In front of a home crowd packed with alumni, the Cornell men’s soccer team emerged victorious in a double overtime this Saturday, handing Brown a 1-0 loss.
The Bears (6-4-2, 1-2-1 Ivy) got off to an aggressive start, forcing the Red (7-5-2, 2-1-1) to make adjustments to its playing style.
“It took us until about 20 minutes into the game to realize we were going to have to be physical in order to gain the space and time to play to our strengths,” said junior captain and defender Ryan Bayne.
But once the Red made this key adjustment, the game began to open up as it began to control play and create scoring opportunities — taking nine corner kicks to Brown’s one.
“No matter the team, every Ivy game will have an element of ‘ugliness’ or extra physicality,” Bayne said. “If we can match that, then we can have success.”
Maintaining its composure and staying patient, the Red was able to leverage the home crowd and momentum from the second half into overtime to continue its offensive pressure on the Bears.
“We had been controlling the game and playing well all the second half and into overtime,” Bayne said. “So we were hopeful that a goal would come if we continued to play how we were doing.”
The goal came only 52 seconds into the second overtime period, when none other than junior midfielder Ryan Hill sent a shot past Brown’s goalie. This is the second time this season that Hill has scored the game-winning goal in overtime for the Red, with the first coming against No. 11 Syracuse (6-8-2, 0-6-1 ACC).
“[Hill’s] goal was great — he was in the right place at the right time,” Bayne said. “I’m glad he put it in the back of the net.”
The victory marks the first time Cornell has defeated Brown on home turf since 1992. The Red will look to carry its momentum as it hits the road to take on Princeton (3-6-4, 0-2-2) on Saturday, Oct. 28.
“To win in double overtime with all the alumni and the good crowd we had, it was really exciting — a great atmosphere,” Bayne said. We’re excited to get back to training this week and prepare for Princeton [which will] be another great test for the team.”