ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell got an offensive explosion on Sunday afternoon, scoring three times against visiting Hofstra to win the CU Inaria Classic weekend tournament. The Big Red finish the tournament in first place with six points, five goals and two shutouts.

 The weekend was already off to a great start for Cornell (2-1-2), who beat Long Island 2-0 on Friday night. The Big Red appeared to have its offense still in gear throughout Sunday’s game, and Conor Goepel started the scoring in the fourth minute.

 Senior Jimmy Lannon, named the tournament’s Offensive MVP, took a throw-in from the right side of the field into the box. Patrick Slogic and a Hofstra defender jumped at the ball to head it, but both missed and the ball bounced high off the turf. Goepel took the fortuitous bounce, nudging the ball into the top left corner of the net to put Cornell on top 1-0.

 Just eight minutes later, the Big Red was back on the board. Sophomore midfielder Ben Williams took the ball at midfield and found Chase Aaronson down the left side. Aaronson, a sprinter on the Cornell track team, took the ball hard to the net and fired low and right. The ball slid past Hofstra’s keeper, bounced off the right post and went in.

 With a two-goal lead, Cornell did not stop attacking. The team’s third goal came just 16 seconds into the second half as freshman Matt Kagie, playing for the first time in his college career, smashed a shot into Pride goalie Roberto Pellegrini. Pellegrini could do nothing with it but bat it away, and the ball landed right at Lannon’s feet. The Offensive MVP poached the goal with an empty net, and the Red put the game out of reach.

 Junior goalkeeper Rick Pflasterer was named the Classic’s Defensive MVP, and he earned it with two shutouts over the weekend. His individual highlight came with 19 minutes remaining in the first half.  Hofstra midfielder Heidar Emilsson had an open shot at the net, and he curled it toward the upper right corner. Pflasterer read the shot all the way, leaping high and to his left to punch the ball out of harm’s way. Pflasterer’s season goals-against average dropped to 0.92 thanks to the shutouts.

 Also named to the All-Tournament team were Cornell defenders Kyle Parsons and Slogic for their help in keeping Hofstra (2-3) and Long Island off the board over the weekend.

 All told in the tournament, Cornell took 39 shots, scored five goals and allowed none. Five different players scored for the Big Red, and Lannon had a goal and an assist. The Big Red is now on a four-game unbeaten streak and is over .500 for the first time since Sept. 19 of last year.

 Some young players also got the chance to see their first action in college. Besides Kagie, who assisted on Lannon’s goal, freshman Tyler Conway got into the game. Sophomore Jake Kirsch also got his first minutes of the season.

 Hofstra took second in the CU Inaria Classic with three points and a head-to-head tiebreaker against third-place Colgate. Long Island University finished fourth in the Classic with zero points.

 The Big Red completes its three-game homestand Wednesday when it hosts Binghamton at 7 p.m.

 Tournament Standings

Hofstra wins second place on head-to-head tiebreaker with Colgate

 All-Tournament Team

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