Lucas Vila’s Last Dance: Olympic Champion Bows Out as Banco Provincia Chase the Metropolitano Final
Lucas Vila has announced his retirement, and these playoffs are his last. The Olympic champion plays his final games in a Banco Provincia shirt this weekend, starting with Sunday’s Metropolitano semi-final against Mitre.
Vila won gold with Los Leones at Rio 2016, and he’s been the heartbeat of this Banco Provincia side all year. They finished second in the regular season and lost just one game in 26, against Quilmes in the first round. They won 16 of their 26 matches, and Gonzalo Merino, their top scorer with 22 goals, has given them a cutting edge all season. Juan Martín López’s side go into Sunday as the form team nobody wants to face.
But Mitre won’t be fazed. They finished third on 55 points, lost only three games all year, and arrive on a 17-match unbeaten run. Facundo Falchetto leads their scoring, and they got through their quarter-final against Ducilo on sporting advantage after a 2-2 draw. They know how fine the margins are at this stage, and they’ve spent all season proving they don’t beat themselves.
The semi-final is at 13:30 on Sunday at Parque Olímpico, and it has the feel of a final before the final. Vila’s farewell on one side, Mitre’s unbeaten run on the other. For our money, Banco Provincia’s experience and Merino’s goals give them the edge, but Mitre have made a habit of ruining that kind of logic all year.
San Fernando against GEBA
The second semi-final follows at 16:00, with holders San Fernando meeting GEBA. San Fernando finished top of the table and lost just once all season, against Hurling, with Lautaro Ferrero Farías scoring 21 of their 76 goals and Matías Rey still pulling the strings. They’ve conceded just 25 goals in 26 games, the tightest defence in the tournament.
GEBA got here by beating Ciudad A 2-1 in the quarter-finals, and they bring the most goals in the league with them: 79 in the regular season, 22 of them from Tomás Suárez. Santiago Tarazona has already said the group have closed the book on last year’s hurt, and they’re playing like a side with nothing to lose.
The women’s semi-finals come first on Saturday: Lomas against GEBA at 13:30, then Santa Bárbara against Italiano at 16:00. The final is on Saturday 21 November, and every game is at Parque Olímpico, live on ESPN through Disney+ Premium.
However Sunday goes, one thing is certain. When Lucas Vila walks off the pitch at Parque Olímpico for the last time, Argentine hockey loses one of its greats. A title would be the perfect goodbye.
