ITHACA, N.Y. - The Cornell men's soccer team finished off the non-conference portion of its 2019 slate on Tuesday evening, defeating Bucknell by a final score of 1-0 from Berman Field. After a scoreless first half, senior forward Brady Dickens broke through for Cornell in the 56th minute of action to give the Big Red an advantage.

Cornell (8-5-1) finishes its non-conference schedule with a 6-4-0 record after outshooting the Bison, 9-2, on Tuesday. The Big Red held a massive 6-1 advantage in shots on goal, mostly set up by a strong free kick performance from junior Tyler Bagley. It was a Bagley free kick opportunity that set Dickens up for his goal in the 56th minute, as his free kick caromed off the upper left 90 and waited for Dickens to rush in to clean it up with his head.

"We're still searching for a little bit more fire right now," said Cornell head coach John Smith. "We put some guys in today that haven't played a lot of minutes and they did quite well, I'm proud of them for that. It shows they have been doing the right things off the field and working hard to be ready when their time comes. Hopefully this win gives us a little bit of a spark. When you go through a lull in performance sometimes emotionally it becomes a grind and you need to win a game."

Cornell entered the match against Bucknell needing a win, and got just that despite a number of key players missing the game to nurse minor injuries. Junior Murray Riach, sophomore Charlie Ferguson and Dickens all turned in strong performances in their elevated roles, with Riach playing well on the back line and Ferguson seeing success in the midfield. The Big Red possessed the ball well against the Bison, holding 56 percent of the possession for the match.

Bucknell's offensive attack posted three strong opportunities on net in the second half following the Cornell goal. Big Red goalkeeper Brady McSwain preserved the clean sheet with a save in the 57th minute, and an offsides call against Bucknell negated a potential equalizing goal in the 60th. In the final seconds of the match, Bucknell found one last chance, but a shot from Stefan Gollisz was sent high off frame as the final horn sounded.

Up Next: Ivy League play resumes on Saturday, Nov. 2 when Cornell travels to Princeton, N.J. to face Princeton at 4:00 p.m. The Tigers are currently tied with Penn and Dartmouth for second place in the league table thanks to a 2-1-1 record in conference play. Princeton owns a 10-3-1 record overall and are winners of four straight following a 3-2 victory over Virginia Tech on Tuesday night.