ITHACA, N.Y. -- Former Big Red captain Branden Van Loon '13 will make his head coaching debut for his alma mater when Cornell returns from winter break with home matches at Oxley Equestrian Center. The women will square off with Guelph on Friday, Feb. 25 and the men will meet the Central New York Polo Club on Saturday, Jan. 26. Both contests will kick off at 7:30 p.m.

Van Loon, who was a member of Team USPA and had been serving as th head coach and manager of the Yale polo team and its equestrian center since 2016, will be on the sideline for his first match with the Big Red after being hired in December. He'll take over two teams with visions of regional and national titles in their heads after a strong fall campaign.

The Big Red women are 8-3 this season, including 6-2 at Oxley. Cornell enters the spring on a three-match win streak and will look to build on it with the first our four consecutive home games spanning January and February. Cornell has scored more than 20 goals four times this season, including a season-high 36 in a game against UMass in October.

The men are 7-2 on the season and will attempt to start the spring semester with some momentum after losing its last time out in the fall when it dropped the finals of the Bill Field Invite to Virginia. The Big Red will attempt to improve on its 5-1 home mark this weekend, the first of four straight home contests to begin the season.