Doubleheader, double loss. Penn men’s soccer fell 2-1 against Cornell, the same outcome as Penn women’s soccer earlier in the afternoon.
To kick off the second half of the team’s Ivy play, Penn men’s soccer (6-3-4, 1-1-2 Ivy) faced off against Cornell (9-2-1, 3-1 Ivy). Both teams entered Rhodes Field after dominant non-conference victories that showcased their full offensive firepower: Penn triumphed 6-1 over William and Mary, while Cornell downed Colgate 5-0. On Saturday, the Quaker offense struggled to find a mark at the net, totaling only three shots on goal compared to the Big Red’s eight.
“Cornell did a good job of working the game in a certain way to basically suffocate a lot of what we've been doing well through the season,” coach Brian Gil said.
The Quakers were off to a slow start in the first half after accumulating two fouls in the first two minutes. The momentum continuously shifted between Penn and Cornell as both teams entered a defensive stalemate. In the 22nd minute, Cornell forward Blake Donahue took the first shot on goal of the game, but senior goalkeeper Phillip Falcon III notched the save.
In the 38th minute, captain and junior midfielder Jack-Ryan Jeremiah was substituted in for the first time since his injury against Villanova earlier in the season in an attempt to fire up the offense. Jeremiah earned first team All-Ivy Honors last season. His return brought strength and experience to Penn’s offense, but Jeremiah and the team were unable to notch any shots on goal in the remainder of the half.
“A guy like [Jack-Ryan] is super important to our team. … His quality as a player is undoubted, and so to get him back in the lineup certainly means a lot to the group,” Gil said.
Falcon continued to make heroic saves, totalling five by the end of the first period. In the final two minutes of the half, Falcon blocked three back-to-back shots on goal from the Big Red to keep them scoreless. Falcon ended the evening with six saves, tying his season-high performance against William & Mary just one week prior.
“They were definitely gunning for it … and getting a bunch of chances,” Falcon said. “They were picking up a lot of second balls, which was letting them stay in our half a little bit [and] putting us under it.”
Taking to the field after halftime, the Quaker defense kept the Big Red at a distance, but this soon began to change. Sixteen minutes into the half, Cornell midfielder Connor Miller broke through the Quaker defense by scoring from an off-target shot from Cornell forward Sergio Zapata.
In the 76th minute of play, sophomore midfielder Marco Bottene made the team's first shot at goal of the half, but it was deflected. Though awarded two free kicks off of fouls just three minutes later, the Quakers weren’t able to find another shot at goal. The dagger came in the 83rd minute where Cornell forward Kasper Wollstein banked the ball into the bottom left of the net.
The Quakers wouldn’t go out scoreless, though. After another attempt at a goal with just under four minutes of play, the Quakers found their first point of the night from Bottene, scoring with just 54 seconds left in the game. This was Bottene’s second goal of the season. Though Bottene was awarded a free kick, he was unable to score again as the game came to a close.
“From Marco's perspective and from the team's perspective … it gives us a chance as we're closing out the match,” Gil said. “For Marco specifically, that gives him some confidence in front of [the] goal.”
Penn men’s soccer is looking to finish the Ivy season strong and return to the Ivy tournament for the third-straight season. The Quakers will face Dartmouth on the road on Oct. 25.
“Going [into] Dartmouth, I think we just have to continue to find our groove and where we need to be … going into these final games,” Falcon said.
