HAMILTON, N.Y. – Cornell men's soccer tied a program on Tuesday night with its 11th consecutive victory, equaling the 1995 team's 11-game winning streak with a 3-1 victory at Colgate.
 
The game was much close than the final score indicated, as the Big Red was ahead by only a 2-1 margin before senior midfielder Nico Nissl notched his first goal of the year with 38 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
 
“It's a nice reward after the game to hear that our results are contributing to the school positively,” Nissl said. “It's something we can be proud of.”
 
Cornell (11-0-0) took a 2-0 lead over Colgate (3-5-5) when Daniel Haber scored his 15th of the year with 11:03 showing on the clock, but the Raiders struck back almost instantly, scoring 24 seconds later to make for a tense final 10 minutes.
 
Colgate had its chances throughout the game, forcing Rick Pflasterer to make three saves and putting pressure on the Big Red defense constantly. But in the last 10 minutes, Cornell continued to hold strong on the back line and was rewarded with Nissl's breakout goal on a pass from Haber.
 
With the win, the Big Red also finished non-conference play unbeaten and untied for the first time since 1965 when it only played four non-conference games. The Big Red also added to its school record of 27 straight games with a goal and has now claimed four consecutive tilts against the Raiders.
 
The victory wasn't always in the bag. The first 20 minutes of the contest saw fairly even play, but the Big Red capitalized on a chance first.
 
In the 20th minute, Stephen Reisert got the ball from Nissl in Cornell's offensive half, and he passed the ball to Conor Goepel who was about five yards outside the penalty box. Goepel took advantage of the opportunity, chipping the ball over the head of Liam Stapleton – who had come off his line a bit – for the 1-0 Big Red score. Goepel's goal was his sixth of the season and his 20th career point.
 
Pflasterer had a phenomenal first half, recording three saves to keep Colgate off the board. On a three-on-three breakout for the Raiders, Pflasterer timed his move perfectly, leaving his line to challenge Shane Conlin's shot. Diving to his right, Pflasterer made the save to stymie the streaking Conlin. Just a few minutes later, Pflasterer was excellent again, leaping high and to his right to punch away a Colgate header.
 
The second half saw chances for both sides, and the teams exchanged goals just 24 seconds apart with 11 minutes left to play.
 
Sophomore defender Matt Mardesich, seeing just his second game of the year, played a high, bouncing ball from the back line up to the attacking end. The ball bounced over a Colgate defender and landed at the feet of Haber. Seizing his opportunity, Haber dribbled into the box with just Stapleton in front of him and scored short side.
 
“Defending was my first priority, but I knew they had space over the back line because they were so far forward,” Mardesich said of his play. “So I just dumped it over the top and Haber connected with it.”
 
Mardesich played most of the contest, easily earning the most minutes of his Big Red career after sitting out almost all of his freshman season with an injury.
 
“Just playing any position, anyplace, it just feels great to play soccer again,” he said. “I'm just here to do my part. I'm here to help my team accomplish their goals.”
 
But a mere 24 seconds later, the Raiders struck to once again make it a one-goal game. Conlin, who was denied a goal in the first half, stole a pass from the Big Red and didn't miss this time, striking from just outside the penalty box, off the right post past a diving Pflasterer and into the side net.
 
The pressure was alleviated when Nissl scored his first goal of the season, taking a wide open pass from Haber as the Raiders were pushing up to get the equalizer. Coming into the box from the right side, Nissl had no one to beat but Stapleton, and he didn't miss his chance. The goal was also Nissl's first since his sophomore year.
 
“The coaching staff has been working with me a lot to keep me composed in front of the goal,” he said. “I'm just  trying to stay calm when I get that ball right in front of the net, and that's exactly what I was thinking when I got that beautiful ball from Haber.”
 
Cornell is back in action on Saturday when it hosts Ivy League rival Yale. The Big Red will be looking to break the school record for consecutive victories, but more importantly it will attempt to earn three more points in the always challenging Ancient Eight.
 
“Ivy League for us is the most important thing,” Nissl said. “We know how the Ivy League game can change everything if you have a couple of slip-ups. If you don't finish it off well toward the end, you can pretty much lose everything that you worked for. … We're not trying to take anything for granted, and we know we've got to be very focused in these next couple of weeks to truly finish off the season well.”
 
The contest between the Big Red and Bulldogs kicks off at 1 p.m. at Berman Field.

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