The men’s soccer team fought against nature and man as it tied Harvard 2-2 in double overtime on Saturday. With the draw, the Red improves to 3-3-3 (0-2-1 Ivy). The Crimson stands at 6-3-1, and 1-0-1 in the conference.
With less than a minute left in regulation, Harvard’s Kevin Ara worked his way into the Cornell box to put away a contested header to tie the match. The teams then battled through the rain for 20 minutes of overtime, with the match ending in a 2-2 tie.
The Red scored the first goal of the day as junior Ian Pilarski scored his first goal of the season at 35:04. Cornell maintained the one goal lead going into the half.
Harvard drew even on an own goal by Cornell as senior Liam Hoban inadvertently slid into the box after goaltender Doug Allan was drawn away from the play.
With less than five minutes left in regulation, sophomore Steve Reuter gave Cornell the lead, scoring on a feed from classmate Scott Palguta. As Cornell tried to hold the lead, the already physical match took on the appearance of a hockey game in the second half’s waning minutes.
Overtime
After a potential goal was waved off due to an offside, Cornell’s resolve to win remained strong, but the team was unable to hold on as Ara, in a questionable play, put away the tying goal.
Both sides played a strong game, creating opportunities and putting the ball on net. Cornell had 10 shots to the Crimson’s 15. Allan recorded six saves, while his counterpart Jamie Roth had four. In a game in which many balls were won in the air, the slightly shorter Cornell squad made up in aggression and drive for what it lacked in height.
Head coach Bryan Scales said, “I’m very proud of the way the guys played today against a lot of adversity and tough conditions. I do have to say that the officiating was very poor on both sides.”
The Red returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Fairfield at Berman Field.
Archived article by Josh Dormont