Ellerstina handles Magual, 17-12; La Natividad wins in OT
By Alex Webbe
Ellerstina/Piaget (Facundo Pieres, Gonzalito Pieres, Mariano Aguerre and Nicolás
Pieres) looked to be recovering from their Tortugas Open final loss as they charged
out to a 3-0 lead over Magual (Alejandro Muzzio, Ignacio Toccalino, Marcos Di Paola
and Jaime Huidobro) in the first chukker of Hurlingham Open at the Hurlingham Club in
Buenos Aires, but not all is as it seems.
Magual steadied themselves in the second chukker as the two teams exchanged single
goals. Ellerstina continued to lead, but Magual appeared to be settling into a rhythm.
Ellerstina left the field after the second period on top of a 4-1 score.
The third chukker belonged to an aggressive Magual foursome. Magual scored four
unanswered goals and move in front of the powerful Ellerstina team, 5-4.
The two teams fought to a 3-3 draw in the fourth period, with neither taking control of
the flow of the game. At the end of the first half Magual held a surprising 8-7 lead.
Defenses were rigid in the fifth chukker. Single goals were scored by each team as
Magual defended a narrow one goal lead, 10-9.
A refocused Ellerstina took the field in the sixth period and scored three straight goals.
Magual was unable to respond and fell behind, 12-10.
Three more Ellerstina goals in the seventh were offset by two goals from Magual.
Ellerstina continued to expand its lead, 15-12.
Shutout defense by Ellerstina in the final chukker kept Magual scoreless. Two more
Ellerstina ended the match with Ellerstina riding off with the 17-12 victory.
Facundo Pieres led all scoring with nine goals (six on penalty conversions). Gonzalito
Pieres scored four timed with Nico Pieres adding a pair of goals to the total and Mariano
Aguerre scoring once in the win. Alejandro Muzzio led the Magual attack with five
goals. Jaime Huidobro scored three times and Ignacio Toccalino and Marcos De Paola
scored two goals apiece in the loss.
LA NATIVIDAD 14, LA AGUADA/LAS MONJITAS 13 OT
La Natividad (Sapo Caset, Nachi Heguy, Rodrigo Andrade and Lolo Castagnola) trailed
in six of the regulation eight chukkers but managed a late game rally to tie it up at 13-
13 in the eighth and score the winning goal in overtime to beat La Aguada/Las Monjitas
(Agustin Merlos, Magoo Laprida, Eduardo Novillo Astrada, Alejandro Novillo Astrada)
14-13 as Hurlingham Open play continued.
La Aguada/Las Monjitas took an early 2-1 lead after the first chukker before La
Natividad exposed its offensive capabilities in the second. Three goals went
unanswered as La Natividad leap-frogged past La Aguada/Las Monjitas, 4-2.
La Aguada/Las Monjitas scored three times in the third while holding La Natividad
scoreless. La Natividad found themselves trailing by a goal, 5-4 at the end of the third
chukker.
The two teams exchanged goals in the fourth period. Each side scored twice with La
Aguada/Las Monjitas maintaining the one goal advantage, 7-6.
Goals were no easier to come by in the second half with each team having to settle for
a single goal in the fifth. La Aguada/Las Monjitas remained in front, 8-7.
The La Aguada/Las Monjitas offense erupted for three goals in the sixth chukker while
limiting La Natividad to a single goal. With two chukkers left in regulation time La
Aguada/Las Monjitas was in front by three goals, 11-8.
La Aguada/Las Monjitas stretched their lead to four goals in the seventh period. La
Natividad could only produce a single goal in the chukker while La Aguada/Las Monjitas
scored twice and led by four goals, 13-9.
A determined La Natividad team took the field in the eighth period, making a statement
by scoring four consecutive goals while holding La Aguada/Las Monjitas scoreless. The
chukker ended in a tie and both teams retired to the sidelines to prepare for the sudden-
death overtime period to decide the winner.
The overtime period was short-lived with Sapo Caset scoring the winning goal for the
14-13 victory.
Sapo Caset led the field with nine goals (seven on penalty shots). Rodrigo Andrade
was credited with three goals. Nachi Heguy and Lolo Castagnola scored single goals in
the win. Lucas James and Negro Astrada scored four goals apiece for La Aguada/Las
Monjitas. Eduardo Novillo Astrada added three goals and Magoo Laprida scored twice
in a losing effort.