BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – The Cornell men's soccer team kicked off its 2018 campaign with a 2-0 win over Binghamton Friday night at the Bearcats Sports Complex. This marks the first time since 2012 that the Big Red won its season-opener.
 
Cornell advances to 1-0 on the season, while Binghamton falls to 0-2.
 
"We showed a lot of grit and determination," head coach John Smith said. "It's never easy coming away from home. Playing our first game of the season away on turf there was a little bit of a delay in the beginning, but I thought we dealt with everything really well."
 
The Big Red opened the scoring just under three minutes into the contest. After Ryan Shellow swiftly threw a two-handed punch on the ball entering the box, the Big Red advanced the ball up the field to Vardin Manoj. Manoj found the trailing Tyler Bagley, who buried a straight-away chance into the back of the net.
 
Ryan Shellow made a few keys saves in the opening stanza. With 21:48 left in the first half, the Bearcats had one of their opportunities of the game. After a cross made its way through the Big Red's back line, Binghamton's Harrison Weilbacher had an open look. He hit a slow dribbler on net, but Shellow recovered to make the save.
 
Shellow finished with five saves with three in the first half and two in the second.
 
It appeared that Cornell would enter the half with a one goal padding. That was until Emeka Eneli struck a loose ball from a scrum at the top of box into the back of the net with exactly one second remaining in the half. Eneli, who made his collegiate debut, put the Big Red up 2-0 to enter the half.
 
In the second half both teams had chances on net, but stellar saves on both sides kept the score at 2-0. Both teams finished with 10 shots.
 
Eight of the starting 11 players for the Big Red were underclassmen and John Scearce, who was one of the upperclassmen in the starting lineup, made his Cornell debut.
 
"All-in-all it is a young group, but those sophomores had a heck of a lot of experience last year," Smith said. "It's young, but good."
 
The Big Red returns to action Sunday at 4 p.m. when it travels to take on St. Francis Brooklyn.