The men’s and women’s polo teams both secured important victories against Kentucky last weekend at the Oxley Equestrian Center. The men defeated the Wildcats, 22-14, in a game where junior captain Max Constant outscored the entire Kentucky team with 15 goals.
With the victory, the Red maintains an undefeated mark for the second half of the season and is currently on a three-game winning streak that has improved its record to nine victories and two losses.
“It is a good way to start off the second part of the season [with a three-game winning streak],” said junior captain Max Constant. “With the regional tournament and national tournament in the next couple of months, we really need to set the tone early so that we peak when it really counts.”
Guided by Constant’s offensive performance, Cornell continued with efficient attacking and was able to score seven goals, compared to the Wildcats’ two. By the end of the half, the Red was dominating with a score of 11 goals –– nine of which belonged to Constant –– to five.
Cornell found the net six more times during the third chukker while Kentucky was only able to tally three goals. At the conclusion of the chukker’s regulation, the Red’s lead increased to nine goals, making the score 17-8.
Although the Wildcats outscored Cornell by one goal during the fourth chukker, the effort was not enough to overshadow the control that the Red had during the majority of the game.
Head coach David Eldredge admitted that although the game against Kentucky was not as tough as he expected, that does not guarantee that Kentucky will be an easy team for the Red when it visits the Wildcats at Lexington.
“Going to the road is more difficult because there are many factors that affect the team’s game, like not playing with your own horses,” Eldredge said. “They [Kentucky] are really tough. I am certain that they will prepare us for the regional and nationals.”
Eldredge also emphasized the importance of captain Max Constant in the team’s roster.
“Each game is different, but we need Max to score in order to win games,” Eldredge said. “I’m happy with Max because he is very efficient in scoring opportunities, which is something that we really need.”
The men will continue with their schedule this Friday when they host Harvard at Oxley Equestrian Center.
The No. 1 women’s team, on the other hand, kept its undefeated record alive by winning a 15-13 match against a No. 3 Kentucky team that forced the Red to survive its closest game of the season.
“Some of our play was a consequence of the six-week layoff,” Eldredge said. “It’s not easy to come from a break and … be as sharp as we were during the end of the first half of the season.”
Eldredge, however, also gave some credit to the Wildcats, acknowledging that they played really well and made things very difficult for the Red.
Kentucky came into this game ranked third in the nation and with great expectations of knocking out Cornell and its perfect record.
The Wildcats started strong in the first chukker and were able to tie the Red’s powering offense at three goals apiece.
The second chukker started with two unanswered goals for Cornell to make the score 5-3 in advantage of the Red. Bu
Original Author: AJ Ortiz