By: By Evan Drexler, Cornell Athletic Communications
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ITHACA, N.Y. – I gave myself every advantage against
Tyler Conway.
I took him by surprise by being intentionally vague about the purpose of our interview. I had home-cubicle advantage. I even insisted on being white and thereby moving first.
The chess game was still over in 50 moves. None of my advantages made a difference.
Conway – a sophomore forward on the No. 22 men's soccer team that opens its Ivy League season against Penn on Saturday night – chuckled when he saw my sneak attack take form and then accepted the game without question. I told him not to go easy on me, and he listened.
My pawns disappeared quickly. My queen vanished after a few exchanges, and my king was in check after about 20 moves. He cornered me against the right edge of the board, and checkmate came moments later.
“I didn't really have to think about it,” Conway said of our match, careful to note that he doesn't want to seem arrogant. “You can convert a small advantage once you've done it a bunch of times. Once I was up [pieces], it was just a matter of technique.”
Conway has had plenty of time to hone that technique. He took up chess around the same time as he started playing soccer. In his elementary school days, he got competitive with a neighbor in his cul-de-sac and grew angry with his parents for not teaching him the game. He thought his neighbor was cool for knowing the rules.
Chess evolved from a simple board game to a childhood passion. He borrowed chess literature from the library, pored over those books at night and joined his elementary school's chess club where a custodian was the faculty sponsor.
“There's something natural about [chess],” Conway said. “I liked all board games, but that was considered the ultimate strategy game. It was something I latched onto, was really good at.”
Initial tournaments against other elementary schoolers became larger competitions against high school students and adults. Conway would win the Kansas state championship multiple times in his age group, and his greatest achievement was claiming the Under-12 division national title at the US Junior Open.
At his peak in middle school, Conway's United States Chess Federation (USCF) rating was around 1,800, putting him in “Class A” and just 200 points shy of being labeled an “Expert.”
But once Conway entered high school, other priorities emerged, and he stopped playing competitively. Soccer and classwork both took precedent over chess.
“I really liked it, but I think I got burnt out a little bit,” Conway said. “If wanted to keep playing and keep getting better, I was going to have to really study it and practice a lot.”
Conway still plays chess frequently, using the game as a break during studying. And, of course, some of his teammates have tried to challenge him as well.
“He beat me in a minute and 37 seconds the first time I played him,” sophomore
Conor Goepel said. “I was furious.”
Junior goalie
Ian Panzica fared a bit better. But Panzica, who was his high school's champion, still fell to Conway in the end.
“It was pretty even,” Panzica said. “I had a plan, he had a plan. Nothing was really happening, and then I just made one move, and all he said was, 'Ooh, shouldn't have done that.' And then within 10 moves I had lost.”
Even though he has given up competitive chess, Conway finds similarities between the board game and soccer when it comes to their mental components.
“[Chess] was definitely good for discipline and being able to stay mentally sharp, which is definitely a big part of soccer,” he said. “Anything you want to practice or get good at, it's just like any other skill. You realize the dedication it takes. And you hope that it's fun.”
MATCH INFORMATION
MATCH #9: Cornell vs. Penn
MATCH TIME: Saturday, Sept. 29, 7 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Berman Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Penn leads 59-29-13
LAST MEETING: Cornell won 1-0 on Oct. 1, 2011
2012 RECORDS: Cornell (8-0), Penn (2-7)
LIVE STATS: Cornell Live Stats
LIVE AUDIO: Cornell Redcast
ABOUT THE BIG RED
The undefeated season continues for Cornell after a 4-1 victory against Hartwick on Tuesday night. The visiting Hawks scored the first goal of the game just 21 seconds in, but Cornell came back strong.
Daniel Haber scored on a penalty kick to tie the game at 1-1,
Tyler Regan made it 2-1, Haber added another and
Atticus DeProspo scored the first goal of his career. Haber still leads the country with 13 goals on the season, and the Big Red's defense has allowed just five goals in eight games. Cornell is ranked in the two most prominent national polls this week and has the first 8-0-0 start to a season in program history.
HEAD COACH JARO ZAWISLAN
Now in his fourth year with the Big Red program,
Jaro Zawislan has unquestionably put his stamp on the team. With a stifling defense and an aggressive offense, Zawislan has transformed what was a 1-15 team before his arrival into an 8-2-6 team in 2011 and a potential contender for the Ivy League title in 2012. Zawislan, a native of Poland, holds a 26-16-15 record during his time in Ithaca. He played soccer for four years at Clemson and then spent time professionally in the United States and Poland.
ABOUT PENN
The Quakers, based in Philadelphia, had a tough start to their season, losing their first six games before winning twice last weekend. Penn erupted for 10 goals in two games last weekend, knocking off Farleigh Dickinson 3-2 before storming through winless Rider by a 7-2 margin. Penn's most recent game, though, was a 2-1 loss to Drexel on Wednesday. The Quakers have given up 23 goals on the season, the most in the Ivy League. Duke Lacroix and Stephen Baker each have five goals, while keeper Max Kurtzman has allowed 18 goals in seven games for a GAA of 2.57.
Penn is coached by Rudy Fuller, now in his 15th year leading the Quakers.
THE SERIES WITH PENN
The Quakers have a distinct advantage over Cornell lifetime, holding a 59-29-13 record in the series. But Cornell got the last laugh in 2011 when
Daniel Haber scored a game-winning goal with just over a minute remaining in a then-scoreless game. The year before that, in 2010, Penn scored a game-winner with just over a minute left as well. Before 2011, the Big Red had not beaten Penn since 2005.
A WIN AGAINST PENN WOULD…
…be Cornell's ninth victory of the year, topping the total from all of 2011…start the season with a 9-0-0 record for the first time in program history…be the ninth consecutive win for the team, its longest winning streak since 11 consecutive victories in 1995…extend Cornell's non-conference unbeaten run to 17 games…increase the school record for consecutive games with a goal to 25 contests.
LAST YEAR IN THE IVY LEAGUE
With conference play beginning this weekend, the Big Red will look to improve on its third-place league finish from last season. Cornell started 3-0-0 in Ivy play last year, defeating Penn, Harvard and Yale before tying or losing its last four contests. Instead of first place and an Ivy League title, Cornell tied for third in the league with Columbia. On the last day of the season, Cornell and Columbia played to a 1-1 draw where a victory for either side would have meant at least a share of the conference crown.
COMEBACK KIDS
Cornell has trailed three times all season, all by 1-0 deficits in the first half. All three times, though, the Big Red has managed to come from behind for the victory. Down 1-0 at halftime against Wofford on Sept. 16, Cornell went on to win 2-1. Trailing 1-0 at halftime against Saint Joseph's on Sept. 22, the Big Red scored twice in four minutes to open the second half and eventually win 3-2. And down 1-0 just 21 seconds into the Hartwick game on Tuesday, Cornell came back for a 4-1 victory.
NATIONALLY RANKED
Thanks to its 7-0 start, the Big Red remains nationally ranked in this week's NSCAA Coaches' Poll at No. 22, moving up two spots from No. 24 last week. Cornell is up to No. 23 in this week's Soccer America's rankings released Tuesday after spending last week at No. 25. Cornell broke into College Soccer News' poll this week at No. 29 after spending several weeks receiving votes. On SoccerTimes.com, Cornell is receiving 14 votes and is five spots from the top 25.
AMONG THE UNBLEMISHED
Cornell is one of just three teams remaining in the country that have not lost or tied a game yet. Besides the Big Red, Marquette (9-0) and High Point (9-0) remain unblemished.
MULTI-GOAL GAMES
Before the 2012 season, no Cornell player had scored more than one goal in a game since 2008. This year, junior
Daniel Haber already has five multi-goal games. He scored twice at Loyola Marymount on Sept. 2, three times against Buffalo on Sept. 9, two times at Binghamton last Wednesday, twice against Saint Joseph's on Saturday and twice against Hartwick on Tuesday. His 13 goals on the year has already bested his 2011 total by four.
THREE-TIME PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Daniel Haber earned his third Ivy League Player of the Week honor on Monday. He scored four goals and two assists for the Big Red last week and has scored multiple goals in four games this season already. Haber shared the honor this week with Penn's Stephen Baker. Haber was also named to College Soccer News' National Team of the Week for the second time this season.
FIRST CAREER GOAL
Sophomore
Atticus DeProspo scored the Big Red's fourth goal against Hartwick, which was his first career goal in college. Streaking into the left side of the penalty box with
Tyler Regan on the right, DeProspo took a cross from Regan and tapped the ball home. Sophomore
Peter Chodas also got his first career goal against Binghamton.
RECORD BROKEN
With
Peter Chodas' goal at Binghamton, the Big Red officially broke a Cornell record that stood for 41 seasons. The 1970 and 1971 teams had combined for 21 consecutive contests with a goal. Chodas' score, though, made 22 straight games for the Big Red with a goal dating back to the 2011 season opener. Cornell can extend its own record to 25 on Saturday.
FIVE GOALS
Cornell's five-goal outburst against Binghamton was the team's first five-goal game since Sept. 22, 2001 against Adelphi. Cornell has not scored six goals in a single game since Oct. 31, 2000 against Army.
NATIONAL STATISTICS
Cornell continues to rank high up in the country in multiple statistical categories as of Monday. As a team, the Big Red is seventh in scoring offense (2.71 goals per game),16th in total goals (19), 13th in total assists (18) and 17th in total points (56). The Big Red's goals against average (0.57) puts it 16th in the nation.
Individually,
Daniel Haber remains on top of the nation in points per game (3.71), goals per game (1.57), total goals (11) and total points (26) as of Monday's stats. Haber and
Nico Nissl are also tied for 18th in the country with four assists each. Goalie
Rick Pflasterer has the 17th-best goals against average (0.584) in the country.
CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
On Wednesday:
Coming soon:
-
Nico Nissl needs just one more point for 10.
-
Patrick Slogic will reach five goals when he scores next and 3,500 career minutes with 50 more.
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Haber's next goal (24) will put him all alone in fifth place in school history.
-
Zach Zagorski is one save shy of 10.
UP NEXT
Cornell gets its first midweek rest in three weeks. The team has a full seven days to prepare for its next contest, a Saturday-afternoon affair at Harvard. The Big Red and Crimson kick off at 4 p.m. in Cambridge, Mass.
