The men’s soccer team is now scoreless in its last 218 minutes of play, stretching over a three-game span. The most recent 90 minutes of the current scoring drought came in Saturday’s 1-0 loss at home to No. 18 Brown when Bears freshman forward Thomas McNamara scored in the 72nd minute to give his team the victory.

After starting his first game of the year on Tuesday in a 0-0 draw against Lafayette, Red freshman goaltender Rick Pflasterer got the nod once again for Saturday evening’s match. Pflasterer was forced into action early, making all of his game total five saves in the first half.

“[Pflasterer’s] composure and command of the box has been very impressive,” said head coach Jaro Zawislan. “He is coming out with presence and authority for the crosses. His distribution is very good for both on the ground goal-kicks and punts. He is definitely a very good shot blocker, and he has proven that over the past couple of games.”

Brown outshot the Red 8-4 in the first half, but neither team was able to get on the board. Brown junior goalie Paul Grandstand made two saves in the game to earn his fourth shutout of the season. Zawislan explained that Brown had an edge in the first half, as the Bears did an excellent job of spreading their attack throughout the field.Scotty doesn't know: The Red has been held scoreless for 218 minutes.

“One thing that Brown did, especially in the first half, and again maybe we gave them too much space and time, was switching the field they play,” Zawislan said. “We were trying to lock them in on one side but they were able to switch the field of play and open up the play on the other flank. That had us chasing the ball a little too much for my liking and that allowed for Brown to break for opportunities.”

The 0-0 deadlock was finally broken in the 72nd minute as Bears sophomore Sean Rosa sent a soaring cross from the right side of the net over to a streaking McNamara. The freshman McNamara calmly collected the pass and hammered the ball into the back of the net, passed a sprawling Pflasterer.

Despite some aggressive play in the second half in pursuit of the equalizer, the Red was unable to get a ball by Grandstand. In fact, despite outshooting Brown in the second half, Cornell was unable to get one of its second-half shots on net.

The Red’s recent offensive struggles come after the team scored 18 goals in its first 12 games. Moreover, the Red’s offensive attack has been extremely balanced, with those 18 goals coming from 10 different players. Nevertheless, the squad’s collective finishing ability has gone missing in its last two games. Senior forward Matt Bouraee believes that teams have caught on to the Red’s offensive strengths and are making adjustments accordingly.

“As time goes on, other teams understand that our forte is running in behind the defense onto the long ball provided by the midfield or the defense, and having the forwards beat the defense with speed going to the goal,” Bouraee said. “Teams have been reading that recently and the defense has been dropping off and the goalie has been standing further off the line than he normally would to pick off long balls.”

The Cornell players and coaches knew that they would be in for a tough contest against a No. 18 Brown team that has lost just one game so far this season.

“They are very good at keeping possession, working together as a team, and making sure they were supporting whoever had the ball with options for passing,” Bouraee said. “We didn’t keep up with the speed and I think that the possession rate was in their favor. We had a couple chances that we didn’t finish, and they had even more chances than we had. They are a very good team –– well-coached and good players.”

Cornell (5-5-4, 0-2-2 Ivy) is still searching for its first Ivy win and has just three more league games to play this year, as the squad hopes to avoid a second consecutive year of winless Ivy play. Zawislan explained that the Ivy League is extraordinarily competitive and highly-skilled this year. Indeed, Harvard, Dartmouth and Brown are currently all ranked in the top 20 of NCAA Division I.

“With regards to the Ivy League season, I think the team has shown character as a unit and individually as players,” Zawislan said. “We are not looking at what happened in the past or ahead of our next game. The Ivy League this year is as strong as ever, if not the strongest in the history of Ivy League men’s soccer. This is one of the premier men’s soccer conferences in the country and being able to compete here means that you are able to compete nationally. We have quality results already, but of course everybody is going after the first win, there is no question about that.”