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 9th, 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.