L to R-La Aguada’s Miguel Novillo Astrada and La Dolfina’s Pelon Stirling in Hurlingham Open play.
La Dolfina to defend 2012 Hurlingham Open title
By Alex Webbe
La Dolfina (Adolfo Cambiaso, Pelon Stirling, Pablo MacDonough and Juan Martín Nero) earned the right to defend their 2012 Hurlingham Open title Friday afternoon by defeating La Aguada (Guillermo Terrera, Facundo Sola, Miguel Novillo Astrada, and Nachi Du Plessis) 18-15 in a game that was closer than one might have thought.
La Aguada surprised the 39-goal La Dolfina lineup in the opening chukker by jumping out to a 3-1 lead.
La Dolfina responded with three unanswered goals in the second chukker to move in front, 4-3.
The two teams exchanged goals in the third chukker as both La Aguada and La Dolfina scored twice. La Dolfina continued to hold the lead by a narrow one goal margin, 6-5.
Adolfo Cambiaso and Company flexed their muscles in the fourth period as they scored five times while holding La Aguada scoreless. At the end of the first half of play, La Dolfina was in front by six goals, 11-5.
La Dolfina extended their lead to seven goals in the fifth, outscoring La Aguada 2-1. With three chukkers left in regulation lay, La Dolfina was on top, 13-6.
La Dolfina let their guard down in the sixth, and La Aguada made them pay for it. La Aguada scored three times while holding the defending champions scoreless. The lead had been cut to four goals, 13-9.
La Aguada cut the lead to just two goals in the seventh, outscoring La Dolfina, 3-1. With just seven minutes left in the match, La Dolfina looked vulnerable with the 14-12 advantage.
The two teams battled it out in the final chukker of the match La Dolfina scored four times while La Aguada added three to their total. As the final bell sounded a relieved La Dolfina foursome celebrated the 18-15 win.
Adolfo Cambiaso scored six of his team high eleven goals from the field. Teammates Pelon Stirling and Pablo MacDonough added three goals apiece and Juan Martin Nero scored once in the victory. Miguel Novillo Astrada scored ten of his 11 goals on penalty conversions. Nachi Du Plessis (replacing the injured Nacho Novillo Astrada) added two goals with Facundo Sola and Guillermo Terrera adding single goals in a losing effort.
La Dolfina will wait for the outcome of Saturday’s second semifinal with Ellerstina (Facundo Pieres, Gonzalito Pieres, Mariano Aguerre and Paco de Narvaez) facing La Natividad (Sapo Caset, Nachi Heguy, Rodrigo Andrade and Lolo Castagnola) to find out who they will face in the November 2nd finals.
ALEGRIA 16, CHAPALEUFÚ 14
In their final tune-up match before the Argentine Open begins, Alegria (Diego Cavanagh, Lucas Monteverde, Hilario Ulloa, Frederick Mannix) beat Chapaleufú (Alberto Heguy, Francisco Elizalde, Bautista Heguy and Eduardo Heguy) 16-14 in a match that was much closer than it appeared.
Alegria led 3-2 after the first chukker but was all even at 4-4 after the second.
Alegria took a narrow 6-5 lead in the third before running out to a more comfortable 9-6 halftime lead.
Chapaleufú cut the Alegria lead to two goals, 11-9, in the fifth (with 6-goaler Julián de Lusarreta filling in for the injured Bautista Heguy) and 11-10 after six chukkers of play as Alegria had trouble shaking the Heguy laden lineup.
The Alegria lead grew to three goals after the seventh, 15-12, but settled down to just two goals, 16-14 at the end of the match.
Diego Cavanagh led the Alegria attack with seven goals (two on penalty conversions). Lucas Monteverde scored four times with Hilario Ulloa adding three goals and Freddie Mannix scoring twice (one on a penalty shot). Eduardo Heguy scored all eight of his goals on penalty shots. Bautista Heguy scored five times (twice on penalties) before leaving the game in the fifth and Julián de Lusarreta scored once in the loss.