By Alex Webbe
The weather finally cleared enough for Ellerstina to earn the right to defend its 2011 title and knock Pilara Piaget out of the running for the 2012 Tortugas Open in at the Tortugas Country Club in Buenos Aires Saturday afternoon before an enthusiastic and polo-hungry crowd that have been waiting for days for play to resume.
Ellerstina took control early, forging out to a 4-2 lead after the opening chukker, but Pilara Piaget stormed back.
Pilara picked up goals from Paco de Narvaez and Sebastian Merlos in the second, cutting the Ellerstina lead to a single goal, 7-6.
Pilara tied it up, 7-7, with a penalty shot to open the third period, but Ellerstina was quick to respond. Two penalty goals from Facundo Pieres closed out the scoring and gave Ellerstina a two goal, 9-7 advantage after three.
Pilara took advantage of a penalty on Ellerstina to open the fourth chukker, converted a penalty shot and cut the lead back to a single goal, 9-8. Facundo Pieres converted a 30-yard penalty shot for a goal, Ellerstina 10-8. Facundo Pieres added a 40-yard penalty shot as well as Ellerstina stretched its lead to three goals, 11-8. Pilara closed out the chukker strongly with de Narvaez converting a 60-yard penalty shot followed by a goal from the field. Sebastian Merlos tallied the final goal of the chukker on a beautifully-executed neck-shot, and it was all even at 11-11.
Facundo Pieres scored the only goal of the fifth chukker as Ellerstina broke the tie and move ahead, 12-11.
Two more Facundo Pieres penalty conversions gave Ellerstina a 14-12 lead. Pilara cut the lead to a single goal once again, 14-13, but Gonzalito Pieres closed out the scoring with a goal from the field for a 15-13 advantage, a margin that would hold up through a defensive final chukker of play for the ultimate win for Ellerstina and an opportunity to defend its Tortugas Open title against the winner of Sunday’s La Dolfina-La Aguada semifinal match.