NEW YORK, N.Y. - The no. 23-ranked Cornell men's soccer team defeated the Columbia Lions 1-0 at Rocco B. Commisso Stadium on Saturday evening in the 2025 season finale.

With the victory, Cornell clinches the no. 2 seed in the 2025 Ivy League Tournament .The Big Red concludes the regular season with a 12-2-2 record, while the Lions finish with a record of 3-8-4 on the year.

Blake Donahue registered the Big Red goal in the game. Sergio Zapata was credited with the assist. Ryan Friedberg made three saves for the Big Red, collecting his eighth shutout of the season. Alexander O' Brien made four saves for the Lions in the losing effort.

"This was a very tough game and a significant win. Columbia are well coached and they play good football. We did a good job limiting their looks on our goal, and Blake showed great awareness and composure on his goal", John Smith, the Dr. Daniel P. Wood Head Coach of Men's Soccer mentioned

Zapata made a nifty move in the box as he attacked the net and found Donahue who volleyed the ball up and and over O' Brien to give Cornell a 1-0 lead over the Lions in the 30th minute. Columbia pushed for the equalizer but Friedberg and the Cornell defense proved stout as they would hold the Lions off the board for the remainder of the game.

Friedberg earned his 12th win of the season, and collected his eighth clean-sheet of the year. "Ryan and the guys in front of him did a great job protecting the goal, and for Ryan to end the regular season with 8 clean sheets is fantastic.", John Smith added.

"The league has been fantastic again this year—it's such a tough conference with a number of very good teams and so to finish 2nd is certainly something to be proud of. We now get to be part of another exciting Ivy League tournament, and a great opponent in Penn.", Smith concluded with.

MATCH NOTES
• Saturday marked the 65th meeting between Cornell and Columbia, as the Big Red improved its record in the series to 27-28-10. 

• Ryan Frieberg collected his eighth individual shutout of the 2025 season, moving to second all-time in the Big Red single-season record book. Friedberg matches his own total from the 2024 season where he also registered eight clean-sheets.

• Cornell's victory clinched the second seed in the Ivy League Tournament, marking its second consecutive and all-time trip to the tournament. The Big Red fell in its first tournament game last season against the Princeton Tigers at Rhodes Field in the semi-final round. The Tigers return this season as the top-seed and hosts.

Next Up
The no. 23-ranked Cornell men's soccer team will travel to Princeton for its second consecutive appearance in the Ivy League Tournament. The Big Red will be represented as the no. 2 seed, and will take on the no. 3-seeded Pennsylvania Quakers in the semi-final game. Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m. at Myslik Field. Game action will be broadcast on ESPN+.