Ellerstina, wins, Argentine, Open, polo, argentina, 2012 polo championships,Ellerstina, wins, Argentine, Open, polo, argentina, 2012 polo championships,

 

Ellerstina upsets La Dolfina and Wins
Argentine Polo Open, 12-10

By Alex Webbe

Pablo MacDonough gave La Dolfina the early lead on a goal from the field in the first
chukker. Gonzalito Pieres scored to tie it up at 1-1. Three minutes later, Nico Pieres
put Ellerstina ahead, 2-1, to end the first chukker.

Facundo Pieres scored the first goal of the second chukker, giving Ellerstina a 3-1
advantage, but La Dolfina stormed back. Ellerstina fouls allowed Adolfo Cambiaso to
convert a pair of 30 yard penalty shots to tie it up at 3-3. Gonzalito Pieres’s second goal
of the game had Ellerstina back on top, 4-3. A foul in the Ellerstina goal mouth gave
Cambiaso a short penalty shot for a goal and the chukker ended in a 4-4 deadlock.

Goals are hard to come by in the third. Adolfo Cambiaso put La Dolfina up 5-4 on a 40-
yard penalty conversion. Facundo Pieres followed up Nico Pieres and tied it up on a
goal from the field. At the end of three periods of play it is all even at 5-5.

La Dolfina picked up a pair of goals from Cambiaso in the fourth (one by penalty one
from the field) to lead, 7-5. Nearly six minutes into the chukker, Ellerstina's Facundo
Pieres scored on a neck shot through a crowd. La Dolfina led at the end of the first half,
but Facundo’s goal cut the lead to a single goal, 7-6.

Mariano Aguerre scored his first goal of the game in the opening minute of the second
half to knot it up at 7-7. Facundo Pieres gave Ellerstina the lead on a 60 yard penalty
conversion just two minutes later and Ellerstina was leading, 8-7. Facundo Pieres
scored on a 60-yard penalty shot and the defending championship La Dolfina team
found themselves trailing by two goals, 9-7 as the chukker ended.

Gonzalito Pieres scored from the field less than two minutes into the sixth, carrying the
ball over two-hundred and fifty-yards down the field. Facundo Pieres converted a 30-
yard penalty shot and Ellerstina was up, 11-7. Cambiaso cut the lead back to three
goals but missed a 30 yard penalty shot to end the chukker trailing Ellerstina by three
goals, 11-8.

Facundo Pieres put Ellerstina up by four goals again, 12-8, on a beautifully executed
neck shot just a minute-and-a-half into the seventh chukker. Juan Martin Nero
responded for La Dolfina with a goal from the field at 2:44, for a 12-9 score. Cambiaso
cut the Ellerstina lead to a pair of goals on a short penalty shot and the chukker ended
with Ellerstina defending a 12-10, two goal lead.

In the opening 30 seconds of play, Gonzalito Pieres fouled Pelon Stirling, but Cambiaso
had the 60-yard penalty shot blocked. La Dolfina continued to press the attack with
no results. An Ellerstina foul put Cambiaso at the penalty line once again, but the 10-
goaler proved he was human, missing his second 30-yard penalty shot of the game.
Moments later Cambiaso got another opportunity on a 60-yard shot, but once again it
was blocked and cleared by Ellerstina. A defensive backhander by Mariano Aguerre
last in the chukker reversed the field on La Dolfina and despite a final charge at the
Ellerstina goal by La Dolfina, the shot by Nero went wide (6:27), and Ellerstina looked
to have the game won. Ellerstina controlled the ball in the final seconds of regulation
time, as neither team got on the scoreboard in the eighty. Time expired and Ellerstina
celebrated the 12-10 win.