Ten-goaler Facundo Pieres set the pace for Ellerstina with five goals in their 11-9 win over Alegria Sunday afternoon, boosting them into Saturday’s Tortugas Open final against defending champion La Dolfina. (Photo by Matias Callejo)
Ellerstina (Facundo Pieres, Gonzalo Pieres, Polito Pieres and Nico Pieres) knew that the Tortugas Open semifinal match against Alegría (Guillermo Caset, Hilario Ulloa, Lucas Monteverde and Fred Mannix) wasn’t going to be easy with the two teams playing to a 2-2 first chukker tie. Ellerstina got goals from Polito Pieres and Gonzalito Pieres while Alegria scored on a pair of penalty goals from Hilario Ulloa.
A disciplined Ellerstina defense held Alegria scoreless in the second period. Goals from Facundo Pieres and Gonzalito Pieres gave Ellerstina a two goal lead, 4-2.
Alegria continued to struggle with the Ellerstina attack in the third chukker. Goals from Facundo Pieres (penalty conversion) and Polito Pieres were countered by a single goal from Sapo Caset. After three periods of play, Ellerstina left the field with a three goal, 6-3 advantage over Alegria.
Ellerstina continued to pound away at the Alegria defense in the fourth period. Lucas Monteverde scored his first goal of the game but goals from Facundo Pieres (penalty goal) and Nico Pieres stretched the Ellerstina lead to four goals, 8-4, at the end of the first half.
Caset scored his second goal of the day for Alegria but goals from Facundo Pieres (penalty conversion) and Polito Pieres doubled them up for the third consecutive chukker. After five chukkers Ellerstina’s lead continued to grow as they led Alegria by five goals, 10-5.
For the first time all game long, Alegria outscored Ellerstina in the sixth chukker of the Tortugas Open semifinal at the Tortugas Country Club. Ulloa scored on a penalty shot and Caset scored his third goal of the day from the field. Facundo Pieres converted a penalty shot for Ellerstina’s only goal of the chukker. Ellerstina continued to lead, 11-7.
With Ellerstina coasting through the final seven minutes of the game, Ulloa converted two penalty shots, but the last chukker Alegria rally fell short as Ellerstina took the game, 11-9.
Facundo Pieres scored four of his team-high five goals on penalty shots. Polito Pieres added three goals; Gonzalito Pieres scored twice and Nico Pieres was credited with a goal in the victory. Ulloa scored five times for Alegria (three on penalty conversions). Caset scored three times and Monteverde added a goal in the loss.
The win boosts Ellerstina into Saturday’s 3:30pm final against defending championship La Dolfina (Adolfo Cambiaso, David Stirling, Pablo MacDonough and Juan Martin Nero). Ellerstina’s last Tortugas Open title came in 2012 when they beat La Dolfina 12-11. La Dolfina won the last three as they recorded an unprecedented three consecutive Triple Crown wins (Tortugas Open, Hurlingham Open and Argentine Open).