ITHACA, N.Y. -- In a back-and-forth contest throughout, the Big Red men's polo team dropped a narrow 16-15 contest to Kentucky on Saturday evening at Oxley Equestrian Center. The men slipped to 7-6 on the season with the loss. 

It was a game of two halves between the Big Red and the Wildcats. The home team came out strong in the first half of the game taking control in the first chukker with an 8-5 lead. The Wildcats hung tough in the second, but Cornell increased its lead to 12-8 at the half. Nick Stieg subbed in for Connor Pardell in the third to join forces with Brandon Van Loon and Nik Feldman. The Wildcats took advantage of some Cornell fouls and closed to 13-12 by the end of the third.

Pardell came back in for Stieg to play the fourth and things looked good at the beginning of the chukker. The teams traded goals and then the Cornell boys could not fond the goal. They dominated the play, but just could not get a bounce or find their accuracy. Kentucky had few opportunities in the chukker but made the most of them and took the lead at 16-14 with a minute left. Cornell tallied with about 40 seconds left to close the gap to one. The Big Red then stroked what looked to be the tying goal, but the score didn't cross the line before the final horn. Feldman led the way with seven goals, while Van Loon had four and  Pardell notched three. The ponies kicked in one goal.