Cornell Men 8-0 With Big Win Vs. Hartwick
ITHACA, N.Y. – Hartwick controlled the first 21 seconds of Tuesday night's soccer game.
Cornell dominated the rest.
A goal less than half a minute into the contest by the Hawks put the Big Red behind very early, but Cornell fought back over the next 89 minutes and eventually defeated Hartwick 4-1 at Berman Field on Tuesday night.
Daniel Haber – the nation's leading scorer – added two more goals to his season total, Tyler Regan notched a goal and an assist while factoring into all four goals, and Atticus DeProspo scored the first goal of his career to power the Big Red's offense over the Hawks (2-3-2).
“We're resilient, and it's one of the things that we pride ourselves on,” Regan said. “Coach always says, 'The game's never over. The game's never out of reach,' and we embody that.”
Cornell moves to 8-0-0 on the year and remains one of just three unbeaten and untied teams in the country. This is the first time in program history that the Big Red has started a year 8-0-0 and is the team's first eight-game winning streak since it won 11 straight in 1995. Cornell has also scored goals in a school-record 24 consecutive games and has not lost out-of-conference in 16 matches.
In-conference play begins on Saturday with Penn, but the Big Red made sure the non-league portion of its schedule was successful with its third come-from-behind victory on Tuesday night.
The Hawks got the game's opening salvo thanks to the head of forward Cleyon Brown. The senior found his way into the penalty area while teammate David Styles ran down the left sideline with possession just after the opening kickoff. Styles sent a perfect cross into the box, and Brown nudged the ball past Rick Pflasterer to put the Big Red behind 1-0 just 21 seconds in.
“It was a quick wake-up call for us as a team,” DeProspo said. “It kind of got us back into it and focused and concentrated on our game plan.”
Cornell recovered quickly though, controlling the flow of play for the rest of the night. Just more than seven minutes later, Regan created a dangerous opportunity by possessing the ball in the Hartwick penalty area. Bringing the ball close to the end line, Regan was fouled from behind and earned a penalty kick for Cornell. Haber took the penalty high and to the right, tying the game at 1-1 in the eighth minute.
Regan wasn't done with his efforts on the night by a long shot. In the 27th minute, he gave Cornell the lead for good when he took a long ball from the midfield and beat Hawks keeper Tom Buckner low and right for a 2-1 Big Red lead. The long pass bounced off a Hartwick defender's chest, off Regan, off the defender again and landed perfectly at Regan's feet for a breakaway opportunity he did not miss.
Cornell was even better in the second half, controlling the pace of play and scoring two more. Haber got his nation-leading 13th of the year in the 65th minute when he got the ball on the right side of the penalty box on a pass from Regan in the center. Haber cut inside, beating a defender, and buried the ball behind Buckner for a 3-1 advantage, his 30th point of the season and a spot in fifth place all-time in Cornell for career points.
DeProspo, who plays defense and midfield for Cornell, earned his first ever college goal with 11 minutes remaining thanks again to Regan's pass. Streaking into the right side of the box, Regan found DeProspo wide open on the left side for the easy putaway. The team celebrated wildly for DeProspo, putting him in the center of their post-game huddle.
“My teammates did such a great job, so I was really happy,” DeProspo said. “Coach [Joe] Schneck had been pushing me and pushing me and pushing me to get into the box, I just happened to be in the right place. Tyler Regan did a great job, and it was a team effort to get the ball up there.”
Cornell has its last home game for two weeks on Saturday when Penn comes to town to open Ivy League play. The Quakers' Stephen Baker and Haber were the co-Ivy League Players of the Week this week, and they will square off at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
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