By JAMIL RAHMAN
In Saturday’s match against Brown, sophomore forward Jonathan Cullom and the rest of the Cornell men’s soccer team had a strong offensive game, especially in the first half. Even though no goals were scored, the Red outshot the Bears, 7-1. Nevertheless, Brown came out swinging in the second half, outshooting the Red 8-4. Brown (7-5-1, 2-1-1 Ivy) was able to capitalize on one of its chances, defeating Cornell, 1-0, handing the Red (3-10-1, 1-3) its third Ivy League loss of the season and its tenth overall.
Out of the 11 total shots the Red had, five of them came from Cullom, four of which came in the first half. Cullom’s first quality chance came after a cross from junior midfielder and forward JJ Black. Black came up the left sideline and crossed the ball into Cullom. However, Cullom missed just wide. Cullom was able to recover and get the ball back again later in the set, taking another shot after Brown’s goalkeeper was out of position. Cullom’s shot again just missed after it was blocked by a Brown defender.
Head coach Jaro Zawislan was proud of the offensive opportunities created by not only Cullom, but by the rest of the team as well.
“Credit to [Cullom] on the opportunities he had, but credit to the rest of the team, as well,” Zawislan said. “[Cullom] put himself in the right spots during the game, and that was the direct outcome of the team providing him with those chances, whether it was the quality crosses or chances created by pushing up the field. Credit goes to both John and the rest of the team – it was a complete team effort.”
However, Brown scored the lone goal of the game. In the 60th minute, Bears’ Matthew Chow sent in a corner kick which curled into the Red goal.
Cornell fought hard for the equalizer. Junior forward Chris St. Germain sent in a shot in the 63rd minute which bounced off the post. The Red was able to draw a foul just outside the Brown 18-yard box. Junior Madison Heck got the kick off in the final seconds of the game, but the shot was blocked by the Bears’ wall.
Zawislan felt as though his team had the momentum for much of the game and was proud of his team’s performance, despite the loss. Nevertheless, he said he understands that his team needs to improve on their finishing.
“I am very proud of the team’s performance, but obviously we are disappointed with the result,” Zawislan said. “That’s the cruel side of the game of soccer — we can out possess, out-shoot and out-play a very good game for 90-95 percent of the game, but it comes down the goals scored. The bottom line is that Brown scored and we didn’t. We created enough opportunities — very good opportunities – and there are some instances that we would’ve liked to have back.”
The Red will be looking to get back on track in Ivy League play as it travels to New Jersey to take on the Princeton Tigers on Halloween.
“We needed to be better on finishing the chances against Brown, but we will work hard during practice on improving these aspects,” he said. “We’re always looking forward to the next game.”