An up and down season continued for the men’s soccer team last night when the Red booters (5-4-2, 0-3-2 Ivy) emerged victorious in a 2-0 game against Army (3-10-2, 0-4-1) at West Point, N.Y.
The offense proved opportunistic — an adjective that has not always described its play over the last few weeks — managing both goals on just five shots against Black Knight keeper Kevin Larrabee.
Meanwhile, at the defensive end, Cornell struggled uncharacteristically. The Black Knights provided themselves a variety of excellent opportunities against a normally stingy Red ‘D.’ Army managed to get off seven shots at Doug Allen’s goal, forcing the junior netminder to make three saves.
Surprisingly, the pivotal save in the first period wasn’t courtesy of Allen, it was contributed from senior midfielder Matt Eldridge. Eldridge made a sliding stop on a ball headed across the goalline on a shot from forward Mike Linnington.
Sophomore Evan Wiener put the Red on the board in the 38th minute when he redirected a ball with his head past Larrabee. Classmate Ian Pilarski was credited with the assist on the play.
Army continued to press throughout the remainder of the first and most of the second, but the Cornell defense held tough. Army had a variety of opportunities throughout the game on corner kicks, and the Black Knights’ David Yu missed a goal by inches, but no one could get anything by Allen.
Cornell struck again in the 82nd minute, when senior forward Ted Papadopoulos fed the ball to junior Scott Benowicz, who was waiting to bury a shot from close range. The goals were the first of the season for both Benowicz and Wiener.
The victory comes on the heels of a 2-1 loss to Princeton on Saturday. The team has not put together a string of two or more wins or losses since the beginning of the year, when the squad reeled off back-to-back victories at home against Colgate and Adelphi. Unfortunately for Cornell, the losses have tended to be against Ivy teams, while the squad’s non-conference games have garnered much better results. Cornell will try to keep its win percentage above the .500 mark when it faces Dartmouth in Hanover, N.H. this Sunday.
Archived article by Charles Persons