Men’s soccer travelled to the University of Pennsylvania for its fourth Ivy League game of the season on Saturday. Sophomore forward Kasper Wollstein and the Cornell midfield stood out in this big conference win.
Cornell came away with the win, pushing its record to 9-2-1 on the season, 3-1-0 in the Ivy League. Penn fell to 6-3-4, 1-1-2 Ivy.
Cornell dominated the first half, but found no reward for its efforts despite controlling nearly all of the possession and putting five shots on goal to Penn’s zero.
Penn came out stronger in the second half, but it was Cornell that finally broke through in the 62nd minute after freshman forward Sergio Zapata found himself on the ball on top of the box. Zapata cut in and sent a left-footed shot past the outstretched Penn keeper Phillip Falcon III, but the shot rang off the frame. Junior midfielder Connor Miller was following the shot and found the ball bouncing right to his foot for the tap in on the open net.
Penn would then threaten a few times, namely in the 77th minute. Sophomore defender Aidan Martin played a sloppy backwards pass that left a Penn attacker alone with senior defender Andrew Johnson. Luckily for the Red, the shot trickled right to senior goalkeeper Ryan Friedberg on the ground.
The Red added on in the 84th minute by way of Wollstein. Wollstein dribbled down the left wing to the end line before cutting in, beating his defender and rocketing a shot into the bottom left corner.
The Quakers would get one back in the 90th minute after a scramble in the box. This goal was just the seventh goal conceded by the Red all season, compared to the 31 that it has scored.
The game would end with the score 2-1 in Cornell’s favor.
The central midfielders stood out for the Red in this game, with Miller being all over the pitch as he normally is. Along with Miller, sophomore midfielder Dominik Kolbl has been rock solid for the Red in recent games, being safe with the ball on his feet and tenacious to win possession.
Wollstein also had a notable game with his gorgeous goal and high level offensive production. Wollstein had four shots and put three on net in just 34 minutes played.
In contrast to the central midfield and central defense of Cornell, in which the starters have played almost every minute this season, Cornell has been frequently cycling its forwards and wingers. This allows for the type of production that Wollstein put up in so few minutes by giving players a chance to make more runs on offense and work harder on the press and then subbing out the tired legs.
After the win, the Red currently stands at 32nd in the RPI, the mathematical index that is the primary selection criterion for the NCAA tournament. If this were to stand until the end of the season, the Red would be likely to make the NCAA tournament, but with four regular season games and the Ivy League tournament remaining, the Red have a lot of room to move either up into position for a bye, or down and out of position to make the tournament.
Cornell will now get ready to face Syracuse at 7 p.m. on Berman Field on Tuesday, Oct. 21. The Red and the Orange have had some fantastic matches in the past few years, with each of the last four, dating back to 2022, being decided by one goal. Cornell is 3-1 in these matches, but Syracuse won the one that mattered most, in the round of 16 of the 2022 NCAA tournament, en route to its national championship.
The Orange started the year poorly, struggling against a weak non-conference schedule. But, the Orange have turned it around and are 4-1 in the last five games, with wins against some tough ACC opponents.
