Cornell men’s soccer fought hard to claim victory in its last home game of the year — but failed to break through overtime, falling to Dartmouth in a last-minute 2-1 heartbreaker.
With only one game remaining in the season, the result now brings the Red to 10-6 for the season and 3-3 in conference play — enough for a fourth-place Ivy ranking.
Cornell started off strong, with freshman midfielder Jonah Kagen scoring in the twelfth minute of the first half — the first goal of his collegiate career. Sophomore midfielder Connor McAuslan earned the assist off of a corner kick.
The Red entered the second half with the lead, but before the second minute of the second half, Dartmouth tied the game up with a rebound goal.
Although both sides of the field saw plenty action, the remainder of regulation time was nevertheless scoreless, bringing the game to overtime.
“[I was] fully expecting us to continue in the same vein when the whistle went,” said head coach John Smith. “Unfortunately, we had a poor start to the overtime period and we paid the penalty for it.”
A little over five minutes into overtime, Dartmouth put in a header goal off of a corner kick, cinching the win — and depriving Cornell the chance to leave its home turf on a high note.
“We played against a very experienced team today and we were more than worthy opponents,” Smith said. “In the big games, the difference between winning and losing is often very fine, and today’s game was no different.”
Throughout the game, Dartmouth shot 23 times, while Cornell shot only 11 times — but both teams were evenly matched in terms of shots on goal, with six for each squad. And impressively, the Red’s freshman goalkeeper Andrew Hevener made four saves in his collegiate goalkeeper debut, keeping the game within Cornell’s grasp until the very end.
Although it was the Red’s last home game of the season, there was no senior night at Berman Field. That’s because Cornell won’t graduate anyone from its roster this year, meaning the same group — plus its new recruited class — will take the field next year.
Before that, though, the Red will face one final foe in Columbia. Cornell travels to New York City for a 1 p.m. Saturday kick off, when the Red fights for its first win against the Lions since 2014.
“Almost exactly two years ago, we left the field after the final game of the 2016 season away against Columbia having won only one game,” Smith said. “What this group has done in such a short space of time is nothing short of amazing.”