Always leave a on a good note — that will be the men’s soccer team’s goal tomorrow as it plays against Dartmouth in Cornell’s last match of the season.
Both teams are competing for spots within the upper half of the Ancient Eight standings. The Red has not finished within the top half since the 1999 season. A win for the Cornelian squad would tie them for fourth place with Dartmouth. For Dartmouth, a win could possibly tie them for second in the league.
“I am very excited about this game,” said head coach Bryan Scales.
[img_assist|nid=19568|title=m soccer|desc=Freshman Matt Bouraee (12) battles for a loose ball during Cornell’s 2-0 win over Princeton last Saturday.|link=popup|align=right|width=78|height=100]
And his team should be excited after finally grabbing a win last Saturday, a 2-0 shutout against Princeton. The win was long overdue after a stretch of matches where the Red failed to punch one in the onion bag, despite attempting more shots than its opponent. Previous to Saturday’s game, the Red had not scored a goal since its Oct. 13th contest against Yale, a 2-1 win.
“Our last game didn’t look much different from the rest of our games. The only difference was that last time around we scored two goals,” Scales said.
The Green (6-7-3, 3-2-1 Ivy) visit Ithaca with hoping the Red (3-8-3, 2-3-1) reverts to its old ways. After suffering a 3-1 loss to No. 19 Harvard, the Green is still in position to finish second place in the Ivy League.
The Green is led by freshman Daniel Keat, who has total 13 points on six goals and one assist. The only other person to notch more than one goal for Dartmouth is Mike Ordonez, a 6-1 junior who has notched two goals on the year. The game should be highly contested due to its implications in the standings. In addition, both teams will play with extra enthusiasm as both teams will graduate a handful of seniors.
“The whole group wants to go out there and get a ‘W’ for them,” Scales said.
Cornell seniors Dan Marks, Tom Marks, Brian Scruton and Kiery Tuttle will have their final match at Berman Field while Dartmouth has a senior class of five — including senior goalkeeper Rowan Anders, who holds a .828 save percentage.
There are even more motivational factors heading into Saturday’s match-up. A win would tie coach Scales for fourth place with Jack Wood on the All-time win list.
For Hall of Fame inductee Paul Beuttenmuller ’78, a win would be a nice ending to a memorable day.
“Hopefully, I can watch them get a win,” Beuttenmuller said.