It was business as usual for both the women’s and men’s polo teams this weekend, as they completed a sweep of East Coast foe Georgetown at Oxley Equestrian Center.
Head coach David Eldredge ’81 capitalized on a chance to rest some of his regulars with the outmatched Hoyas in town.
“This was a good opportunity for me to get some of the younger players experience,” he explained.
Friday night, an unusual starting lineup featuring sophomores Liz O’Hara and Harriet Antczak paired with junior Audrey Robertson led the Cornell women as they blanked Georgetown 27-0. Antczak opened the scoring for the Red early in the first chukker following up on a missed penalty shot.
She scored four in her only chukker of action and Cornell led by seven at the end of one.
The second chukker lineup of O’Hara, Robertson, and junior All-American Taylor McLean extended the lead to 13 going into the break, as O’Hara, playing for the first time all season, scored her first career goal. McLean, playing in the three position, facilitated a smoother brand of play throughout the frame.
“Taylor makes the game look better,” said Eldredge.
The highlight of the game was undoubtedly sophomore Molly Buck’s offensive explosion in the third chukker.
She scored all nine goals the Red put up in the period.
“Molly was hot in the third chukker,” commented Eldredge.
“She took the ball and she did her job. She scored it.”
Dominant play by the men’s starting lineup of Senter Johnson,
Javier Alcover and Jeff Markle in the first chukker set the tone as Cornell jumped out to a 10-0 lead.
The riders never looked back en route to a 21-6 victory over the Georgetown men.
Johnson exploded for six goals in the first chukker, including four in the opening two minutes of play. He added four more in the next period.
Junior Jacob LeClair made his return following a serious ankle injury with two solid chukkers including one goal to boot.
“He’s still dealing with the mental issues on that,” said Eldredge.
“I said to him, he needs to fall off again and not get hurt falling off.”
Archived article by Owen Bochner