The Virginia teams reigned victorious at the annual Bill Field Tournament held at Cornell in Ithaca, NY mid-November.
The men dominated the field early in their first game against SMU’s men, ending the first chukker with 7 points to SMU’s 2. SMU’s Joe Coors fought hard in the fourth scoring 5 goals, but it proved to not be enough against the 5 goals our own Jack McLean landed maintaining Virginia’s lead that continued to their final score of 28 to 13 and secured the team’s spot in the finals.
On Sunday the Virginia men faced Cornell. Though a physical game (as is often the case with men’s collegiate polo), UVA again took an early lead thanks to goals from Parker, Jack, & Brennan. They finished the first chukker with 11 goals against Cornell’s 2. Brennan Wells scored an impressive 20 goals in the final game, sealing the tournament win for the Virginia men with a final score of 30 to 11.
The Virginia women celebrated success as well, first facing the women from the University of Kentucky. The team led throughout the game and really hit their stride in the third chukker with Liz Owens scoring 6 goals and Maddie Grant sinking 5. First year Alana Benz joined in the second half of the game and landed 3 goals for the team in the fourth chukker, bringing the women to a 29 to 6 victory over UK.
In the finals the women faced Cornell in a harder fought victory. In team co-captain Maddie Grant’s words, “the game was pretty close, it was closer than we’re used to, so it was pretty good for us to be under that kind of pressure going into next semester’s regionals and nationals.” Though the game remained close, the women held their lead and won the tournament 21 to 14, thanks in part to playing their own string in the fourth chukker.
The players welcomed the chance to face their opponents in a new arena and the opportunity to use the challenges a different setting, umpires and borrowed ponies adds to the game to make them stronger for the upcoming spring tournaments.
The team members all emphasized the significance of having their own ponies at the tournament, their appreciation for the quality of horses at Virginia Polo, and to the coach for transporting the ponies north. Men’s team captain Jack McLean said, “Being able to play our own ponies is a tremendous advantage,” women’s co-captain Maddie Grant added, “our strongest two chukkers were on our horses, the fourth chukker we had our horses and that’s kind of when we started to pull away. It made a huge difference, and we were really grateful to have them there and be able to provide such a strong string.” Co-captain Grace Burgert added, “as always, our horses played very well and fully earned their winter breaks!”
