La Dolfina spanks Pilara Piaget 17-9 in Hurlingham Open play

By Alex Webbe

After a sluggish first chukker that gave La Dolfina an early 2-1 lead La Dolfina made short work
of Pilara Piaget (1-2) in a 17-9 rout in Hurlingham Open play. The victory gives La Dolfina a 3-0
zone record and boosts them into next week’s finals.

It was four minutes into the game before Adolfo Cambiaso converted a penalty shot to give La
Dolfina a 1-0 lead; and less than a minute-and-a-half later that Pablo MacDonough made it 2-
0. Luke Tomlinson closed out the scoring with a goal from the field. Pilara Piaget left the field
trailing, 2-1.

The second chukker began with Cambiaso missing on a penalty shot, a miscue that he made up
for two minutes later when he scored to put La Dolfina up 3-1. Pilara Piaget committed a safety
in an effort to defend against another La Dolfina attack, with Cambiaso converting the penalty
shot for a goal. Magoo Laprida took advantage of a Luke Tomlinson penalty shot that was
blocked and drove it through the goal posts, but Pilara Piaget continued to trail, 4-2. Another
foul returned Cambiaso to the penalty line where Pelon Stirling scored on Cambiaso’s deflected
shot at goal, and Pablo MacDonough took the following throw-in down the field for his second
goal of the game and a 6-2 La Dolfina lead.

Just thirty seconds into the third chukker MacDonough scored his third goal on the day,
carrying it nearly the length of the field for the score. Bautista Heguy stopped the bleeding
for Pilara Piaget with his first goal of the game. Laprida cut the La Dolfina lead to three goals
when he found himself on the receiving end of a 130 yard penalty shot from Luke Tomlinson.
At the six minute mark, Juan Martin Nero scored a final goal for La Dolfina for a four goal, 8-4
advantage.

Two goals by MacDonough in the first 1:19 of the fourth chukker had La Dolfina up by six goals,
10-4 before Hilario Ulloa scored for Pilara Piaget. Nero and Stirling closed out the scoring with
single goals and La Dolfina took a 12-7 lead to the sidelines with them at the end of the first half
of play.

Both teams struggled to control the ball as the second half began. It was nearly two minutes
into the period before Cambiaso got off the first shot at goal—an effort that went wide. At
the 5:55 mark Ulloa added his second goal of the day to close out the scoring with La Dolfina
leading 12-6.

Heguy’s penalty shot in the opening minute of the sixth chukker was blocked but Ulloa backed
it through the goal posts for a Pilara Piaget score. Nero and Cambiaso added single goals and
the chukker ended with La Dolfina on top of a 14-7 score.

Cambiaso converted another penalty shot for a goal to open the seventh as a determined Pilara
Piaget pressed the attack. Goals from Laprida and Ulloa pumped some energy into the Pilara
Piaget lineup, but a blocked penalty shot at goal was followed by a goal from Stirling as the
chukker ended with La Dolfina ahead by seven goals, 16-9.

MacDonough scored his sixth goal of the match in the first 39 seconds of the final period for a
17-9 lead, with Pilara Piaget flailing at the ball in an effort to show some burst of offense before
the final bell sounded. Following a missed penalty shot by Tomlinson, Cambiaso made a final
run at the Pilara Piaget goal where the last shot of the game went just wide. Reflecting on the
17-9 win, La Dolfina would now wait for the results of Sunday’s showdown between La Aguada
(2-0) and Ellerstina (2-0) to see who they would play in the 2011 Hurlingham Open finals.

MacDonough led all scoring with six goals. Cambiaso scored five times with Nero and Stirling
adding three goals apiece in the win.

Ulloa set the pace for Pilara Piaget with four goals. Laprida scored three goals and Heguy and
Tomlinson added single goals.

The power that La Dolfina has displayed in zone play has them scoring an average of 20 goals
per game, beating their opponents by an average of ten goals while amassing an impressive
30 net goals in its three games. Regardless of its opponent, the 2011 Hurlingham Open final is
sure to be a high-scoring event.

ESTANCIA GRANDE 19, CHAPA UNO 16

In earlier action Estancia Grande downed Chapa Uno 19-16 after a competitive first half that
began with a 1-1 first chukker. The win was the first for the 36-goal team in three games and
leaves them with a disappointing 1-2 record. The Chapa Uno loss was its second against only
one win, with a net goals recorded of -14 goals.

The veterans on the Estancia Grande team managed to hold on to single goal leads through the
second (4-3), third (7-6) and fourth (8-7) chukkers while Chapa Uno continued to take control of
the game.

Four unanswered goals and shutout defense in the fifth period gave Estancia Grande a 12-7
lead that would carry them through the game.

Chapa Uno came up with four goals in the sixth chukker while holding Estancia Grande to just a
pair, but 14-13 would be about as close as they would get.

Estancia Grande took an 18-14 lead into the final chukker before galloping off with the 19-16
victory.

Agustin Merlos scored twelve goals, with nine of them coming on penalty shots. Lolo
Castagnola scored four times; Lucas Monteverde added two goals and Sebastian Merlos
accounted for a single goal for Estancia Grande.

Sapo Caset scored nine goals (three on penalty shots) for Chapa Uno. Rodrigo Andrade and
Pablo Pieres each scored three times and Jaime Huidobro converted a penalty shot for a score.

Hurlingham Open play will continue on Sunday, October 30 with Chapa II (0-2) playing Alegria
(0-2) at 2PM followed by a 4:30PM contest between La Aguada (2-0) and defending champion
Ellerstina (2-0). The winner of the La Aguada vs. Ellerstina match will meet La Dolfina (3-0) in
the finals on Saturday, November 5 at 4:30PM.