The 2025 D1 National Intercollegiate Championship tournament was held in Oak Point, Texas at the Prestonwood Polo Arena March 26-30th. Strong playing seasons for both UVA teams set them spots in the semi finals of the tournament.
Both UVA teams took home second place trophies and UVA players greatly distinguished themselves amongst the individual awards.
Kelsey Bray and Vlad Tarashansky won the Horsemanship Awards, both recognized for their exceptional riding and care of the ponies. For this honor they each received a polo saddle.
Kelsey Bray and Vlad Tarashansky with the saddles they won for their Horsemanship Awards, pictures here with Emily Dewey of the USPA. Photo credit to MurrellPhoto
Kelsey Bray, Alana Benz, and Vlad Tarashansky received All Star Awards and received USPA All Star belt buckles.
Virginia Women’s Team
Joyful team after defeating SMU in the semi finals. Photo credit to MurrellPhoto
Semifinals
Thursday March 26th the UVA women lined up against SMU to battle it out in the arena for a spot in the finals.
First year Kelsey Bray set the tone for this game by winning the first two throw-ins, breaking away from both and taking the ball to goal giving UVA the advantage of 2 goals in the first 30 seconds. Alana Benz, Kelsey Bray, and Mackenzie Craig worked together throughout the game, passing, blocking, and finishing goals for one another. Each player put points on the board, Alana led the scoring, followed closely by Kelsey who demonstrated accuracy throughout the game. UVA dominated the bowl ins in the first half and the third chukker ended with Alana sinking a Penalty 3 shot which brought the score to UVA 15 to SMU’s 4. The ladies continued their success in the second half of the game, adding more points to the board to a final score of 21 to 10. This victory secured their place in the finals to match up against Texas A&M for the third year in a row.
To watch the UVA vs. SMU semifinal game click here.
UVA’s Alana Benz with the ball. Photo credit to MurrellPhoto
Finals
Kelsey Bray took the ball out of the first bowl in and scored the first goal of the game after bringing it along the wall with the help of Captain Alana Benz. Texas A&M fielded a talented team of Olivia “Boo” Reynolds, Francesca Felhauber, and Josie Dorsey and proved to be challenging opponents. In the second and third chukkers A&M started to take control of the bowl ins, bringing the score to UVA 4, A&M 8 at the half time. Nearing the end of the third chukker UVA put a point on the board with a beautiful penalty shot by Alana Benz.
The UVA ladies kept Texas from scoring throughout the fourth chukker and added two points to the board for UVA, including one tap in by Kelsey Bray with 8 seconds remaining, her fifth goal of the game. Halfway through the fifth chukker a successful foul shot by Alana brought the score to a tie of 8 all. The score stayed close through the end of the chukker, Mackenzie Craig thwarted an A&M goal with a well executed back shot.
Kelsey Bray had a beautiful end to end run culminating with a 2 pointer that brought the score back up to a tie of 10 to 10 around the 3 minute mark. Texas A&M player Francesca Felhauber had an outstanding sixth chukker with many successful attempts on goal for her A&M team, including the final goal of the game with 2 minutes remaining. Despite our team’s unflagging efforts Texas A&M won the game wiht a final score of 12 t0 UVA’s 10 and took the National Championship title back from UVA.
To watch the UVA vs. Texas A&M final game, click here.
To read the United States Polo Association’s summary of the 2025 D1 National Intercollegiate Championship finals, click here.
Photo credit to MurrellPhoto
Men’s Team
UVA’s Gaston Gomez carries the ball in a breakaway in the semi finals against UNT. Photo credit to MurrellPhoto
Semifinals
Friday March 27th the UVA men faced University of North Texas (UNT)’s team on their home turf at the Prestonwood arena.
Team captain Vlad Tarashansky put the first point on the board in this game during the first chukker. UVA’s momentum continued and the boys ended the first chukker with a 5 point lead over UNT with a score of 9 to 4. The UVA men maintained their lead reaching halftime with the score of UVA 9 to UNT 4.
The UVA team continued their strong showing in the 4th chukker playing fast and as a unified team both on defense and offense. Each player took turns scoring and brought the total for UVA to 13 against UNT’s 6 by the end of the chukker. The teams each added only a point to their totals in the fifth chukker, for the last two chukkers UNT fielded an entirely Felhauber team.
UNT played their heart out in the last chukker of the game adding 3 more points to the board, but at the sound of the final horn the UVA men were on to the finals with the victory at a score of 14 to 9.
To watch the UVA vs. UNT semi final game, click here.
Vlad Tarashansky battles for the ball in the final match against Texas A&M. Photo credit to MurrellPhoto
Finals
For the 2025 D1 Men’s National Intercollegiate Championship finals the UVA men matched up against Texas A&M’s team of Zack Coleman, Aiden Meeker, and Will Mudra.
UVA took an early lead in the game with a 4-2 score at the end of the first chukker. The teams reached their first tie of the game in the third chukker with a score of 6 to 6 that was broken by A&M who ended the chukker with a two point lead. A&M held onto their lead through the 4th chukker. In the fifth chukker the UVA men began racking up the points again and closing the scoring gap. Gaston secured UVA’s lead with an impressive, nearly full arena 2-point shot. Unfortunately following his phenomenal shot Gaston sustained an injury, resulting in a double yellow card on an A&M player and their team fielding a 2 man team for 2 minutes of play. First year Iago Masias stepped in for Gaston to play the rest of the game.
The teams tied up the score again in the 6th chukker at 12 to 12 in this neck-and-neck competition. Vlad broke the tie with a beautiful 2 point shot to goal with three minutes remaining. Zack Coleman (A&M) tied up the score again in the last minute with a penalty shot conversion. The clock ran out with 14 to 14 on the scoreboard launching this game into a shootout. Mak Mourad (UVA) and Zack Coleman (A&M) sank their shots rolling the teams into a second round of the shootout. In the third round of shoot out Zack Coleman made the championship-winning shot and ended the tournament with a second A&M victory of the day.
To watch the UVA vs. Texas A&M finals, click here.
Photo credit to MurrellPhoto
For high resolution professional photos, game highlights, and the USPA’s recap of the men’s division, click here.
D1 National Intercollegiate Championship teams, University of North Texas Men, Southern Methodist University Women, University of Virginia Women, Cal Poly Women, USC Aiken Women, UCONN Men, Texas A&M Men, University of Virginia Men, Texas A&M Women. Photo credit to MurrellPhoto