A 21 second stretch provided all the offense this past Saturday as men’s soccer took a decisive 2-0 victory. After a scoreless first half, Cornell went back-to-back in the 55th minute to break the tie. The Red remained in total control over St. Joseph’s (0-2-2) from start to finish, outshooting the Hawks 21-5 over the course of the contest.
After a successful West Coast trip, in which the team defeated UC Santa Barbara (3-1-1) and UC Irvine (0-4-1) the Red (3-0-0) entered its match looking to start the season 3-0 for the first time since 2018.
The Red showed no signs of jetlag as it opened up at kickoff. Despite not scoring in the first half, Cornell continuously applied pressure on the Hawks’ defense, firing 10 shots. On the back end, the defense held St. Joseph’s fully in check, allowing just three shots, none of which were on goal. Nevertheless, the match remained tied at zero heading to the final 45.
The tide turned in the second half, when the Red’s pressure finally paid off. A strong cross put Cornell on the attack in the Hawks’ box. This led to a give-and-go between senior defender Connor Drought and fifth year forward Emeka Eneli which pushed the ball up to the goal line.
Drought made a sliding cross in front of the goal, which deflected off a Hawks’ defender and landed on the chest of junior defender Kisa Kiingi. Controlling the ball inside the 18-yard box, Kiingi had more than enough room to belt a shot into the bottom right corner of the net. The Red got its first lead of the day off of Kiingi’s first collegiate goal.
The celebration had barely ended before Cornell was once again pushing the envelope. Seconds after the ensuing tip, an unwise cross from the Hawks was intercepted by sophomore forward Alioune Ka. From there it was off to the races, as Ka fed it to Eneli.
Eneli found freshman midfielder Westin Carnevale sprinting up the left flank, and with just the keeper to beat, Carnevale went bar down on the near side. It was Carnevale’s first goal of his young career, and it gave the Red some insurance in the second half.
The Red’s two goals proved to be more than enough to secure the match. Freshman goalkeeper Ryan Friedberg had a relatively stress-free evening, as he faced only two shots in the second half. The Hawks failed to secure a single shot on goal, allowing Friedberg to secure his second straight clean sheet.
The Red returns to Ithaca for its home opener on Tuesday at Berman Field against the University of Vermont (3-1-1). The game will be available for live streaming on ESPN+.