Men's Soccer Salvages Deadlock Against Cornell

Under sunny skies Saturday afternoon, the Harvard men's soccer team battled a tough Cornell squad to a 2-2 tie at Cornell's Berman Field in Ithaca, New York.

Harvard (3-4-3, 1-1-2 Ivy) was coming off a razor-sharp 5-0 victory over a powerhouse Boston University team at Ohiri Field a week earlier.

"We had a good vibe going against B.U.," said sophomore back Chinezi Chijioke. "We had been practicing well all week and hoped for a similar performance, but you can't expect to play that well every game."

"I think the vibe carried through to this game," said sophomore midfielder Will Hench. "We had a lot of confidence coming in [to the Cornell game], but we didn't finish on some chances and that slowed our momentum."

Harvard jumped out ahead at 15:39 on Hench's goal. Captain Tom McLaughlin crossed the ball to Hench in front of the right side of the goal, and Hench launched a shot toward the far lower corner. The ball got past Cornell's sophomore keeper Andrew Barton and caromed off the goalpost and into the back of the net.

That goal carried Harvard to the half with a 1-0 advantage.

In the second half, No. 23 Cornell (5-2-3, 1-1-1) opened the scoring at 59:30 when freshman striker Richard Stimpson netted his seventh goal of the year, knotting the score at one.

The Crimson quickly countered 1:43 later when Chijioke deposited his first goal of the year past Barton off of Hench's corner kick. Freshman Ryan Kelly had missed an attempted header and Chijioke found himself in perfect position to finish the play.

"Will crossed a beautiful ball on the corner kick," Chijioke said. "I just went up for it and got a foot on it. I was on the ground and people started screaming, so I figured it must have gone in."

The game became destined for overtime, however, at the 66:53 mark when Cornell sophomore Lewis Vaughn slipped a shot past Harvard junior keeper Jordan Dupuis.

In the two overtime periods, the teams took the intensity up a notch and played evenly. Cornell took 10 overtime shots to Harvard's nine, but neither team could score the winning goal.

"Overtime is always tough," Dupuis said. "You've been playing for so long that everybody gets tired and more lanes open up. Both teams had a couple of good chances, but nobody could get the ball into the net."

"It was a very physical game," Chijioke said. "Our execution wasn't what it had been against B.U., but we had a lot of scoring chances."

"We just had more individual mistakes in this game," Hench added. "Against B.U. we had very few mistakes."

Standing at 1-1-2 in the Ivy League, the team feels it's in a must-win situation. Trailing league leaders Dartmouth, Princeton and Yale, the team really wanted a victory against Cornell.

"If our backs were against the wall before, we're cornered now," Chijioke said.

"We have no choice but to win. Our destiny is not really in our own hands now, but we can certainly help ourselves with a few more league wins."

The Crimson next face Northeastern Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m. at Ohiri Field.

"It should be a tough game, and it's a big game even if it doesn't carry the history of the B.U. game," Dupuis said. "We haven't played Northeastern since 1929."

"They play a real physical game, but we need to look skillful," Hench said. "I expect a BU-type effort."

Harvard faces its next Ivy challenge at noon on Saturday, at home against Princeton. The importance of that matchup is not lost on the players.

"The only result of theirs that I know of is that they beat Cornell 5-0," Dupuis said. "They're always a tough Ivy rival."

"We gotta win," Chijioke said.

HARVARD/CORNELL, TIE at Ithaca, N.Y.Harvard  1  1  0  0  --  2Cornell  0  2  0  0  --  

In the two overtime periods, the teams took the intensity up a notch and played evenly. Cornell took 10 overtime shots to Harvard's nine, but neither team could score the winning goal.

"Overtime is always tough," Dupuis said. "You've been playing for so long that everybody gets tired and more lanes open up. Both teams had a couple of good chances, but nobody could get the ball into the net."

"It was a very physical game," Chijioke said. "Our execution wasn't what it had been against B.U., but we had a lot of scoring chances."

"We just had more individual mistakes in this game," Hench added. "Against B.U. we had very few mistakes."

Standing at 1-1-2 in the Ivy League, the team feels it's in a must-win situation. Trailing league leaders Dartmouth, Princeton and Yale, the team really wanted a victory against Cornell.

"If our backs were against the wall before, we're cornered now," Chijioke said.

"We have no choice but to win. Our destiny is not really in our own hands now, but we can certainly help ourselves with a few more league wins."

The Crimson next face Northeastern Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m. at Ohiri Field.

"It should be a tough game, and it's a big game even if it doesn't carry the history of the B.U. game," Dupuis said. "We haven't played Northeastern since 1929."

"They play a real physical game, but we need to look skillful," Hench said. "I expect a BU-type effort."

Harvard faces its next Ivy challenge at noon on Saturday, at home against Princeton. The importance of that matchup is not lost on the players.

"The only result of theirs that I know of is that they beat Cornell 5-0," Dupuis said. "They're always a tough Ivy rival."

"We gotta win," Chijioke said.

HARVARD/CORNELL, TIE at Ithaca, N.Y.Harvard  1  1  0  0  --  2Cornell  0  2  0  0  --