Ellerstina and La Dolfina to meet in Open finals again

By Alex Webbe

Popular local sentiment wanted to see Estancia Grande upset Ellerstina, with Lolo Castagnola and Lucas Monteverde facing their old teammates at Palermo in the finals, but that was not to be the case. On the strength of eleven goals from Facundo Pieres Sunday afternoon, Ellerstina will return to defend its 2010 Argentine Open Championship with a comfortable 18-14 win over Estancia Grande.

Nearly forty fouls were whistled in the match-up between the 2-0 teams as Ellerstina struggled to keep any kind of rhythm going in a game that was constantly interrupted by the official’s whistles.

Facundo Pieres got the scoring going for Ellerstina when he drove it through the goal posts for the early 1-0 lead with less than a minute gone in the opening chukker. Forty seconds later he converted a penalty shot, and Ellerstina was up 2-0. Sebastian got Estancia Grande on the scoreboard with a great effort, but another penalty conversion from Facundo Pieres had Ellerstina leading 3-1. Agustin Merlos scored his first goal of the day from the penalty line with Nico Pieres scoring from the ensuing throw-in to give Ellerstina a 4-2 lead at the end of the first chukker.

Agustin Merlos cut the Ellerstina lead to a single goal, 4-3, with his second penalty goal, but four straight goals from Ellerstina (two from Facundo and single goals from Nachi Heguy and Nico Pieres) had them down 8-3 going into the third chukker.

While the interchange of the ball by the Ellerstina players was smooth and effective, the Estancia Grande team looked more like a lose collection of superstars who had trouble coordinating efforts with one another.

Facundo Pieres opened the third with a penalty conversion followed by three straight goals from Estancia Grande. Agustin Merlos converted two penalty shots for goals while Lucas Monteverde scored a well-executed goal from the field. Estancia Grande outscored Ellerstina for the first time, 3-1, trailed by three goals, 9-6.

For the second straight chukker Facundo Pieres opened play by converting a penalty shot for a goal. Two minutes later Facundo scored on another penalty shot and Ellerstina led, 11-6. An Ellerstina foul put Agustin Merlos on the penalty line about five minutes into the period, where ne converted a 30-yard shot for a goal. Gonzalito Pieres broke his way through two defenders for the final goal of the chukker and a 12-7 halftime lead.

Facundo Pieres added two more goals from the field for Ellerstina while Agustin Merlos matched is output with a goal from the field and a penalty goal. The lack of teamplay by the Estancia Grande team was emphasized by the individual efforts made by Agustin as Ellerstina held on to the five goal lead, 14-9.

Estancia Grande shut out the Ellerstina offense for the first time all day in the sixth, picking up a pair of penalty goals from Agustin Merlos. Estancia Grande climbed to within three goals of Ellerstina, but that would be as close as they would get.

Gonzalito Pieres scored the first two goals of the seventh chukker for a 16-11 lead before Agustin Merlos responded with a penalty goal and a goal from the field (scored from the throw in and ending the period). Estancia Grande trailed by three goals, 16-13, and didn’t seem to be able to break through the Ellerstina defense.

Facundo Pieres scored on a penalty shot to open the final chukker and Nico Pieres scored as he followed another Facundo run at the Estancia Grande goal for a five goal, 18-13 advantage. Agustin Merlos scored the final goal of the game on a breakaway in the final minute of play. Ellerstina wins, 18-14.

Facundo Pieres led the Ellerstina attack with eleven goals (six on penalty shots). Nico Pieres and Gonzalito Pieres added three goals apiece and Nachi Heguy added one goal to his impressive defensive efforts.

Agustin Merlos led all scoring with twelve goals. Lucas Monteverde and Sebastian Merlos scored single goals in the loss.

The victory returns Ellerstina and La Dolfina to the Argentine Open finals once again where their realigned teams will do battle for polo’s most esteemed prize. This year’s finals will mark the third time this season that the two have faced off for top honors in Open competition. Ellerstina won the Tortugas Open on a last second goal after trailing by as many as seven goals. La Dolfina took early control of the Hurlingham final before staving off another Ellerstina rally to preserve a 19-18 victory. This year’s Argentine Open is scheduled to be played on Friday, December 9^th, and will serve as the rubber match as the two face-off for the third time this year.

ALEGRIA 21, CHAPALEUFU II 11

In earlier Open competition Alegria saved face by delivering a convincing 21-11 win over Chapa II with a balanced attack that had them up 9-7 after the first half before blowing them out in a 12-4 final four chukkers.

Fred Mannix, Jr. and Pancho Bensadon registered seven goals apiece for Alegria. Mariano Aguerre scored four times and Paco de Narvaez added three for the win.

Eduardo Heguy scored on five penalty conversions. Pepe Heguy tallied four goals from the field and Alejandro Novillo Astrada chipped in a pair of goals for the Chapa II team.