HAMILTON, N.Y. — It was an up and down weekend for the men’s soccer team as it recorded both a 3-2 win and a 1-0 loss in the Colgate Adidas Soccer Classic tournament against Albany and Richmond, respectively.
Against Albany, the Red (3-1) scored its third goal in the second overtime period. Senior Brian Kuritzky broke down the center of the field just in front of sophomore Matt Bouraee on a 2-on-1. Kuritzky drew the sole central defender and passed the ball off to Bouraee, who placed the ball precisely into the lower right corner of the goal, thereby improving the Red’s season record from 2-0 to 3-0.
“I just slipped it by the center defender and [Bouraee] was right there,” Kuritzky said. “It was such a difficult shot to make and he handled it perfectly.”
[img_assist|nid=24273|title=Liftoff|desc=Junior goalkeeper Luca Cerretani held the Red’s opponents to only three goals over the course of two games this weekend, but has only one win to show for his efforts.|link=node|align=left|width=|height=0]
Even Albany’s goal-sized keeper couldn’t reach Bouraee’s shot.
“We play pickup together so I knew where he would be and where he wanted the ball,” Kuritzky said. “The angle was very difficult, but he placed it low and in the corner and there was nothing the keeper could do.”
In the game against Albany, Cornell tallied the first goal just 15 minutes into the game. Kuritzky intercepted the ball from the Great Danes’ defense and despite their desperate attempts to stop the ball from traveling over the line, it eventually did, putting the Red up 1-0. Albany responded with a goal and shortly afterward, missed an opportunity on penalty kicks. The Red regrouped immediately, and Albany had to wait only minutes until the second Cornell goal, scored by freshman Brett Sumpio from 18 yards out. In the 54th minute, Albany tied the game up at 2, which would remain unchanged until Bouraee’s OT goal, signaling the end of the game.
“I think that the best thing the team can take from this game was our refusal to accept a loss or even a tie,” Kuritzky said. “The team had the right attitude and was focused on getting nothing short of the win.”
Senior captain Kyle Lynch, though unable to play due to an injury, agreed.
“It was good to see that we were able to deal with giving up goals and coming back to retaliate,” he said.
The Red was less successful in its match against Richmond yesterday, coming up short with a score of 1-0. The lone goal of the game resulted from a questionable call from the referee with 20 minutes remaining. Richmond had a throw-in in the Red’s defensive end and the horn sounded for a substitution. Instead of stopping the play while the new players came in, the thrower threw the ball in and the referee called for play to continue. Due to the substitution horn, the Cornell defense awaited a substitution, and the Richmond players got the ball and quickly scored on an unaware Red.
Despite this debated goal, Cornell immediately regrouped. Cornell attacked Richmond with shots and kept the pressure on for the rest of the game.
“This was first time we didn’t have a lead all season, and after the goal we quickly regained our composure and definitely had Richmond on its heels for the remainder of the game,” Lynch said.
The Red’s best efforts, however, went unrewarded and the game ended with a 1-0 score.
Kuritzky agreed and was pleased with the team’s performance following the Richmond goal.
“Despite the goal, we responded really well with pressure and shots,” he said. “We had a lot of chances but unfortunately nothing came of them.”