On Sunday afternoon, the men’s soccer team traveled to Oneonta, N.Y., for a matchup against the Hartwick Hawks (1-1-2) in what would have been the second game in the weekend’s scheduled Mayor’s Cup. However, due to serious weather conditions and a declared state of emergency in the Oneonta area, the first game — which was slated for Friday night against Robert Morris — was cancelled. The Red (0-1-2) salvaged the weekend with a tie, 1-1, for its second consecutive tie of the season.
“We want to win and start a winning streak,” said head coach Jaro Zawislan, regarding the weekend’s outcome. “We are not satisfied with the ties. We are playing every game to win the game — we are not playing for ties.”
The scoreless first half was highlighted by corner kicks and fouls for both teams, with Cornell senior forward Chase Aaronson and Hartwick junior midfielder Simon Greatwich receiving yellow cards. The remainder of the half was otherwise uneventful, with the greatest action beginning at the start of the second half, when Hawks junior back Will Broomfield snuck a shot in off the crossbar at 56 minutes.
“We found ourselves in a little bit of a hole, when we fell behind in the second half,” Zawislan noted.
The Red found itself in an all too familiar situation, down by one and in desperate need of a goal to tie the game up; however, the team played knowing that the game is not over until the final whistle is blown.
“We have a saying in the locker room,” Zawislan explained. “The game is never over when the team is ahead by no matter how many goals, and the game is never out of reach no matter how many goals we are behind.”
After regrouping and charging the field with as much momentum as they could muster, the players proved once more that Cornell has the drive necessary to make plays happen. Twenty-one minutes after Hartwick lit up the scoreboard, the Red evened the match. Sophomore forward Daniel Haber capitalized on a free kick — the result of a whistle blown for a passback by the Hawks to their goalkeeper Mateo Nunarriz — and lifted the ball into the box, where sophomore defender Patrick Slogic got a head on it. After Nunarriz caught just a piece of the ball, sophomore defender Jake Rinow was waiting in position, perfectly set up for a hard shot into the net, successfully tying the game, 1-1. Rinow notched his first career goal, which resulted in the sophomore earning a spot on the Ivy League Player of the Week honor roll.
“It was amazing — I was super excited,” Rinow said of his first goal. “I didn’t even know what to think. I just ran around and tried to do a cartwheel — well it was supposed to be a round off back flip, but I just beefed it real hard. That’s okay though, I was still happy that I scored.”
“I was really proud of how our team reacted coming back from 1-0 down and going after the tying goal first within the last 15 minutes … and going after a winner for the remainder of the regulation and through two overtimes,” Zawislan said.
“Scoring that [goal] with so little time left definitely gave us the momentum and forward presence [we needed],” Rinow added.
At this point in the match, the intensity picked up — as did the rain, which made the field slick to play on for both teams. With only 1:58 left in regulation play, Hartwick’s Greatwich, who was already sporting a yellow card from the first half, was saddled with a red card and consequently an ejection from the match for a hard tackle. The Red finished the half with a one man advantage; however, the team was unable to take advantage of the opportunity, forcing the game into the first of two overtime periods.
Neither side was able to end the game in the first overtime; however, Cornell had the upper hand in the second. Haber had the best opportunity to score with 6:10 left when he picked up a pass from senior forward Will Ogden and shot the ball low and to the right. Munarriz accepted the challenge and stopped the shot, ending Cornell’s attempt at stealing the lead. Junior forward Tyler Regan took a shot on goal as well, but the attempt was weak and could not get past the Hawks’ defense.
“I think that with all the young players we have and the transition of the team in general, it took a couple of games to get used to, but I see a difference,” Haber, the team’s leader in shots for the game, explained. “We are starting to make more chances and as the season goes on I think we’ll get even stronger on all parts of the field, though hopefully we can continue taking pressure off of our defense.
“We’ve got all different positions on the field and being a striker it’s mine and the other strikers’ jobs to create opportunities and be dangerous. If we could score that is great, or if we help out other people setting up goals — if we aren’t doing that then we aren’t really doing our job.”
The Red will leep moving forward and return to action Friday night in a game against Long Island at 7 p.m. on Berman Field as part of the CU Inaria Classic, before taking the field again on Sunday at 1 p.m. to play visiting Hofstra.
“The execution part of [our game] has to improve on both ends of the field,” Zawislan said of the team’s goals for Friday’s match. “We are going to address how to prevent particular situations that led to the goal [in Sunday’s game] and also we are going to continue getting sharper around the box. We are looking forward to the next game and doing everything we can to get the lead for the first time this season.”
“We are very eager to get that first win of the season,” Haber added. “We feel like we’ve out-played every team we’ve gone up against this season, though unfortunately we haven’t gotten a win yet.”
Original Author: Lauren Ritter