“Athletic competition.” “Tough game.” “Battle.” These are the types of phrases used by members of the men’s soccer team to describe Cornell’s Princeton matchup on Saturday — a 1-1 tie after a double-overtime slugfest in the New Jersey rain on Halloween night.

Though the tie keeps the Red (5-4-5, 0-2-3 Ivy) firmly established at the bottom of the Ivy standings, it was a pleasant surprise that the team was able to stay so close with a Tiger squad (7-5-3, 2-2-1) that was ranked No. 10 in the nation at the time. ‘Sumpthing’ else: Junior utility man Brett Sumpio (13) was the catalyst behind senior forward Matt Bouraee’s game-tying goal against Princeton in the 70th minute on Saturday.

The home team got on the board first, however, with a rebound off a set piece in the 40th minute. Like the rest of the game, the goal was nothing pretty to look at.

“It’s wasn’t a clean, gorgeous goal that you see on the [highlights],” said junior defender Adam Hardie, who started on Saturday for the Red.

Josh Walburn’s kick from the top of the 18-yard box got through Cornell’s four-man wall, but it was knocked away by the Red’s rookie goalkeeper, Rick Pflasterer. After a scuffle in front of the goal, Princeton sophomore Antoine Hoppenot was eventually able to chip the ball in and give the Tigers the lead.

“It was a low shot across the top of the six-yard box,” Pflasterer said. “I got an initial foot on it, but everyone was scrambling for it and they got it in.”

The team watched video of the goal after the game, and Hardie said that there wasn’t much else that Pflasterer or the Red could have done to avoid the goal.

“We set up a wall and marked up men,” Hardie said, “and they basically just shot it: a low fast shot skipping off the ground.”

The wet conditions had a tangible effect on the style in which the game was played, speeding up the game at times. Hardie described the two teams as “playing more congestion-based soccer, the chicken run kind of soccer.”

“They were really good on the ground,” Pflasterer said. “They connected a lot of passes. They weren’t just shooting long balls and running to catch up with them. … They had good ball skills. It creates a challenge when you’re trying to defend a team like that.”

Senior forward Matt Bouraee explained Cornell’s strategy to overcome the Princeton defense. “We had a lot of shots from long distance, trying to put pressure on the goalie,” he said. “In those conditions where it’s wet and the ball accelerates off the grass, maybe the ball slips out of the goalie’s hands, maybe he even slips himself. But [Princeton’s goalie] was able to handle them. He had more trouble with shots inside the box.”

The Tigers outshot the Red in the first half, 8-3, before evening it up with a 6-6 total in the second half. It took a little more time for Cornell to find its footing on offense, but the Red finally found it in the 70th minute, with the fourth goal of the season from Bouraee.

Hardie, Cornell’s right back, cleared the ball out to Bouraee in the offensive third. Streaking down the left side, the senior then teamed up with junior forward Brett Sumpio on the right to outplay the Princeton defense.

“Sumpio did a kind of give-and-go combination with me,” Bouraee said. “He was running down the end line and pulled the defender to him. I found myself one-on-one with the goalie and put it through his legs.”

Princeton goalkeeper Sean Lynch finished with seven saves, while Pflasterer finished with 10.

“It was more of an athletic competition [than a soccer game], in my opinion,” Bouraee said. “Not too much passing and overall flow — it was more about who wanted it more. People [were] running down the field to get to the ball first. On every play, there was a lot of pushing, slide tackling and a lot of hitting.”

Five yellow cards were shown in the match, including against both teams’ goal scorers in the final minutes of overtime.