Men's soccer alumnus talks of practicing with the New York Red Bulls.

This is a busy stretch for the men’s soccer team, as the squad will have played three games from Saturday to Saturday by this weekend. Playing its last nonconference game of 2009 last night under the lights of Berman Field, the Red (5-4-4, 0-1-2 Ivy) received some mixed results, as the Cornell defense held visiting Lafayette (7-5-2) to a scoreless tie. The visiting team, however, outshot the Red, 20-13.

“There was definitely a lot of action,” said Cornell head coach Jaro Zawislan. “It was 0-0, but that game could have been 3-3.”

There is no question about it — men’s soccer forward Matt Bouraee can put the ball in the net. The senior striker out of Manasquan, N.J., has been going about this business successfully for years, leading the Red in goals scored for the past two seasons. This year, however, Bouraee has tried a different approach.

Yesterday, the men’s soccer team needed to fight through the rain to defeat Long Island University by a score of 2-1. The Red (4-3-1) was forced to withstand not only a late charge from the Blackbirds (3-4), but also a constant down-pouring rain that soaked Berman Field.

The Red received standout performances from senior Matt Bouraee and junior Brett Sumpio, as both forwards scored and registered an assist. Bouraee believes that the wet field conditions benefited the Red’s style of play.

Men’s soccer head coach Jaro Zawislan’s return to his old stomping ground of Syracuse may not have unfolded exactly as planned, but there was a silver lining to the long weekend, as the Red (1-1) picked up its first win of the season against Hartwick (1-1-1), and the first of Zawislan’s tenure as coach. A late-game penalty kick gave Syracuse (1-2) the advantage in Saturday night’s matchup, but Cornell would rebound in commanding fashion on Monday night –– shutting out Hartwick by a score of 1-0. In doing so, the Red equaled its win total from last season and snapped an 11-game losing streak dating back to Sept. 21, 2008.

A little over 10 minutes into Sunday’s matchup at Lafayette, junior forward Matt Bouraee gave the men’s soccer team a one-goal lead. The speedy forward, whose natural skills tend to make him a breakaway machine, had to work for it, using several fakeouts and having the good luck of a defender slipping and falling to the ground in his wake.

Bouraee’s first thought after scoring the goal: “Finally.”

It was his first goal of the 2008 season, a season in which Bouraee is expected to build on a standout sophomore season that saw the Manasquan, N.J., import become Cornell’s leading scorer for the year.