ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell scored five second-half goals to rally from a two-goal halftime deficit and beat Penn 5-3 on Saturday at Berman Field, improving to 3-0 in Ivy League play.
Blake Donahue scored twice, and Kasper Wollstein's goal in the 80th minute gave the Big Red a 4-3 lead that held up as the game-winner. Cornell (7-2-1, 3-0-0 Ivy) outshot Penn 11-4 in the second half.
"The second half performance will go down as one of our better halves of soccer," head coach John Smith said. "It was an incredible performance from so many guys who just showed up in the second half."
Penn (4-2-3, 1-1-1) controlled the first half. Jack-Ryan Jeremiah converted a penalty kick in the 35th minute, and Michael Howard made it 2-0 in the 39th, set up by Marco Bottene. Penn outshot Cornell 10-9 in the half, and Quakers goalkeeper Phillip Falcon III made three saves.
Smith said he stayed calm at the break. "I felt fairly calm at halftime, to be honest with you, and so I felt the goals were going to come, but I couldn't have imagined five," he said.
The comeback began in the 55th minute, when Calvin Momanyi got Cornell on the board to make it 2-1. Donahue tied the game in the 57th minute, then put the Big Red ahead 3-2 in the 61st on an assist from Connor Miller.
Penn answered in the 64th minute, when Romeo Dahlen, assisted by Becket Empson-Speiden, tied it at 3-3.
Wollstein broke the tie in the 80th minute, and Sergio Zapata sealed it in the 88th for the 5-3 final.
Cornell finished with a 20-14 shot advantage and put 11 shots on goal to Penn's seven. The Big Red also held a 7-3 edge in corner kicks. Goalkeeper Filip Versterre made four saves for Cornell. Falcon made six saves in the loss.
Smith said his players did not need convincing at the break. "I didn't feel like I needed to make them believe, and they already did. And it's just a matter of just being calm and convincing that it's going to come."
Cornell returns to action Tuesday, Oct. 13, at Colgate. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.
