ITHACA, N.Y. – Playing in just its second home match of the season, the Cornell men's soccer team defeated Siena, 1-0, on Tuesday night. Junior midfielder Harry Fuller continued to have the hot foot, scoring on a penalty kick in the 12th minute to improve Cornell's home record to 2-0.
 
Cornell (4-2) dominated on the ball, possessing it for 62 percent of the match. Siena (3-5) was limited to just two shots on goal by a stout Big Red defense that rarely let the Saints move past midfield. Cornell possessed the ball in Siena's half of the field for 69 percent of its total possession by comparison. The Big Red out-shot Siena by a drastic 29-2 margin, but had only five shots fall on goal.

"I think everything was done really well up until the final third," said Cornell head coach John Smith. "We made poor decisions, rushed shots and took too many shots from far out of goal when we didn't have to.We just weren't deadly enough in front of goal."
 
Out-shooting the Saints, 15-1, in the first half of action, Cornell's offense got going early with four shots in the first 10 minutes. Fuller had a shot saved by Siena goalkeeper Greg Monroe in the fourth minute before getting his chance from the penalty spot.
 
Junior Vardhin Manoj dribbled his way into the box in the 12th minute, where he was roughly tackled by a Saints defender. Having successfully taken a penalty kick against Canisius on Saturday, Sept. 21, Fuller was given his second opportunity of the season on Tuesday night. Fuller's shot found the bottom right corner of the net with ease to provide Cornell with a 1-0 advantage.
 
Goal number two nearly came moments later, but an 18th minute near-post shot from senior George Pedlow bounced off the post and back into the field of play.
 
Unfortunately for the Big Red, goal number two never came despite 14 second-half shots. As the clock ticked in the second half, Siena became increasingly motivated to find an equalizer knowing that Cornell's shots mostly had too much mustard behind them.

"When a game keeps going on longer and longer and you don't get that second goal, your opponent starts to feel like they have a chance, and they almost did at the end," said Smith. "When you don't put teams away with so many opportunities, you leave yourselves open to that."
 
Siena midfielder Matt Crisafulli placed a strong header on target in the 87th minute following a Saints corner kick, but senior Ryan Shellow was there stymie it, reminiscent of his late save against Fairleigh Dickinson on Sept. 14. Shellow (4-1) saw little action in front of goal on Tuesday night, but came away with two saves when they counted most, en route to his third clean sheet of the season.
 
Up Next: Cornell hits the road to face reigning national runner-up, Akron, at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28. The Zips are off to a tough start in 2019 with an 0-6 record. Akron will be fired up on Saturday, playing in its first home match since Sept. 2. In 2018, Akron was 5-3-1 in home games, but have historically been dominant in FirstEnergy Stadium, amassing a 100-10-11 record at home over the last decade. Head coach Jared Embrick is 94-36-13 in his seventh season at the helm and previously served as an assistant coach at Akron under current Columbus Crew head coach Caleb Porter.