CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Round one went to the Cavaliers as the Cornell men's and women's polo teams dropped decisions to UVa on Fridya evening, the women dropping a 12-5 decision and the men falling 12-8. Both teams are 0-1 on the year.
The starting team for the Big Red looked majorly different than it will for the rest of the year, as senior captain and All-American
Kailey Eldredge is studying abroad for the fall semester. Add to that
Devin Cox and
Anna Winslow were chosen by the USPA to represent the Intercollegiate All Star Squad competing in a National Women's Challenge Tournament out in California and Cornell turned too its young guns.
Elena Wicker and
Emma Eldredge joined forces with Beth LeBow and Maddy Olberg to take on the starters from Virginia. In a tough first half, Cornell's squad hung tough with the Cavaliers and were down by one at the half, 5-4. The Big Red did not have the luck in the second half as they came up on the unfortunate side of the flip of the coin for spare horses to replace injured ones. In both the third and fourth the Big Red lost flips and had to ride horses that were not the equals of the ones they replaced. The Cavaliers took full advantage and stretched the lead in the second half, pulling away to win 12-5. Though it was a loss, it showed that Cornell will be able to hang with the country's best once again. Wicker tallied three goals and Eldredge had two.
The men followed up with Nick Stieg,
Nik Feldman and Ignacio Masais playing together for only their second time. Feldman had been only able to start playing a week ago due to an injury. For their first game together, the team showed bright glimpses of the future. Once again the Big Red played tough away from home and were down one at the half, 6-5. The third saw the Cavaliers pull out to a 10-6 lead. Feldman was tiring and the Cavs won the match 12-8. Feldman tallied four goals and both Stieg and Masais had two apiece.
