POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. -- Senior Adam Schaban scored in the first half and classmate Liam May and freshman Andrew Miles added second-half goals as Cornell opened its season with a 3-0 shutout over Marist on Saturday evening at Tenney Stadium at Leonidoff Field. The Big Red upped its record to 1-0-0, while the Red Foxes slipped to 0-1-2.
Schaban broke the ice in the 21st minute, curling a shot around two defenders and a screened goalkeeper to give the Big Red the lead. Sophomore Sergio Zapata assisted, one of his two on the night. It was the first time all season Marist had trailed in a match.
May doubled the lead in the 64th minute, pouncing on a rebound after Zapata's initial shot was saved by Marist goalkeeper Alex Murania. Dominik Kolbl's through-ball sprung the attack which ended in May's second straight season opener with a goal. Miles capped the scoring in the 85th minute with an alert, finish, snapping in his first collegiate goal after Murania mistakenly set the ball down for what he thought was a foul call and free kick. Instead, Miles swooped in and booted it into the goal for the final goal of the day.
"I thought there were moments in the beginning of the first half when you could tell it was our first game," said John Smith, the Dr. Daniel Wood Head Coach of Cornell Men's Soccer. "Adam's goal settled us though, and from that point we started to move the ball around well. Once we got into the second half we ended up creating more opportunities and it was great to capitalize on one of them when Liam tucked his goal away."
Marist had the better of the run of play in the opening six minutes before Cornell settled in. Schaban nearly opened the scoring in the eighth minute, narrowly missing off a cross. The Big Red finished with a 16-8 shot advantage, including an 8-2 edge in shots on goal, and led 5-2 in shots in the first half alone.
Junior Filip Versterre made his Cornell debut in goal and posted the clean sheet, turning aside two shots, including a diving save to his right in the 82nd minute on a direct free kick from just outside the box. His first save of the night came on a Caio Cavaletti free kick in the second half.
"Keeping a clean sheet in our first game on the road was huge, and a mixture of very good defending and a couple of great saves from Filip helped make that happen," Smith said.
The win extended Cornell's winning streak against Marist to four games and its season-opening win streak to three straight years, following 3-0 victories over Marist in 2024 and at Le Moyne in 2025. The victory was also the 90th all-time for John Smith, the Dr. Daniel P. Wood Head Coach of Men's Soccer, just one shy of Jack Writer's school record of 91. The victory was the 599th in program history as well, putting both into position to reach a milestone in the non-conference season.
The Big Red will open its home slate when it faces UC Santa Barbara on Friday, Sept. 4 at 7 p.m. at Berman Field. The Big Red owns a 3-0 lead in the all-time series, including scoring the game winner with just over a minute to play to pick up the win last season on the road when Liam May tallied his first career goal.
