Men’s soccer headed into the most important part of its season this Saturday: Ivy League play. This team has a countless number of goals they would like to reach and an overall experienced team to help them achieve those goals. This showed when it played the Harvard Crimson (1-5-1, 0-1-0 Ivy).
Defense
Cornell’s defense starts off strong with the new transfer, junior goalkeeper Filip Versterre. Versterre started all 35 games across his two seasons with the Gamecocks. He totaled 108 saves, a .679 save percentage, seven shutouts and 1.48 goals-against average. Versterre has already proven vital for the Red’s defense. After his debut, he won Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week for the season-opening win against Marist University where he posted his first clean sheet of the season.
Head coach John Smith had the task of looking for a replacement for the center back position since Andrew Johnson ’26 graduated. Junior defenders Justin Melly and Griffin Eck have started every game so far, establishing their defensive dynamic throughout the pre-season.
Melly has already established his presence on the back line, starting 18 games his freshmen year and playing in all 20 matches his sophomore year.
Eck appeared in a total of 5 matches through his first two years at Cornell, making this season his first to start a game and play all 90 minutes.
The Red have a diverse range of experience levels on the backline and it is something to watch out for especially as the team reaches closer to playoff season.
Midfield
Cornell has a strong midfield in senior captain midfielder Connor Miller. Miller is currently the Red’s highest goalscorer with 3 goals. Miller has also proven to be a clutch player so far this season. In a tied game against the University of California, Santa Barbara (4-3-2, 0-0-0 Big West) Miller netted the go ahead goal for Cornell, giving the team their first win against a ranked team for the season.
“In my opinion, [Miller’s] the best central midfielder in the country at the college level,” coach Smith said. “Two time All-American, he’s consistently extremely good, which is the hardest thing in life in general, is to be consistent.”
Miller currently sits on the Hermann Trophy Watchlist, an accolade that has never been won by a Cornell player in the program’s history.
Although Miller is very talented, he does not run the midfield on his own. Junior midfielder Dominik Kolbl aids in gapping the defense and midfield together in the 6 position. Kolbl has started every game thus far this season and brings more experience on the team.
A new addition to the defense and midfield has been freshman defender and midfielder Lennon Harrington. Harrington has started the season at the full-back position, sometimes getting involved in the attack as well. Harrington has already recorded two goals in the opening six matches thus far.
Senior midfielder Liam May has also contributed to wins for the Red, scoring twice and slotting one assist. May is also a versatile player who has moved back into a defensive position if needed by the team.
Cornell’s midfield does a good job of establishing its presence defensively and offensively, truly filling in the gap between the forwards and backline.
Forwards
Cornell (5-2-0, 1-0-0 Ivy) has a versatile number of options in this position. Not only does Cornell have goalscorers in their front three, but playmakers as well.
Sophomore forward Sergio Zapata was tied for Cornell’s highest goal scorers last year, but currently holds the record for most assists this season with 3. Zapata also scored his first of the season this past Tuesday against Binghamton.
The Red also have experienced senior forward Adam Schaban. Schaban has been a balanced player in terms of goalscoring and play making, scoring 4 goals last year with 3 assists to pair with it.
The Red have options coming off the bench as well. As one of the taller members of the team, junior forward Kasper Wollstein provided four goals for Cornell last season and has seen minutes in every match thus far.
Cornell is not lacking in forwards and has proven that averaging 2.0 goals per game to open the season.
Ivy League Tournament
Coach Smith may have the most wins in the program’s history, but he is hoping that the wins from this season will result in silverware.
“The goal each year is to win it,” Smith said. “It’s been the one thing that has eluded us. We haven’t had that taste of any silverware up until this point.”
Cornell tied Harvard last year in a scoreless match, ultimately scrapping any chances of being the No. 1 seed and hosting the Ivy League Tournament.
“The ability to start [the journey] on Saturday is huge and is exciting,” Miller said prior to the Red’s win over the Crimson. “Especially considering the result against Harvard last year. I think it’s a chance to…overwrite a bad performance last year and really start off on the right foot.”
The Red also have an opportunity to overwrite last year’s performances against No. 23 ranked Princeton (5-2-2, 0-1-0 Ivy). Princeton defeated Cornell twice by the same scoreline last season, one of the matches being the Ivy League Tournament final, something the team hopes to avenge.
Besides the freshmen, everybody on this squad remembers the taste in their mouth from finishing second in the Ivy League tournament to returning champions, Princeton.
“I’ve always said, it’s never really been a team that’s based on the individual,” Smith said. “So much of what makes us good is that as a group, they just have a work ethic, they have a mentality that’s fairly relentless, and I think that’s what makes the team special and different.”
