Coming off scoring at least three goals in its past five games, Cornell (7-1-1, 2-0 Ivy) was stifled at home by the University of Akron (7-3-2) in a goalless game on Tuesday night.
The Red had reason to be hopeful for this fixture, beating Dartmouth University this past weekend in a 6-2 rout and having a five-game winning streak. Beyond that, senior forward Giorgos Diakos was named Ivy League Offensive player of the week after his two goals and assist on Saturday.
Cornell has only clashed with Akron twice before this year, once in Sept. 2019 and another in 1980, and both times Cornell came up on top in 3-2 double-overtime and overtime victories, respectively.
The game started out fast, with both sides getting the best chances on the counter-attack and quickly moving the ball to the forwards. Neither side could find the final pass, however, as crosses failed to hit the striker and inaccurate passes gave forwards a hard time to get clear-cut looks on goal.
As the game progressed, the teams slowed down the pace of the game, holding onto the ball more and focusing on build-up play. Yet the result was the same, with no real opportunities coming out of it despite numerous attempts.
At the break, Akron had the slight statistical advantage, outshooting Cornell 7-4 and having five corners to Cornell’s none. Even with all these opportunities, the game stayed tied.
Cornell improved on its first half performance after the break, generating more shots but still failing to create anything of meaning. Both defenses held strong, and it became more apparent that the game would be decided by one fateful opportunity.
That pivotal chance came in the final 10 minutes of the match, when sophomore defender Colin Johnson volleyed a perfect through ball into freshman forward Sergio Zapata. As Zapata latched onto the ball and found himself one-on-one with the keeper, Akron defender Daragh Reilly came sliding into the forward, drawing a yellow card and a penalty kick.
Like Cornell’s last penalty kick against Yale on Sept. 28 — which was saved by the keeper — junior captain Connor Miller stepped up to take it. Unfortunately for the Red, the outcome was the same as the last, as Miller struck it toward the bottom-left corner only to be parried by the goalie’s outstretched hand.
Despite a few looks on goal in the waning minutes of a back-and-forth match, the teams held to a 0-0 draw. As the rain picked up, both Akron and Cornell players were seen slipping on the ball, making uncharacteristically sloppy errors. Once again, the Red’s backline, led by senior goalkeeper Ryan Friedberg, put in another strong shift, adding a clean sheet to bring their season tally to six in eight games.
The Red’s goal-scoring woes, which the team will hope were merely a fluke, were uncharacteristic of a squad which has logged consistently impressive offensive performances in the first half of the season. Four different forwards were substituted in to try and break Akron’s backline, yet they still couldn’t find the winning combination.
Cornell looks to get back to its winning ways on Saturday against Princeton University on home turf. The Tigers are on a seven-game winning streak and are on top of the Ivy League table. Streaming is available on ESPN+.
Duncan Park is a Sun Contributor and can be reached at dcp253@cornell.edu.
