ITHACA, N.Y. -- Trailing nearly the entire night despite carrying play throughout, the Cornell men's soccer team found two goals in the final 11 minutes to earn a 2-1 victory over Brown on Saturday evening at Berman Field, sending the Big Red seniors out with a victory in their final home contest. The Big Red advanced its record to 11-2-1 (4-1-0 Ivy) and clinched a bid in the four-team Ivy League Tournament, while the Bears slipped to 5-6-2 (1-3-1 Ivy) in defeat.

For awhile, it seemed that it might not be the Big Red's day. The Big Red conceded its goal in the third minute and faced an uphill climb until it steadied itself late in the first half. Cornell had a goal waived off for offsides and twice hit the post after halftime, but its relentless pressure finally broke the dam late.

Cornell equalized when Sam Latona got a flying foot on the end of a perfect cross from the left side by Aidan Martin to make it 1-1 in the 80th minute. The game winner came in the 88th minute from Adam Schaban, whose second goal of the season came on Martin's second helper on the night. Martin cut a pass back to the middle and his service found the left foot of Schaban, whose shot skimmed past a diving Henrik Weiper for the go-alead score. The Big Red ran out the final 2:36 to collect the win and clinch its Ivy Tourney bid.

"We started slowly, and going one-nil down was probably deserved, but the response was outstanding," said John Smith, the Dr. Daniel P. Wood Head Coach of Men's Soccer. "We were persistent, relentless and our fitness really showed in the second half - we could've gone another 30 minutes if needed. Once we hit the woodwork twice, you start to wonder if it's just not your day, but the lads kept going and earned two great goals. Clinching a spot in the Ivy tournament lifts a bit of weight off the shoulders, but for us, it's always one game - and really, one day - at a time."

The Bears took the lead in the third minute at the end of a long throw into the box that bounced around heads before landing at the feet of Mateo Pereyra, who tapped it past Ryan Friedberg to make it 1-0. The senior made two important saves to hold Brown at 1-0, earning his 44th career win in goal in the process. 

Cornell held decisive edges in shots (24-10) and corner kicks (7-1), and its huge possession lead was shown in the second half totals in each - Cornell held a 15-2 advantage in shots and a 3-0 edge in corners. Brown goalkeeper Henrik Weiper made eight saves, including seven in the second half alone.

"It's been such a pleasure to be around this group of seniors - not just because of what they've done on the field, but because of who they are as people," Smith said. "They've taken the program further and set the standards even higher. I always hope to have seniors whose coattails the younger players can hang on to, and this group of 10 absolutely has those coattails. We'll miss them dearly, but these walls will echo their names for years to come."

NEXT UP
• The Big Red returns to action when it visits Harvard on Saturday, Nov. 1 at 1 p.m. in Cambridge, Mass.
• Harvard leads the all-time series 35-23-14, though Cornell is 6-0-1 in the past seven meetings between the teams.