The men’s soccer team (2-1-1, 0-0-1 Ivy) has played four games so far this season and each game has been a shutout. Saturday night’s game against Yale (3-1-2, 0-1-1 Ivy) was no different.
Cornell goalkeeper Doug Allan posted his third shutout of the season, but the Red offense was white-washed for the second time in as many games, resulting in a 0-0 tie at Yale Soccer-Lacrosse Stadium.
The Bulldogs entered the match ranked 22nd in last week’s NSCAA poll, while the Red were a step ahead at the 21st position.
The Elis played an aggressive game, keeping the pressure on the Cornell defense for a good portion of the match. Yale fired twice as many shots as the Red, outshooting Cornell 18-9.
“Our guys did a terrific job not allowing them to play, putting pressure on the ball,” head coach Bryan Scales said.
Cornell was able to muster a few scoring opportunities, but was unable to convert one into a goal.
Allan, a junior, made nine saves for Cornell, while his counterpart, Russ Stroud, stopped two balls for the Elis. Allan’s efforts helped keep Yale off the scoresheet for the first time this season.
“We had a lot of good performances,” Scales noted. “The back four did very well.”
Cornell’s leading scorer, sophomore Doug Charton, had a pair of shots, as did freshmen Kyle Jones and Steve Reuter, who made his first collegiate start.
Scales was pleased with the effort that his young team put forth against one of the top Ivy teams.
“This was a good step forward for this team, we certainly wanted to get a good result and we did,” he said, but added, “We would have liked to have won the game.”
The Bulldogs will take the field next on Wednesday, when they travel to Quinnipiac for a midweek match. The Red’s next action will be in Philadelphia at noon on Saturday, when it looks for its first Ancient Eight victory against Penn.
Archived article by Alex Fineman