The men’s soccer team traveled to Providence, R.I., over the weekend to take on Ancient Eight opponent Brown. Despite a well-played game, the Red lost its third game in a row as it fell to the Bears, 2-0.
Brown (9-1-3, 2-1-1 Ivy) was ranked 14th nationally going into the game, and Cornell (4-6-4, 0-3-1 Ivy) was excited to take on an athletic, well-organized team.
“We went in with the same game plan as always, to play a high-pressure, high-tempo game,” said head coach Jaro Zawislan.
This plan of attack was especially demonstrated within the first couple of minutes.
“We had some sharp attempts with chances in front of the goal,” Zawislan said.
To the Red’s disappointment, it was unable to capitalize on these chances, as the Brown defense remained strong and steadfast.
Another setback for Cornell was that within the first 15 minutes, two starting forwards were sent out with injuries –– juniors Chase Aaronson and Franck Onambele, who each tallied one shot while still in the game.
“We had to go to the bench early, but we were glad to see the younger players coming off the bench being ready to play well,” Zawislan said.
But with no scored goal by the Red, it was the home team that finally got onto the scoreboard.
At 25:46, the Bears got on the board with a goal sent past sophomore Red goaltender Rick Pflasterer. Brown’s Thomas McNamara nailed a ball that he received from a teammate’s crossed ball.
After the half, McNamara kicked in a second ball for the only other goal on the scoreboard to conclude the game, 2-0.
“They caught us in transition for the second goal,” said junior midfielder Jimmy Lannon.
Statistically, Cornell had a little trouble in some areas that it normally excels in. Brown led in corner kicks, 13-6, making this game only the fourth of the season in which the Red fell short to the other team.
“Otherwise, we were a pretty evenly matched. Each team did a great job,” Lannon said.
“They had the first goal in the first half and the second goal in the second half but the game wasn’t all Brown; we kept the momentum going and created enough chances to score goals but they had a strong defense,” Zawislan said. “We wanted a positive result and played as well as we could from the first to the last minute.”
Looking forward, the Red prepares to take on Princeton on Saturday at 7 p.m.
In preparation for the game, the Red will work on focusing on small aspects of the game. Zawislan said that the team will concentrate on being sharper on all sides of the ball and getting better at finishing.
“We’re going to continue to have faith in our system. We’ve hit a bit of a dry spot in the season but we’re going to try and be sharper,” Lannon added.
Princeton was ranked in the top 25 poll last week, and is expected to do so again in this week’s, which will be released today.
“We are excited to be presented an opportunity to play a second ranked opponent in back-to-back weeks, and we look forward to playing in Ithaca in front of all the support of the home crowd,” Zawislan said.
Original Author: Reena Gilani