lead, 9-3.
Ellerstina got fourth chukker goals from Gonzalito Pieres and Nico Pieres while an oppressive defense held La Irenita without a goal. The Ellerstina lead grew to eight goals, 11-3.
Facundo Pieres scored his eighth goal of the day as the second half got underway and Gonzalito Pieres added two more. Nico Pieres left the field with 3:01 left in the chukker and was replaced by Nachi Du Plessis (Nico would return later in the match). The Ellerstina lead stood at eleven goals, 14-3, after five chukkers of play.
Ellerstina pitched their third straight shutout chukker in the sixth while picking up two goals from Polito Pieres and a penalty goal from Facundo Pieres. La Irenita was fighting to stay in the game, and losing, 17-3.
Matias MacDonough converted a penalty shot in the seventh period but Ellerstina wasn’t bothered by it. Goals from Facundo Pieres (penalty goal) and Polito Pieres extended their commanding lead to fifteen goals, 19-4, with one chukker left to play.
Nico Pieres showed no effect of an earlier injury that had him leave the game as he added two more goals to the Ellerstina total. MacDonough converted a pair of penalty goals but it was all Ellerstina, 21-6.
Ten goals from Facundo Pieres (four on penalty conversions) led the Ellerstina attack. Polito Pieres added five goals with Gonzalito and Nico Pieres scoring three goals apiece in the win. MacDonough scored three of his team high five goals on penalty shots. Zavaleta added a goal for La Irenita in the loss.
Alegria 14, Washington 11
In the second match of the day at the Hurlingham Club, Alegría (Guillermo Caset, Hilario Ulloa, Lucas Monteverde and Fred Mannix) took an early 3-1 lead before falling behind Washington (Diego Cavanagh, Tomas Garcia Del Rio, Facundo Sola and Alfredo Cappella) in the second (4-3) and third chukkers (5-4).
Four fourth chukker goals (two each from Hilario Ulloa and Sapo Caset) carried them to an 8-5 halftime lead.
Alegria move ahead 12-7 after the sixth, but had to hand on as Washington rallied in the seventh, cutting the lead to two goals, 13-11. A final goal from Ulloa and shutout defense gave the game to Alegria, 14-11.
Ulloa led the Alegria team with seven goals (four on penalty conversions). Caset scored five of his six goals from the field with Mannix adding a goal for the win. Sola scored three of his eight goals on penalty conversions. Ferrario, Cappella and Cavanagh each added a goal in the loss.
El Paraiso 11, La Aguada/Las Monjitas 10
After a dominating first half that had El Paraiso (Agustin Merlos, Ignacio Toccalino, Ignacio Heguy and Santiago Toccalino) in front of La Aguada-Las Monjitas (Alejandro Novillo Astrada, Francisco Elizalde, Miguel Novillo Astrada and Ignacio Novillo Astrada) by three goals, 7-4, after four periods and 11-7 after seven chukkers La Aguada/Las Monjitas fell just short, 11-10, with a three-goal final period.
Toccalino led the field in scoring with six goals (two on penalty shots). Merlo scored two of his three goals on penalty conversions and Nachi Heguy added two goals for the win. Elizalde scored four times for La Aguada/Las Monjitas. Miguel Novillo Astrada and Ignacio Novillo Astrada each scored three times in a losing effort.
Hurlingham Open play continues with El Paraiso (1-0) facing Cria Yatay (0-1) at 2pm on Wednesday, October 26th followed by a 4:15pm game between La Dolfina (1-0) and La Aguada/Las Monjitas (0-1) in Bracket A competition. On Thursday, October 27th Alegria (1-0) battles La Irenita (0-1) at 2pm followed by a 4:15pm match featuring Ellerstina (1-0) and Washington (0-1) in Bracket B play.
The final of the Hurlingham Open is set to be played on Saturday, November 5th.