February 22, 2008

Polo Teams’ Momentum Carries Into Weekend

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Tearing through all of its opponents recently, the men’s polo team has rattled off four consecutive wins, including eight of its last nine. The women’s team, for its part, has won three of its last four games, including an impressive win against Virginia last week. The team’s winning ways has been drawing an increased fan base.
“It gets really exciting,” said freshman Max Constant. “At the [Virginia] game, for example, there weren’t too many people there at the beginning, but once word got out that it was a tight game, there were as many as 50 or 60 people in the stands.”[img_assist|nid=28079|title=Pony party|desc=The men’s polo team’s winning streak currently stands at four, while the women have won three of their last four matches. Both teams will be competing against Virginia this weekend.|link=node|align=left|width=|height=0]
This weekend, both the men and women’s squads travel to Virginia to face a team of Cavaliers who fell to the Red just three weeks ago — albeit by just two goals on the men’s side and three on the women’s. This win was especially impressive for the women’s side, as it was without key players.
“That is what we have to do again this weekend … go in with that same type of attitude … or both teams,” said head coach David Eldredge ’81.
The Cavaliers are enjoying a successful season themselves, and will be looking to revenge the loss.
There is, however, no rest for the weary. The Red travels back north following its games in the south to face UConn. Historically, the men’s team has been successful against UConn. But, as Constant pointed out, that the team can’t afford to take anything lightly.
“The games can change really quickly,” Constant said. “We’re going into the game with UConn with the same mentality … as any other game. [The team] still has a great amount of respect for them, because obviously they have a good number of great players.”
As for the women’s team, it hosts Maryland this weekend, just a day after the game against Virginia. The Terps felled the Red 14-11 on Oct. 13 at the season opener. Recently, however, the Red has won three of its last four and will be looking to either complete a weekend sweep or salvage the trip with an important win.
The key to this weekend for the Red will be finding a balance of endurance and patience. It’s the first time in three months the team has played two games this close to one another, but it will not be the last time. The Red will play three games in three days three weeks from now at the Eastern Regional championships. Eldredge, however, maintains that the team is ready.
“It won’t be that big of a problem,” he said. “On the women’s side, we have [junior] captain Ari Constant returning from an injury, so that should make things easier. The only thing that could be concerning is the travel between games.”