ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cornell men's soccer team was unable to find its stride against Michigan on Friday, Sept. 6, falling to the Wolverines by a final score of 3-0 in Ann Arbor, Mich. Both sides were held scoreless for the first 34 minutes of the match before Michigan forward Mohammed Zakyi broke through to score the eventual game-winning goal.
 
Each team showed strong defensive prowess in the first 25 minutes of the match however, with neither team able to register a shot on goal. Cornell (0-1) had the first solid chance of the evening on a free kick from junior Tyler Bagley, who placed the ball inside the 18-yard box for sophomore Tate Keir. Without much opposition in front of him, Keir flared a shot just left of goal.
 
Michigan (2-1) responded in the 34th minute following a goal kick sent to midfield by freshman goalkeeper Brady McSwain. Zakyi chested a pass from Nebosa Popovic and fired near-post to beat the keeper and give the Wolverines a 1-0 advantage.
 
Cornell nearly evened the match at 1-1 soon after as freshmen Kurt Lehmkuhl and Brandon Morales, along with sophomore Szabolcs Wiksell had shots from inside the 18-yard box in the 35th minute of action. Wiksell had his chance from the center of the box blocked by a Wolverine defender as the Big Red were unable to tie things up.
 
Holding a 1-0 lead out of intermission, Michigan opened the second half with an early goal, scoring in the 48th minute on a close play at the net. Wolverine defender Jackson Ragen snuck a shot past McSwain following a free kick by Marc Ybarra. Players on the field were initially unsure of the goal after a Cornell defender appeared to make a defensive save at the last second, but the goal was confirmed by VAR.

Cornell registered its lone shot on goal in the 58th minute, a header by senior John Scearce following a corner attempt by junior Harry Fuller.
 
In the closing moments of the game, Michigan added its third goal of the night as Carlos Tellez sent a long pass downfield to Popovic, giving Popovic a 1-on-1 opportunity against McSwain in goal. McSwain finished the night with four saves in net for Cornell.

Up Next
Cornell will make the quick trip to East Lansing, Mich. in preparation to play 2018 NCAA semi-finalist Michigan State on Sunday, Sept. 8 at 3 p.m. Michigan State is off to an 0-0-2 start thus far in 2019, but face Washington on Friday night prior to meeting the Big Red on Sunday.


Starting XI: George Pedlow, Tyler Bagley, Kepler Despinos, Charles Touche, Tate Keir, John Scearce, Jonah Kagen, Emeka Eneli, Ryan Bayne, Connor Drought, Brady McSwain (GK)
 
Goal Summary
34' – Mohammed Zakyi, assisted by Jack Hallahan and Nebosa Popovic (Michigan, 1-0)
48' – Jackson Ragen, assisted by Marc Ybarra (Michigan, 2-0)
88' – Nebosa Popovic, assisted by Carlos Tellez (Michigan, 3-0)