ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell men's polo team won a 14-13 thriller over the University of Virginia on Friday, February 17. Benito Jaramillo and Taylor Palacios each scored five goals for the Big Red, but it was Jaramillo's last minute goal that sealed the Big Red victory for this first time in nearly seven years.

"I'm extremely proud of our team and our coaching staff for this huge win," said Tony Condo, the Peter B. Orthwein '68 Head Coach of Polo. "This senior class had not beaten the Cavaliers in their time at Cornell. They have worked hard in adjusting to a new coaching staff and a completely different strategic vision for playing arena polo. In today's match, the men did a fantastic job of marking their men defensively, which slowed the Cavaliers down just enough, and didn't allow them to get into the run-and-gun kind of game that they much prefer."

The first chukker opened with a goal from Palacios, but UVA had an answer on a penalty shot to knot the game at two. Palacios then took a shot from beyond the 25 yard line to take a 3-1 lead, but Virginia scored another to trail by one. Jaramillo earned his first goal of the night on a penalty shot to move Cornell's lead to 4-2, but again UVA had an answer to close the first chukker 4-3.

UVA continued to chip away at the Big Red lead, tying the game at four in the second chukker. Cornell would them go on a 3-1 run that included Pablo Herrera's first goal of the night to take a 7-5 lead. The teams traded goals once more in the chukker, closing the first half 8-6 in favor of the Big Red.

Two penalty shots helped the Cavaliers get back into the match in the third chukker, where UVA tied the match at 10. Cornell tallied the first goal in the fourth chukker, but UVA's back-to-back scoring gave the Cavaliers their first lead of the night. Herrera scored his third goal of the evening, and a deflection off a pony put the Big Red back on top. The Cavaliers tallied a pony goal of their own to knot the game again at 13, but Jaramillo had the final say, scoring with just six seconds remaining in the fourth chukker, powering the Big Red to a historic win.

UP NEXT
The Big Red will get an extra week to enjoy its victory, as the team gets back in action March 3rd, when it hosts Texas A&M in Oxley at 7 p.m.