La Dolfina disseminates Ellerstina in Tortugas Open final, 18-12. L to R-Juan Martin Nero, Pablo MacDonough, Pelon Stirling and Adolfo Cambiaso.
The final of the 2016 Tortugas Open was closely contested through the first half of the fifth chukker when the powerful 40-goal powerhouse La Dolfina (Adolfo Cambiaso, David Stirling, Pablo MacDonough and Juan Martin Nero) picked apart the Ellerstina lineup (Facundo Pieres, Gonzalo Pieres, Polito Pieres and Nico Pieres). La Dolfina scored six unanswered goals over the course of the two-and-a-half chukkers, allowing a single goal from Facundo in a resounding 18-12 victory.
Ellerstina scored the first goal in Sunday’s Tortugas Open final at the Tortugas Country Club but La Dolfina stormed right back. The opening goal from Polito Pieres gave Ellerstina the early 1-0 lead before three consecutive scores from La Dolfina closed out the chukker with La Dolfina on top, 3-1. Adolfo Cambiaso tied the game at 1:01 of the period followed by a go-ahead goal from teammate Pablo MacDonough a minute-and-a-half later. Cambiaso scored the final goal of the chukker for the two goal lead, 3-1.
Ellerstina got back to business as the second chukker began. Gonzalito Pieres scored at the 2:12 mark followed by a game-tying goal from Facundo Pieres at 4:07, 3-3. Cambiaso gave the lead back to La Dolfina with his third goal of the day, 4-3, at with just two minutes left in the period. Gonzalito leveled the score in the final thirty seconds of the chukker, with his second goal to make it 4-4.
Cambiaso blew open the third period with two goals in the opening minute and ten seconds of play for a 6-4 La Dolfina advantage. Facundo Pieres converted a 60-yard penalty shot that cut the lead back to a single goal, 6-5. Cambiaso and Nico Pieres traded goals that kept La Dolfina in front, 7-6, with Juan Martin Nero scoring the final goal of the chukker for an 8-6 La Dolfina lead.
Facundo Pieres opened the fourth period with a penalty goal. Cambiaso countered with a 60-yard penalty goal of his own, 9-7. Nico Pieres cut the lead back to a single goal, 9-8. MacDonough stretched the La Dolfina back to two goals, 10-8. Goals from Gonzalito Pieres and Facundo Pieres (30-yard penalty conversion) tied the game at 10-10, with Cambiaso scoring a goal with seven seconds on the clock for an 11-10 halftime lead.
The La Dolfina lead grew back to two goals, 12-10, with Cambiaso scoring his ninth goal of the game on a penalty shot in the opening seconds of the period. Facundo Pieres responded by converting a penalty shot from the 30-yard mark, less than a minute later to trail, 12-11. Pelon Stirling scored his first goal of the match at the 4:22 mark with Cambiaso giving La Dolfina a three goal lead, 14-11 with his tenth goal of the day to end the fifth.
A muted Ellerstina offense watched as Cambiaso converted a penalty shot from the 40-yard line followed by a goal from the field from MacDonough. Ellerstina was unable to generate any effective attack and fell behind by five goals, 16-11.
Stirling made it 17-11, scoring his second goal of the afternoon in the opening minute of the seventh. Nero made it 18-11 a minute later to erase any doubt as to the outcome of the game. Facundo Pieres scored the final goal of the game at the 3-minute mark, with La Dolfina coasting to the commanding 18-12 victory.
Cambiaso led all scoring with eleven goals (three on penalty conversions). MacDonough scored three times with Stirling and Nero each adding a pair of goals. Facundo Pieres scored five of his team-high six goals on penalty shots. Gonzalito Pieres scored three times; Nico Pieres added two goals and Polito Pieres scored once in the loss.
Cuartetera 6, one of Adolfo Cambiaso’s clones that he played in the third chukker, earned Best Playing Pony honors.
Argentine Triple Crown action will continue on Tuesday, October 18th with La Dolfina facing Cria Yatay (Lucas James, Magoo Laprida, Joaquin Pittaluga and Inaki Laprida) in a 2pm contest followed by a 4:15pm match between La Aguada-Las Monjitas (Alejandro Novillo Astrada, Eduardo. Novillo Astrada, Miguel Novillo Astrada and Ignacio Novillo Astrada) and El Paraiso (Agustin Merlos, Ignacio Toccalino, Ignacio Heguy and Santiago Toccalino).