October 25, 2002

Men's team looks for first conference win

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The men’s soccer team (3-4-3, 0-2-1 Ivy) is back in action tomorrow when it travels to take on Ivy League rival Brown (4-4-4, 0-1-2). The two teams are both coming off losses to Fairfield University. Cornell dropped a 2-1 game last Saturday, and Brown lost to the Stags 2-0 on Tuesday.

Cornell has lost or tied its last five contests and will be eager to get its first conference win. After a week to forget last weekend’s loss and prepare for tomorrow’s game, the team should be ready.

Sophomore Steve Reuter and junior Ian Pilarski continue to lead the Red offensively. On the season, Reuter has two goals and one assist and Pilarski has one goal and one assist.

In net, senior goalkeeper Doug Allan has earned a .797 save percentage in 10 starts.

Of the Brown team, Cornell head coach Bryan Scales said, “They are kind of in the same situation we are in. They are looking for their first Ivy win, trying to get a little momentum going. They are just trying to get a streak put together.”

Leading the attack for the Bears will be freshman Ibrahim Diane. In eleven starts, the rookie has had three goals and two assists.

Also up front are junior Seth Quidachay-Swam, who has notched seven points, and senior Eduard Romaneiro, who has six points.

Of the attack Scales explained, “[Brown] is struggling a little bit to score goals because they lost their top goal scorer, so they are trying to score anyway they can. They can be very dangerous on restarts.”

In the midfield senior Omar Macedo who Scales said is “a flank player coming off an injury, but he is very tricky” will be an asset to Brown. In just six games played, he has tallied two assists. Joining Macedo is classmate Dustin Branan, who in twelve starts, has recorded a goal and an assist.

In net, Brown has three goalkeepers that have all seen time during the season. In fact, Scales believes that Brown’s goalkeepers are the team’s strong point, because they have been difficult to score on.

Sophomore Christopher Gomez has logged the most minutes, recording an .844 save percentage in ten games and eight starts. After an extremely good showing against Princeton, Scales believes Gomez will earn the start for the Bears.

Overall, Scales expects it to be a tough game in bad conditions as the forecast is for cold temperatures and rain.

“The guys are well aware that the conditions are going to be tough, but it’s always a fun environment to play in because it’s hostile. We’re expecting to go into a tough environment Saturday night, and our guys have to make sure that mentally they are ready to do battle.”

The game is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. start.

Archived article by Kristen Haunss