M. Soccer drops one to Cornell

The Penn men's soccer team went into Saturday's Ivy League opener against Cornell hoping to rid itself of the memory of last year's 1-6 league record and to begin writing a new and better chapter. Instead, all the Quakers came away with was the same old story. Just as they were last season and in last week's season opener again St. Joseph's, missed opportunities and one or two defensive lapses were the keys to Penn's (0-1 Ivy League, 1-2) downfall. They enabled Cornell (1-0, 3-0), which turned in a less-than-stellar performance itself, to grab a 2-0 victory and deny new Penn coach George O'Neill his first Ivy League victory. "I don't think we played as well as we could play," O'Neill said. "We had some clear-cut chances but we didn't take them and they certainly punished us for the couple of mistakes we made. [The players] always try hard, but they made these mental mistakes again." After a scoreless first half, Penn's offense came out of the locker room with newfound energy. Pressing with more vigor than it had in the first half, the Quaker attack set up sophomore forward Pat Larco for an open shot up top in front of the net. Larco was unable to convert, sending the shot wide. Given that reprieve, the Big Red resumed their own attack and the teams continued to battle to a standstill until just over 14 minutes remained. A Penn infiltration was stymied and Cornell brought the ball back out. When the Quaker midfield failed to drop back in time to help, the Big Red had a two-on-one opportunity. The ball was dropped off to Cornell forward Alan Vaughn who blasted it past Penn sophomore goalie Andrew Kralik from 25 yards out. Penn stepped up its attack yet another notch after the goal. With seven minutes remaining, the ball was centered in to an open Pat Brannigan. The sophomore midfielder put the ball on goal, but it was an easy save for Cornell goalie Louis Bergholz. "We missed chances we had to score," senior forward Kossouth Bradford said. "We have to finish those. That makes all the difference right there. It's frustrating because we're better than that, and because even though we didn't play that well, we still had a chance to win the game." With a minute to go in the game, Cornell put the nail in the coffin when forward Adam Notarantonio eluded Penn junior Michael Leo and sophomore Greg Sexton and slid the ball right by Kralik. It was a sad ending for a defense that played quite well in the second half – with the exception of the lapse that allowed the first goal. Despite the fact that Cornell won the game in the second half, Penn's all-around performance was much improved over its play in the first half. During the first 45 minutes of play, the Quakers were unable to get anything going on offense, and the score was tied only because the Big Red's play was equally sloppy. The Quakers woke up in the second half, but it wasn't quite enough. So now it's more or less back to the drawing board for a team that had momentum in its corner after an impressive 4-1 win over Villanova in its second game of the season. The Quakers know they must come out with a crisper performance if they are to have a chance against the rest of the Ivy League. "Hopefully we'll rebound and get our confidence back," Bradford said. "Right now everyone's frustrated and disappointed in the team and in themselves because we all let down." That seems similar to what the Quakers found themselves saying during most of last season. This season is still young and there is plenty of time for the team to rebound. But for right now, its the same old story.