Cornell Upsets #11 Men’s Soccer in Overtime

By James Groh

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Cornell upsets #11 Syracuse men’s soccer 1-0 in overtime on Tuesday.

The win was special for the Big Red: it’s the first time it had beaten the Orange since 2001. No one had more of a significant night as Cornell’s Ryan Hill. In his first game of the season for Cornell, he scored the game winning goal in the 98th minute.

The play started off on a thrown in. Forward Charles Touche laid the ball off for Tyler Bagley on a half volley. Bagley then played a through ball on his first touch to Hill who one-timed it beneath goalkeeper Hendrik Hilpert’s legs, and into the back of the net. During the entire sequence, three players touched the ball a combined total of four times.

It was a tough game for the Orange as it had a handful of good opportunities, but were unable to capitalize. SU had five more corners than the Cornell, but weren’t able to make the most of its opportunities.

“We had 11 corner kicks,” said head coach Ian McIntyre. “We hit the post. We had two (sic) the best two chances in the second half. We had our opportunities tonight, but we just didn’t take them.”

Cornell got the first two shots of the game, but neither truly tested Syracuse goalie Hendrik Hilpert.

The Orange responded with back-to-back corners. The failed free kicks would turn out to be a symbol for the Syracuse offense as it failed to make a meaningful connection on any of its 11 corners.

Syracuse had to good chances five minutes apart in the first half. The first came off a shot deflected by a Cornell defender. The ball landed directly at Jonathan Hagman’s feet. He drilled a ball low and hard towards the goal, but it ricocheted off the post.

Minutes later, Tajon Buchanan received a dangerous threw ball at the top of the 18-yard box. He took a touch and tried to chip the keeper, but the outstretched arm of Cornell goalie Mitchell Meyer was just enough to deflect the shot.

McIntyre commented that he thought if his team could have gotten one goal, it would have relaxed his team and the course of the game would have changed.

“I felt if we got the first one we’d probably get the second,” he said.

The second half was more of the same for Syracuse. The Orange was unable to connect on two good chances from Buchanan and Simon Triantafillou.

While the scoresheet will say that Cornell and Syracuse each had eight shots going into overtime, it doesn’t tell the whole story.

Many of Cornell’s shots were from 25 yards or more. Only two or three of the shots were menacing enough to force Hilpert to make a save.

However, the Big Red’s best chance came when it mattered most: in overtime. That’s when Hill was able to make the most of his 49 total minutes played this season, and slot the ball into the back of the net. He was the hero for Cornell.

It snapped a losing streak that dated back to 2001. It was also the 70th time that these two Central New York schools faced each other.

Syracuse drops its second game of the season and falls to 4-2-2. Conversely, Cornell wins its second game of the season to improve to 2-3-1.

The Orange’s next game is Friday at the SU Soccer Stadium against ACC foe Duke.