ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cornell men's soccer program grinded for 110 minutes on Tuesday night, playing to a 1-1 draw against regional rival Syracuse at Berman Field. In what's always a closely contested match, it's just the eighth time in series history that the Big Red and Syracuse have tied (40-27-8).
"I was a little disappointed that we didn't get the win tonight, but on the balance of everything we created better chances and on a different day maybe two more of those shots go in," Head Coach
John Smith said. "We come off the field today disappointed that we didn't win and that's a sign of where this program is at. In years past we would've come off the pitch grinning after tying this team, but that's not where we're at anymore."
Cornell (4-1-1) had the better chances of the two sides on Tuesday, out-shooting the Orange 15-7 overall and 7-4 in shots on goal. The Big Red made Syracuse goalkeeper Lucas Daunhauer earn it, but he was up for the challenge making six saves. Junior goalkeeper
Brady McSwain made three saves for the Big Red, improving his season save percentage to .700 on 1.39 goals against.
Near-miss opportunities came early for the Big Red when a
Harry Fuller shot in front of goal was saved by Daunhauer in the 10th minute. A breakaway run by senior
Emeka Eneli was thwarted in the 38th minute of action when Daunhauer got just enough of the ball to prevent Eneli from dribbling around him for an easy score. Senior
Charles Touche had a pair of looks in front of the net just before halftime.
Both sides battled for the first 40 minutes of action before Syracuse was able to break through the Big Red back line. Francesco Pagano gave the Orange a 1-0 lead at halftime when a pass from Camden Holbrook snuck past the slide attempt of a Big Red defender, allowing Pagano a 1-on-1 opportunity against McSwain on the left side of the net.
Cornell came out in the second half re-energized resulting in an equalizer from Fuller in the 57th minute. Fuller put a clever touch on a pass from sophomore
Lalo Serrano that allowed him to get around his defender and find a clean look on goal. It's Fuller's fourth goal of the season and Serrano's first career assist.
"We knew we had to come out with energy in the second half," Smith said. "We have dangerous guys up top who have been a threat to every team we've faced and I knew it was going to be no different today regardless of how good Syracuse is."
Neither side was willing to give an inch for the remainder of the match and the stars wouldn't align for the Big Red on any of its opportunities in front of the net. Freshman
Alioune Ka nearly scored the game-winning goal in the final 30 seconds, but the result of the play was similar to that of Eneli's shot in the 38th minute with the Syracuse goalkeeper coming off his line to make a play on the ball.
Up Next: Cornell remains at home on Saturday when it meets Marist on Berman Field at 5 p.m. The Red Foxes enter Saturday's contest with a 3-3-1 record following a 1-1 draw against Bryant University.
Starting XI:
GK:
Brady McSwain
D:
Jonah Kagen
D:
Henry Hylbert
D:
Tate Keir
D:
Kisa Kiingi
M:
Harry Fuller
M:
Wilson Eisner
M:
Lalo Serrano
M:
Tyler Bagley
F:
Emeka Eneli
F:
Matthew Goncalves
