STORRS, Con.. -- The Cornell men's and women's polo teams won USPA Northeast Regional titles this weekend under vastly different circumstances. The Big Red men picked up a forfeit in the championship game after a blowout in the semifinals, while the women held on in the finals for a narrow two-goal victory. On the men's side, Cornell has won 21 regional crowns and 12 in the last 13 years, while the women now have 22 regional titles and seven in a row.

The Cornell men were to open the day with their championship match against Skidmore, but unfortunately the Thoroughbreds had an injury issue that prevented them from fielding a full team and they were forced to forfeit the match, and with it, the automatic bid to the national championships. Ignacio Masias and Nick Stieg were voted to the all-star team. The Big Red advanced to the finals with a 31-6 over Harvard. Alex Langlois, Masias and Stieg staked Cornell to an 11-0 lead after first and the Big Red cruised from there. Hakan Karabey replaced Langlois in the second and Cornell would lead 19-2 at the half. Masias (nine goals) and Stieg (seven goals) sat out the rest of the game as Kamran Pirasteh (seven goals) joined Langlois (four goals) and Karabey (four goals) to bring home the win.

The women earned its title the hard way against tournament host UConn. As expected, it was a tight match throughout the first and the second chukker started in a 3-3 tie. Cornell burst out in the second with six straight goals to take a solid lead and went into the half ahead 10-5. The third saw the two teams see-saw in scoring with the visitors increasing the lead to 15-9 heading into the fourth. The Huskies would not give up though and fought back hard in the fourth, but the Cornell lead was to much as the Big Red held on for a 16-14 victory. Anna Winslow (seven goals) and Emma Eldredge (seven goals) received all-star honors. Devin Cox tallied twice in the win. On Friday, Cornell outscored Skidmore 4-0 in the first and went into halftime leading 11-1. The Big Red continued to build its lead in the third and headed into the fourth with a 20-2 advantage. Cornell cruised home to the 25-5 win to advance to the finals. Winslow (seven goals), Cox (six goals), Eldredge (five goals) and Elena Wicker (six goals) all split three chukkers apiece in the game.