After a tough loss to Syracuse last week, the men’s soccer team bounced back in fine style on Saturday, downing Harvard in an overtime match in Cambridge, Mass., by a score of 2-1.
The Big Red struck first on a goal from senior tri-captain Rick Stimpson. The Cheshire, England native took a leading pass from freshman forward Ian Pilarski at midfield, dribbled past the Crimson defense, and put a shot past Harvard ‘keeper Dan Mejias.
Mejias and Cornell’s netminder, sophomore Andrew Gordon, repelled all shots for the rest of the first half.
Then, at 59:42, Harvard’s Ladd Fritz evened the score on an assist from teammate Grayson Sugarman.
In two previous losses to Yale and Syracuse, the Cornell defense had let some decisive goals slip by. That was not the case on Saturday.
“Everyone from the forwards to the defense played a strong game. We concentrated on our defensive play. Andrew [Gordon] had some big saves,” said assistant coach Rob Elliott.
At 15:00, senior tri-captain Adam Brown went down with a sprained ankle. He is listed as day-to-day, said Elliott. Sophomore Liam Hoban took his spot on the defense.
The match was sent into overtime after the final 30 minutes in regulation went scoreless.
Senior Adam Skumawitz once again rescued the Red with his offensive play. At 114:20, freshman Colin Nevison got around the left side of the Crimson midfield, and hit Skumawitz for the game-winning goal.
Except for shutouts by opposing teams, Skumawitz has had a point in each game thus far in the 2000 campaign.
The win pushed the men to 5-4, with a 2-1 Ivy mark. Harvard dropped to 4-3, 0-2 Ivy.
Tomorrow, Cornell will travel to State College, Pa., to take on the 17th-ranked Nittany Lions of Penn State.
Archived article by Tom McNulty