HARVARD VS. CHINA

Some of the largest crowds of the season lined the pitch at Myopia in late September to take in a close game late in the polo season. by Bill Burke

Clear skies on a perfect late summer afternoon warmed Gibney Field for the annual Wilmington Trust Cup, which saw Harvard face off against a skilled Team China in South Hamilton. The mixed team contest saw Harvard’s Annie Colloredo-Mansfeld, Jilly Cronin, Harvard Men’s Captain and South Hamilton native Sam Yonce, Carlos Roca du Togores, as well as Charlotte Hutchinson and Vinny Byju take the field against the China side—Paris Luo, Owen Chen, Arthur Lin and Kevin Quan.

The game was the seventh annual such tilt, which in the past has seen Harvard test itself against teams from Oxford, Mongolia, Holland, France and an all-star team with players from Singapore, India, Italy and Turkey.

Coming at the end of the season, the grounds had seen a full summer of polo, exaggerating the characteristic rolls and dips of Gibney Field, but the unexpected bounces were handled well.

“Every one of the players were amazing riders,” Myopia Polo Manager Kim Maguire says. “Sometimes there will be a rider on one side or the other who you may not be too sure about, but they were all amazing.”

A string of outstanding Harvard horses, played by riders on both sides, also contributed to a high-quality match. Ponies provided by Myopia’s Franz Colloredo-Mansfeld and Bryan Parrott also helped Team China prepare in a pair of warmup matches before Sunday’s main event.

“It’s a challenge to get (opposing players) on good horses that they’re going to be comfortable with, and that’s why we have a practice game ahead of time,” Harvard coach Crocker Snow says. “We want to be good sportsmen about it. We want them to be comfortable and to have the best game we can.”

China came out strong, necessitating stiff defensive play by the Crimson. Team China jumped out to a lead, scoring two goals in the first chukker and leaving Harvard to play catch-up. Since the teams were made up of intercollegiate players used to the college style of play—essentially arena polo—it took time for the players to find their footing.

“We didn’t play well in the beginning,” Snow says. “It’s a different ball, a different type of game and it took them a while to warm up.” The Myopia Hunt Hound Parade entertained the enthusiastic spectators before the start of the second half, which saw Harvard draw closer.

“We started playing much better in the second half,” Snow says—though he also saw missed opportunities work against the team. “I’m a fairly demanding coach,” he says. “And I’ll say we missed a couple of foul shots we should not have missed. Very often a close game is determined by foul shots, and those were not difficult shots. We were coming from behind ever after.”

Coaching adjustments in the third chukker led to two goals for Harvard and a closer match, but China extended its lead by the end. As time ran out, China finished on top, 4-3. Quan—who Snow says was the outstanding player of the game—scored three and Lin picked up the fourth for China and Yonce scored two of the three Harvard goals.

“I thought it was a good, very well-contested game,” Snow says. “I thought we more or less dominated the game in terms of position. We had many more shots on goal for sure, but it’s a demanding sport—a bouncing ball and bouncing horses, and that’s why we play the game. It was a great experience for our players, and the Chinese were very gracious visitors.” A gray mare, Bonilla, was the best playing pony, according to Snow, and Harvard’s Yonce came on strong throughout.

“Sam Yonce, our captain, certainly played better and better as the game went on,” Snow says. “He was our best player and consistently after the first chukker he was playing very well.”

The week leading up to the Wilmington Trust Cup featured a pair of dinners feting Team China and a chance to reconnect with players who first met one another on a polo field in Tianjin, China—a coastal city on the Bohai Sea.

“The weather was great and the turnout was great,” Maguire says. “It’s normally the biggest day of the season for us, and it was that way again.” wilmingtontrust.com