Men’s Soccer Defeats Cornell Under the Lights
October 6, 2009
Cortland, NY
On Tuesday evening, October 6th, the Cortland State red dragons soccer team had a league match under the lights against Cornell’s club team. This was a match up of two top teams in the league standings and the winner of this match very well could be the winner of the league. With a record of 1-1-1, SUNY Cortland sat right behind Cornell in the standings prior to this match. The first half of play was a back and forth affair, Cornell appeared to be keeping good possession of the ball while Cortland had created a few chances of their own. Around the 20th minute of play, Cortland was awarded a corner kick down the left side of the field. Tom Baker lined up the kick and swung the ball into the far post position of the goal. The ball was just out of the Cornell goal keepers reach and was sent into the back of the net by Peter Ostrander on a sliding volley. The score now was in favor of Cortland 1-0 and seemed to ignite their play as well. With momentum on their side Cortland began to take control for the remainder of the half but didn’t finish on the numerous chances the had created. With the half winding down, Cornell finished on one of their opportunities inside the box and tied the game at 1-1.
A disappointing end to a well played first half didn’t stop the Cortland players from coming back and playing a solid 2nd half. At the 55th minute, Ostrander struck again when he finished a quick throw-in pass from Brendan Wells. This pass lead Ostrander to a break away with the Cornell keeper and he calmly put the ball into the back of the net to break the tie at 2-1. Later, in the 65th minute, Tom Baker got into the action for Cortland when he scored on a 18 yard shot that deflected into the goal and gave Cortland a 3-1 lead. The second half was controlled by SUNY Cortland but Cornell gave a comeback effort near the end of the match. With 10 minutes remaining, Cornell again took advantage of their opportunity and drilled a shot into the back of the net slimming the lead to 3-2. The last 10 minutes of the game was spent on Cortland’s half of the field as Cornell forced pressure on its defense. The threatening attacks of Cornell weren’t enough as they came up short and the game ended at 3-2 giving Cortland its second win in the league. With the victory Cortland moves to 2-1-1 and with the win against Cornell boosts them into what looks to be a number one seed in the league tournament.
Box Score:
Cortland: Peter Ostrander: 2-0, Tom Baker: 1-1, Brendan Wells 0-1
written and contributed by Mike Porter
