The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/tag/mens_polo/)
“A lot of our strengths lie in our ability to work together and to support each other in the arena,” Booth said. “The challenge now is maintaining it and bringing that same level of play to the tournament at UVA next week.”
These games bring the women’s record up to 10-4 and the men’s record to 8-4.
The Red further asserted its primacy in the Ancient Eight.
Men’s and women’s polo returned to the field last weekend for their first games since venerated former head coach David Eldredge ’81 — the winningest in Cornell Athletics history — retired amidst allegations of misconduct.
The brackets are complete. After every March Madness, April Absurdity is quick to follow. Cornell’s women’s polo team will begin play this week in Charlottesville, Va. as the No. 1 seed in the seven-team national tournament. The quarter-final women’s match-ups are as follows: No. 2 Virginia vs. No. 7 Oregon State; No. 3 UConn vs. No. 6 Cal Poly; No. 4 Kentucky vs. No. 5 Texas A&M.
The 21-0 Red will play the winner of the 4/5 contest, which figures to be the Wildcats, who already defeated the Aggies earlier this season. [img_assist|nid=36633|title=Ride on|desc=The men’s polo team heads into Nationals as the No. 3 seed. The undefeated women are ranked first in the country.|link=node|align=left|width=|height=0]
If they’re not careful, the members of the women’s polo team might wake up this week with severely swollen heads. Who could blame them, however, following the team’s 19-10 victory against Maryland Saturday, which closed out Cornell’s regular season at a perfect 21-0 and No. 1 in the country. Cornell, meet the only Red team so far this season to complete a perfect season. Next stop, nationals.[img_assist|nid=36392|title=Looks can’t save you now|desc=Sophomore Lizzie Wisner butts heads, or rather, horses, with a UConn opponent during one of the Red’s 21 regular season victories.|link=node|align=left|width=|height=0]
The men’s and women’s polo teams both found success over the break, with the men beating Yale and UConn to qualify for Nationals, while the No.1 women disposed of UMass and UConn en route to a 20-0 season record and their own Nationals bid.[img_assist|nid=36185|title=Once a winner, always a winner|desc=A Cornell rider beats out an opponent during Cornell’s 17-8 victory over the Huskies on Nov. 8, 2008. The women faced UConn again in the Eastern Regional finals March 13, winning by forfeit and advancing to Nationals.|link=node|align=left|width=|height=0]
This weekend, the men’s and women’s polo teams will renew arguably their biggest rivalries as both teams will travel to Virginia.
After slipping by the Toronto Polo Club, 15-12, last weekend, the men’s team (11-3) must shift the relaxed mindset it had against Toronto, to one of grit and determination as it prepares for its biggest match of the season to date.
In the two squads’ first meeting of the season, back on Oct. 17, the Cavaliers took down the visiting Red, 23-5. In the second matchup, on Nov. 23, the Red narrowed the gap and lost, 27-17, at the Oxley Equestrian Center. Then, on Jan. 31, hoping to pull off an upset, the Red faltered against UVa again at home. Following a third chukker surge, Cornell lost, 23-12.
Coming off a 27-1 thrashing of Skidmore at the Oxley Equestrian Center last Saturday, the men’s polo team, will host highly-touted Virginia tomorrow night. Before that matchup, however, the women’s squad will also welcome Virginia to the East Hill.
On Saturday evening, the Cornell men’s polo team took on the Skidmore Thoroughbreds at the Oxley Equestrian Center. In its first game since its two-month winter respite, the Red looked anything but rusty. The men racked up a dominating 26 points more than their opponents, while allowing only one goal, en route to a 27-1 victory. With the win, Cornell moves to 8-2 for the season.