ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Big Red men's polo team cruised by the Skidmore Thoroughbreds 23-13 in Saturday's home opener. 
 
Cornell started sophomores Ryan Saul and Dan Shaw and junior Ignacio Masias. Although the Big Red took an early lead with Masias scoring the first goal, the trio came out a bit flat against the young and talented Thoroughbreds. Skidmore quickly scored four goals to put the Big Red down 4-1. Masias scored his second goal of the night to pull the deficit to 4-2 at the end of the first chukker. 
 
The start of the second chukker saw the teams trade two goals apiece to bring the score to 6-6 before the Big Red's defense kicked in. Cornell then launched an eight-goal streak to go from a six-all tie to 11-6. Masias exploded during this run to score the first of his two 2-pointers and led the Big Red with seven goals in the chukker. Cornell ended the half with an 11-7 lead.
 
Defense was the theme in the third as Cornell held the Thoroughbreds to two goals while tallying five of its own. Masias continued his dominance by scoring all five goals in the chukker. 
 
Liam Palicios came in for Shaw in the fourth with Cornell up 16-9. Masias extended his hot night by scoring all seven of Cornell's goals in the last chukker while leading the Big Red to their home opening victory 23-13. 
 
The night ended with Masias scoring 21 of Cornell's 23 goals. Masias could be credited with the 22nd because a penalty goal was awarded to the team as he was fouled while attempting to score. Dan Shaw made the other goal to round out Cornell's scoring.
 
The Big Red will be back at it Friday, Oct. 30th at 8:00 p.m. at the University of Virginia.