Well, the gauntlet has officially been thrown.  Following a 16-14 win over Ellerstina (Facundo Pieres, Gonzalito Pieres, Mariano Aguerre and Nicolás Pieres) in the finals of the Tortugas Open—the first Tortugas Open championship for La Dolfina—two challenges have been made.  The first challenge was made by La Dolfina (Adolfo Cambiaso, Pelon Stirling, Pablo MacDonough and Juan Martín Nero) to the defending Argentine Open champion, Ellerstina.  The second by the Number two rated player in the game today, Adolfo Cambiaso to Ellerstina’s Facundo Pieres.

Ellerstina had captured the Tortugas Open for six consecutive years and seven out of the last ten years while La Dolfina had, in the past, been accused of not even offering serious competition for the first leg of Argentina polo’s Triple Crown.

Over the course of the past year Ellerstina’s Facundo Pieres won the United States Open, the Queens Cup and British Open in England and the Gold and Silver Cups in Spain.  His string of victories propelled him past Cambiaso as the top rated polo player in the world, and cries of “the king is dead, long live the king” echoed throughout the polo world, but in the words of American novelist Mark Twain, the reports of his death were greatly exaggerated.

Facundo Pieres scored the first two goals of the game for an early 2-0 Ellerstina lead, but ensuing penalty goals by Pelon Stirling and Cambiaso ted it up at 2-2 with a third La Dolfina goal ending the chukker with Ellerstina trailing 3-2.

A La Dolfina goal stretched the lead to two goals, 4-2 in the second period before goals from Facundo Pieres and Mariano Aguerre tied it up at 4-4.  The two teams exchanged goals for a 5-5 tie with Facundo Pieres scoring the go-ahead goal to end the chukker with Ellerstina on top of a 6-5 score.

Cambiaso opened the third by converting a 60-yard penalty shot followed by goals from Pablo MacDonough and Juan Martin Nero.  The third period ended with La Dolfina in the lead, 8-6.

Fourth chukker action had Facundo Pieres open the period with a goal.  A second score had it all even at 8-8.  Consecutive goals from La Dolfina had them in front, 10-8.  Facundo Pieres converted a 30-yard penalty shot to end the chukker, but La Dolfina remained in front, 10-9.

The Ellerstina defense tightened in the fifth, limiting La Dolfina to a single goal while scoring twice themselves.  With two chukkers left to play the score was all even at 11-11.

The two teams matched one another goal for goal in the sixth.  With seven minutes left in regulation play, the score was deadlocked at 13-13.

La Dolfina scored first in the seventh, 14-13, but a goal from Nico Pieres locked it up again at 14-14.  Cambiaso scored to make it 15-14 and a final La Dolfina goal ended the game in a 16-14 victory.

Ellerstina was beaten by a 39-goal team that wants to atone for a loss in last year’s Argentine Open finals.  They were beaten by Adolfo Cambiaso, one of the greatest players in the history of the game, who was written off as the world’s top ranked player after a stellar run by Facundo Pieres.  La Dolfina has alerted the polo community that it is not ready to retire to the sidelines while Ellerstina and Facundo Pieres have their way.  The La Dolfina win, in a hotly-contested match, has alerted the polo community that it is going to be a very exciting Argentine open season.

La Dolfina is scheduled to return to the field on Tuesday, October 15^th in the opening match of the Hurlingham Open where they will face Chapaleufú (Alberto Heguy, Francisco Elizalde, Bautista Heguy and Eduardo Heguy).  Ellerstina (Facundo Pieres, Gonzalito Pieres, Mariano Aguerre and Nicolás Pieres) won’t return to action until Sunday, October 16^th when they face Magual (Alejandro Muzzio, Ignacio Toccalino, Marcos Di Paola and Jaime Huidobro).