Aggressive Cornell shuts out Quakers

After two opening defeats, the Penn men's soccer team faced Cornell with a chance to turn the season around in the first Ivy League game for both teams. Instead of reversing its past misfortunes, Penn continued its slump, failing to score in the first half for the third consecutive game. Unlike their first two matches, the Quakers also failed to score in the second half en route to a 2-0 defeat. Coach George O'Neill attributed the defeat in part to the lack of aggressiveness his team displayed throughout the first half. "In the first half Cornell came out and played hard," he said. "They wanted to get to more balls than we did." The aggressive play of the Big Red led to a 16-7 shot advantage for the game. Cornell controlled the ball for most of the first half, but due to the strong defensive play of senior Matt Stern and goalie Andrew Kralik, the Big Red was held scoreless until 31 minutes had passed. Junior Rob Elliot was then able to blast a crossing shot past Kralik, off the left goalpost and into the net. The 1-0 advantage would last for most of the game. The Quakers came out with much more emotion in the second half and battled Cornell for every loose ball. Penn was able to control the game for a long time in the second half and get off some hard shots. The Quakers' best opportunity to tie the game came after 10 minutes had expired in the second half. Co-captain Steve Marcinkiewicz dribbled around Big Red defensemen and passed to an open Steve Cohen on the right side. Cohen fired a shot that sailed just to the left. "In the second half we came out sharper," said O'Neill. "We just didn't capitalize." Penn continued to keep the pressure on until seven minutes were left in the game. That's when Big Red senior Adamo Notarantonio dribbled into the box and was tripped up by Alan Waxman, resulting in a penalty shot. Kralik guessed left, but the shot sailed to his right and into the net. O'Neill said the play "finished us off" and called it a "bad decision." Cornell advanced to 3-1, while Penn dropped to 0-3, 0-1 in the Ivy League. O'Neill is concerned about the rest of the season. "It's not the end of the world, but three games is a lot to make up," he said. Marcinkiewicz agreed, saying the first league game is usually "the biggest game of the season." One statistic in which Penn crushed Cornell was fouls. The Quakers nearly doubled the Big Red with a 21-11 advantage. Marcinkiewicz attributed this to frustration and the high level of emotion of a league game. O'Neill thinks the team can improve if the passes into the box are sharper. This would set up more good scoring opportunities. Marcinkiewicz is not as sure how the team can do better. "The guys are out here working hard," he said. "It must be something fundamental."