(L to R)-Cria Yatay’s Magoo Laprida and brother, Inaki Laprida, combined for six goals Tuesday afternoon in an upset win over La Aguada-Las Monjitas in the quarterfinals of the Argentine Open Tuesday afternoon at Palermo. They will meet La Dolfina in Saturday’s semifinal.
Cria Yatay (Guillermo Terrera, Magoo Laprida, Joaquin Pittaluga and Inaki Laprida) upset La Aguada-Las Monjitas (Francisco Elizalde, Eduardo. Novillo Astrada, Miguel Novillo Astrada and Alejandro Novillo Astrada) Tuesday afternoon at Palermo in the second quarterfinal of the 2016 Argentine Open Championship, 14-10.
Alejandro Novillo Astrada scored the first goal of the game, 1-0, but that would be the last time La Aguada-Las Monjitas would lead in the eight chukker match. A penalty goal from Joaquin Pittaluga and a goal from the field from Magoo Laprida closed out the chukker with the 30-goal Cria Yatay team in the lead, 2-1.
Magoo Laprida added another goal in the opening seconds of the second period, 3-1, followed by goals from Francisco Elizalde (replacing the injured Ignacio Novillo Astrada) and Eduardo Novillo Astrada that tied the game at three goals apiece. Guillermo Terrera scored at the 6:14 mark and Inaki Laprida scored with just 30 seconds left in the chukker to give Cria Yatay a two-goal advantage, 5-3.
Magoo Laprida stretched the lead to three goals with a score in the opening seconds of the third period, 6-3. Pittaluga made it 7-3 a minute later. Magoo Laprida’s third goal of the game had Cria Yatay showing strength as they stretched the lead to five goals, 8-3. Eduardo Novillo Astrada scored the final goal of the chukker but it was Cria Yatay in control and with a lead of four goals, 8-4.
A determined La Aguada-Las Monjitas effort saw them score the first three goals of the fourth chukker with Alejandro Novillo Astrada scoring twice and Miguel Novillo Astrada adding a goal, cutting the Cria Yatay lead to a single goal, 8-7. Pittaluga converted a 40-ayrd penalty shot at 6:15, and Cria Yatay left the field at the end of the first half on top, 9-7.
A scoreless fifth period saw both teams struggle to successfully break through the opponent’s defenses, but to no avail. After seven minutes of play, the score remained, 9-7, in Cria Yatay’s favor.
The Cria Yatay attack picked up momentum again in the sixth chukker with Pittaluga scoring on a penalty conversion and adding a second goal from the field. La Aguada-Las Monjitas was unable to score for the second straight period, and fell behind by four goals, 11-7.
Pittaluga scored on a 30-yard penalty shot to open the seventh to make it 12-7. Alejandro Novillo Astrada responded with a goal just 46 seconds into the period, 12-8. Pittaluga added another penalty goal to end the period with Cria Yatay comfortably in the lead, 13-8.
Eighth chukker goals from Alejandro Novillo Astrada and Eduardo Novillo Astrada were answered by a goal from Inaki Laprida as Cria Yatay celebrated the 14-10 victory.
Pittaluga scored a game high seven goals (six on penalty shots). Magoo Laprida added four goals; Inaki Laprida scored twice and Terrera added a goal for the win. Alejandro Novillo Astrada’s four goals (two on penalty conversions) set the pace for La Aguada-Las Monjitas. Eduardo Novillo Astrada scored three times with Miguel Novillo Astrada adding a goal and Francisco Elizalde scoring twice in the loss.
The win sends Cria Yatay into Saturday afternoon’s semifinal against the 40-goal, defending championship La Dolfina quartet (Adolfo Cambiaso, David Stirling, Pablo MacDonough and Juan Martin Nero).