ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell men's soccer team exploded for four second-half goals and the Big Red claimed a win in its Ivy opener, defeating Harvard 4-1 on Saturday afternoon at Berman Field. Cornell (5-2, 1-0 Ivy) won its third straight contest, while Harvard slipped to 1-5-1 (0-1 Ivy).
Senior
Adam Schaban had a goal and an assist and junior
Kasper Wollstein tallied twice as Cornell put up four goals in a 34-minute stretch of the second half after a first half with only five combined shots. Sophomore
Calvin Momanyi, who came on at halftime, scored his first career goal.
The first 45 minutes were mostly played in the middle of the field, though Cornell outshot Harvard 4-1. Harvard goalkeeper Jason Broome made saves on junior
Justin Melly in the 14th minute and on Wollstein just before halftime, and the teams went to the break scoreless.
Cornell scored four minutes into the second half when freshman
Andrew Miles set up Schaban in the middle of the penalty area, and Schaban finished with his right foot to begin the 50th minute for his third goal of the season.
Seven minutes later, Schaban turned provider. He found Momanyi on the left side of the box, and the sophomore one-timed a left-footed shot into the net in the 56th minute to make it 2-0.
The Crimson got one back in the 64th minute when Andreas Savva's left-footed shot off a feed from Phoenix Wooten deflected off a Cornell defender and into the back of the net. It was the Crimson's only shot on goal of the game.
Wollstein restored the two-goal lead just four minutes after coming back on, winning the ball at the top of the penalty area and beating Broome with a right-footed shot in the 76th minute. He added his second in the 84th when junior
Nate Hovan lofted a pass to him and he put a right-footed shot into the upper right corner.
Wollstein finished with a team-high five shots, three of them on goal, and Cornell outshot Harvard 13-6, including 9-1 on goal. Junior
Filip Versterre played the full 90 minutes in goal for the win, while Broome made four saves for Harvard.
Cornell hits the road for the first time in Ivy play when it visits Brown on Saturday, Oct. 3 at 1 p.m. in Providence, R.I.
