ITHACA, N.Y. -- When the dust cleared, both Cornell polo teams added a USPA Northeast Regional Championship trophy to the case at Oxley Equestrian Center. Now, the goal is to add a pair of national championship trophies. The Big Red women cruised to their 24 Northeast crown, while the men claimed their 23rd regional title in program history.
The men's final started at noon with Cornell taking on Western University. Cornell started off the game well by scoring first and taking a 5-2 lead heading to the second.Dan Shaw, Ryan Saul and Lorenzo Masias continued their success in the second by equaling their first chukker score and taking a 10-4 lead into halftime. The Mustangs closed to 12-9 before Masias added a two-pointer to make the score 14-9 heading into the fourth. Western came out on fire, scoring the first four goals to get back to within 15-13 at the walk break. Cornell settled down to stymie the Mustangs offense the rest of the way, adding a penalty shot to make it 15-13. The win secured the automatic nationals bid for the 14-3 Big Red. Masias took home an All-Star award, Shaw grabbed the Sportsmanship Award and Cornell's horses won Best String, with "Pico" grabbing his ninth Best Pony Award.
The Women followed against Harvard. Anna Ullmann, Hannah Noyes and Shariah Harris went into the tournament undefeated against regional opponents. Harvard had played the Big Red tough in Boston with Cornell coming away with a one-goal win. The Big Red came out strong in the first, building a 6-2 lead after the first chukker. The second turned into a defensive battle as Cornell extended its lead a little while shutting out the Crimson making it 9-2 at halftime. Cornell scored the first five goals after the break to pull out to a 14-2 lead. Harvard fought back to score the final three goals of the chukker to get back within 14-5 heading into the fourth. Cornell cruised in the fourth bringing home the 19-7 win, improving to 16-2 and taking the regional championship and the automatic nationals bid. Harris and Noyes took All-Star honors with Cornell's horses taking Best String and "Tiki" grabbing her first Best Pony Award.
The men advanced to the finals with a 26-6 win over Skidmore behind 13 goals by Masias. Cornell led 13-1 at halftime and was never seriously threatened in the season half. The women, meanwhile, led 15-0 at halftime and 21-1 after three chukkers on the way to a 22-4 victory over the Thoroughbreads in the semifinals.
