The no. 16-ranked Cornell men’s soccer team fell to the no. 12-ranked University of Pennsylvania Quakers 3-2 on Sunday afternoon at Berman Field. The Big Red dropped to 9-2-2, while the Quakers improved to 10-2-1.
The physical tone was set early by both the Big Red and the Quakers. Just seven minutes into the match, there were three yellow-cards assessed, with two going on Cornell and one on the Quakers. The Penn yellow-card by Oliver Pratt proved critical since it led to a Cornell penalty-kick.
Harris would make it count as he notched the sixth successful penalty-kick of his career to give Cornell a 1-0 advantage. The Penn response would come with under 20 seconds remaining in the half, when Joaquin Niehenke’s free-kick managed to find Connor Dawson for a game-tying header.
At the 56:51-mark, Miller shifted and dodged around the Quaker-defense ultimately finding Ka on the opposite side of the net to put the Big Red back in front.
Penn’s push for the equalizer was successful at 73:34, when Stas Korzeniowski found the back of the net from Erickson Sakalosky. Just under ten-minutes later, Brandon Curran cashed-in on a loose ball in front of the net, which would be all that was needed to seal a crucial Ivy League win over Cornell for the Quakers.
“I thought we were unfortunate coming out of today’s game with a loss. It was always going to be a tight game with two good teams going toe-to-toe. I have to give credit to Penn for making the most of the chances they had. We will accept this loss and move on to our next challenge away at Brown next weekend”, John Smith, the Dr. Daniel P. Wood Head Coach of Men’s Soccer said.
Next Up
The Cornell men’s soccer team will continue Ivy League play this week against the Brown University Bears on Saturday, October 26th. Kickoff is slated for 7:00 p.m. at Stevenson-Pincince Field. Game action will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].