Talk about saving the best for last. Playing in its final regular season game of 2009, the men’s soccer team notched its first Ivy League victory on Saturday against Columbia (4-12-1, 2-5 Ivy), thanks to senior Matt Bouraee’s game-winning goal in overtime. With the win, Cornell (6-6-5, 1-3-3 Ivy) finishes at .500 for the first time since 2001 –– the minimum requirement for becoming NCAA at-large bid eligible.

Celebrating Senior Day at Berman Field, it was highly fitting that the difference-maker in the 1-0 contest featured a tag-teamed effort by Bouraee and fellow classmate Matt Devitt, who contributed the assist.

“I kind of had a feeling it was going to happen,” said J.J. Bain, another Red senior. “I just thought this game wasn’t going to be over in 90 minutes.” Storybook ending: Playing his last game as a member of Cornell soccer, senior Matt Bouraee certainly made it count, scoring the game-winning goal in overtime on Saturday at Berman Field.

Both teams came out of the gates firing, creating plenty of scoring opportunities early on in the first half. However, some dazzling stops by Columbia goalkeeper Alexander Aurrichio and Cornell’s own Rick Pflasterer prevented either squad from seizing an advantage.

The Red’s game plan heading into every one of this season’s contests has been to come up the field and high-pressure the opposing team. Saturday’s matchup was no exception. According to head coach Jaro Zawislan, “The idea initially was that we wouldn’t be sitting back, or sitting even in the half or so. We’d go after [Columbia] with the high pressure, [being] pretty aggressive but also creating quick opportunities in their half of the field by regaining possession.”

In fact, Cornell’s unrelenting play, both on the offensive and defensive end, made all the difference, as in the second half the Red was able to gradually wear down its opponent.

“We competed very hard. ... We really out-worked them at times,” Devitt said. “We were first to balls. ... We did a lot of the little things right in the second half,”

Heading into overtime, rather than change its tactical approach, according to Zawislan his team merely raised its level of play on the field; this adjustment, coupled with the Red’s ability to capitalize on Columbia’s weariness, enabled Cornell to, in Bain’s words, “take over the game” in overtime –– paving the way for the Matt-and-Matt show.

Three minutes and 18 seconds into the overtime period, Devitt directed a cross to Bouraee, who promptly fired the ball to the back post for his team-leading fifth goal of the season.

Immediately after this clutch performance, Bouraee tore off his shirt and jumped into the outstretched arms of the adoring fans who had stuck around to see the end of this marathon contest.

“I think that was the highlight of my soccer career, and actually my life,” Bouraee said. “Scoring in the last game, in overtime in front of the 0-0 crowd –– a crowd that’s really anxious for a goal ... I’ll remember that for the rest of my life.”

Cornell outshot Columbia 18-12 on the day, with Bouraee and freshman Ben Kenyon sharing the role of aggressor –– contributing five shots each. Aurrichio had eight saves in taking the loss for the Lions; meanwhile, Pflasterer, a freshman, had five saves en route to his second shutout of the season. Although Columbia bettered the Red in corner kicks, 5-2, the Lions failed to convert any of these opportunities.

“Columbia is very good offensively. It’s tough to control them, and I think that our defense acknowledged how athletic they were and used their mind to counter [their] forwards’ athleticism,” Bouraee said. “It worked perfectly.”

Indeed, the Red defense managed to effectively neutralize the forward combination of junior Bayo Adafin and senior James Prince –– the Lions’ leading scorers.

Zawislan prided his team on the fact that it never lost two games in a row, displaying its knack for having a short memory and preserving the “Let’s get a win” mentality heading into every contest. Today, Cornell will find out if it has been awarded an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament. Although the coach acknowledged that the odds are slim, he intends to keep training his players over the next couple days. ­­­

“We did our part to become eligible for selection,” Zawislan said. “We’ll let someone else decide when our season’s over.”