Men’s soccer’s head coach John Smith became the program’s leader in coaching wins on Saturday against Western Michigan University after capturing his 92nd win in his 10th season with the team. His predecessor, Jack Writer, held the record since 1988 after 13 seasons with the Red.
Although coach Smith was not present at Tuesday’s match against Binghamton (1-4-3, 0-0-0 America East), Cornell (4-2-0, 0-0-0 Ivy League) decided to extend its winning streak after a dominant performance against the Bearcats. The Red defeated Binghamton 3-1, scoring all three of their goals in the first half.
Sophomore forward Sergio Zapata got the scoring started after a pass from senior midfielder and captain Connor Miller set Zapata up for a shot that found its way to the bottom left corner of the net.
“[Zapata] pulled off the center back, opened a really good lane for himself, and took it in his path and struck it confidently,” Miller said.
Zapata was tied for Cornell’s highest goal scorer of the season last year and finally got his name on the scoreboard. Miller also recorded his first assist of the season.
After the first goal by Cornell, the match seemed to even out more. Binghamton’s Marcus Nahim truly tested the Cornell back line, but junior goalkeeper Filip Versterre, ultimately made the save, preserving Cornell’s lead.
“Our goalkeeper made a big save, one nil up on the one-v-one," said associate head coach Luke Staats. “If they [would] have scored that, it’[d] be a different game, so a good save by Filip to keep us in the game.”
In the 31st minute, Cornell struck back with a goal to double its lead after a rebounded cross by Miller into the box found the head of freshman defender Lennon Harrington to reach the back of the net.
“[It] was just a recycled corner," Miller said. "We had guys left up top and I figured I’d put it in a dangerous area and see what happened. Props to Lennon for getting to the back post and tapping it in.”
Cornell’s third goal also came from a first-time goal scorer for the season, junior forward Nate Hovan. In the final minutes of the first half, sophomore forward Calvin Momanyi set up Hovan, who blasted a shot into the top corner to seal a 3-0 lead.
For the next 45 minutes, Cornell did not take its foot off the pedal. Regardless, the Bearcats were still motivated to find at least one goal before heading home.
“In the second half, I think we were sloppy. We didn’t play up to our standard and we should have put the game to bed earlier,” Staats said. “We gave the ball away too easily. We lost it and put them in situations that were countering us.”
In the 84th minute, Binghamton finally found a breakthrough and walked away with a goal. Redshirt sophomore Ryan Conti found his way through the Cornell defense to get a shot off his left foot into the lower right corner to make it 3-1.
In the end, the game got increasingly physical as Binghamton grew more frustrated with the Red, but Cornell was able to walk away with a comfortable win despite some mistakes in the second half.
The matchup against Binghamton signaled the last out-of-conference game before the Red's first Ivy League game this Saturday.
“I think I'm most excited to start the journey,” Miller said. “I think the goals for this team are lofty and they include winning the Ivy League regular season [and] winning the Ivy League tournament.”
The Red will play at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Berman Field against Harvard University. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
