ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cornell men's polo team took on Harvard on the road and Gardnertown at home, but the outcome was the same, as the Big Red won both of its Saturday games. Cornell downed Harvard by a score of 16-7 in Cambridge, Mass. before handing Gardnertown a 17-11 loss at the Oxley Equestrian Center in Ithaca, N.Y.
It was the trio of Alexander Dawson, Pablo Herrera, and Taylor Palacios that suited up against the Crimson. The Big Red poured it on early and never looked back, scoring nearly half of its goals for the game in the first chukker while holding Harvard scoreless to take a 7-0 lead after the first chukker. Herrera scored four goals in the first, with Palacios adding the remaining three.
From there, Palacios and Herrera took turns scoring goals in threes, with Palacios notching three goals in the second and fourth chukkers and Herrera tallying three in the third en route to the 16-7 victory. Palacios finished the contest with a game-high nine goals while Herrera scored seven, both of which matched their season highs. Both student-athletes also scored as many goals individually as Harvard did as a team in the game.
Cornell utilized a strong start and just as strong of a finish to put away Gardnertown, jumping out to a 4-0 lead after the first chukker and outscoring Gardnertown 7-2 in the fourth chukker to seal the deal in the 17-11 win. Three different Cornell student-athletes scored a goal in the first chukker, including Nick Paciorek, Patricio Fraga-Errecart, and Santiago Valenzuela, who notched a two-pointer.
Fraga-Errecart would go on to score a match- and season- high eight goals, five of which came in the fourth chukker. Paciorek notched a season-high three goals and Valenzuela scored a season-best three points on two goals. Making his collegiate debut, Muzammil Rizwan also got in on the action, scoring a pair of goals of his own.
With the victories, the Big Red improves to 6-1 on the season. The Cornell men's polo team will look to make it a perfect three-of-three this weekend when it competes against the Stage Hill Polo team tomorrow at 10 a.m. in Cambridge, Mass.
