December 1, 2000

W. Polo Looks to Thrash Yale Again

Print More

Men’s and women’s polo coach David Eldredge ’81 returns to Oxley Equestrian Center with some additional hardware in his collection. Both clubs captured the championship in the Bill Field Invitational prior to the Thanksgiving holiday.

The lady riders return to action tomorrow afternoon when they play host to Ivy League foe Yale. The Big Red has more than handled the young Bulldog squad in recent play. Cornell leveled a 36-1 thumping on the visitors from New Haven in play at the Bill Field tournament en route to the title game.

The squad used a balanced offensive attack in the contest. Freshman Marisa Bianchi keyed the Red’s efforts with a game-high 13 goals. Sophomore Taylor McLean and junior Liz Antzcak were not far behind, collecting 12 and 10 scores, respectively. Veteran Ali Tracy added a lamp-lighter of her own to complete the damage. Yale’s lone counter was tallied by Sarah Crews early in the fourth chukker after Cornell had run off 26 unanswered goals.

Yale is a program in need of rebuilding. At this point though, the Red should easily exploit the Bulldogs inexperience.

The match concludes this semester’s portion of the season for the club. Following the winter recess, the squad will welcome back All-American Melissa Riggs. The sophomore, who collected four national high school championships, has been in South America for the semester. Having spent a portion of her time away in polo training, she is expected to return as strong as ever.

Nonetheless, her return to the East Hil will leave Eldredge with decisions to be made. Antczak has played outstandingly in filling Riggs’s role, but the impressive debut of Marissa Bianchi will leave the coach with difficult choices regarding the starting lineup.

The men’s schedule date with Yale this weekend has been postponed. The team will conclude its pre-holiday season with a trip to Skidmore on Dec. 8, and will return to the friendly confines of Oxley to host UConn the day after at 8:15.

The team will take its unblemished mark to Skidmore. The Red doubled up the Thoroughbreds by a 16-8 count earlier in the season. The game may give Eldredge a chance to display the club’s depth as the alternates will likely start the match.

Cornell was scheduled to open the season against the Huskies, but that match was postponed. UConn should be a manageable opponent though for the Red.

The men return to play paced by senior phenom Jeff Embow. The Florida native captured Athlete of the Week honors last week after leading the riders to the Bill FIeld crown with an eight-goal performance against arch-rival, Virginia.

Archived article by Gary Schueller