Cornell junior midfielder Peter Lynch made an impressive return to his native state as his header early in the first half was enough for a 1-0 victory over the Penn men's soccer team on Saturday afternoon.
In the 11th minute, the Fort Washington, Pa., native punched home a header to the top left corner of the net to give the Big Red the early advantage in the Ivy League opener for both squads.
"It's a play we worked on a little bit in practice, and it's my job to stay out in the back post and if it gets through, then I try and put a head on it," Lynch said. "Luckily, it got through and it came to me and I just tried to head it on goal."
In spite of Lynch's early score, the Quakers (2-3-2, 0-1 Ivy) appeared to have the advantage over Cornell (4-3, 1-0) in possession, with most action taking place outside of Penn's defensive third.
However, after the early deficit, the Quakers were unable to notch an equalizer as Cornell concentrated on its defensive effort.
"I think then we woke up, but by that time they were one goal up, so they could afford to pack the defense and we were running into five or six guys in the back," sophomore forward Richard Brushett said.
Penn's best scoring chance occurred on a controversial play in the final minute of the first half.
On the play, sophomore midfielder John Rhodes chipped the ball into the 18-yard box to Brushett, who got past Cornell goalkeeper David Mahoney.
Brushett got a shot off on goal, which appeared to deflect off a Cornell defender's palm as he stood in front of the net. No infraction was called, and the Quakers headed into halftime down 1-0.
Entering the second half, Penn coach Rudy Fuller felt comfortable with his team's style of play.
"We felt like we were creating chances on them, and if we kept going that those chances would eventually go in," Fuller said. "We felt that if we kept our foot on the pedal that the goals were going to come."
Despite a consistent presence in Cornell's side of the field for the final 45 minutes of play, the Quakers were unable to net the tying goal.
"It's a tough loss," Rhodes said. "I thought we played a lot better than they did. We worked hard for all 90 minutes, but we just didn't convert a goal."
On the whole, Fuller was content with the way his team played.
"I believe the team can feel good about how they played the game," Fuller said. "But they didn't get the result, so they're disappointed."
The Quakers will look to rebound against Philly Soccer 7 rival Philadelphia University on Wednesday before they resume Ivy League play on Saturday at Columbia.
"We just have to use this loss as momentum," Rhodes said, "and push on and use it as motivation for the next game."
