PRINCETON, N.J. - Playing a man down for most of the afternoon, the No. 20-ranked Cornell men's soccer team was defeated by Princeton on Saturday, 2-1. The Big Red cut into Princeton's lead late, but were unable to find an equalizer in the closing seconds.

"Today was a tough one to take," head coach John Smith said. "To out-shoot and out-possess an opponent of Princeton's quality while playing 60 minutes with 10 men says a lot. This game is often won and lost by the finest of margins though, and credit to our opponent - they managed to put one more over the line than we did. We will look forward to getting back after it again next week in Hanover."

Despite falling to the Tigers, Cornell (10-3-1, 3-2 Ivy) placed 12 shots on goal to Princeton's seven, narrowly missing on a number of strong chances in front of net. Fifth-year midfielder Tyler Bagley and senior forward Emeka Eneli each led the team with three shots on goal each. Junior goalkeeper Brady McSwain finished the match with five saves. Cornell faced strong opposition from Princeton goalkeeper Jack Roberts who made 11 saves.

After a scoreless 28 minutes to start the match, a red card assessed to the Big Red swung momentum in Princeton's favor. The Tigers used that momentum to capitalize following a corner kick just one minute later, when a header from Walker Gillespie gave Princeton the early lead.

Cornell pressed hard to tie the game in the 31st minute, when a breakaway led to chances on goal from Eneli, Bagley and freshman midfielder Alioune Ka. Eneli and Bagley each had shots saved, and Ka was unable to get a good foot on the ball before it rolled past the end line.

Princeton took a 2-0 lead shortly after halftime following a breakaway goal from Daniel Diaz Bonilla.

Fighting to put some points on the board late, Cornell used a series of nifty passes to beat the Princeton defense. Eneli and junior defender Connor Drought used their passing to find junior midfielder Griffin Garrard for his first goal of the season in the 88th minute of play. An assist from Eneli gave him 20 points for the season on seven goals and six assists.

Up Next: Cornell aims to bounce back next weekend when it travels to Hanover, N.H. for a match against Dartmouth (2-10-1, (0-4-1 Ivy) at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 6. The Big Red will close out the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 13 when it hosts Columbia in Ithaca.