Yale made a big statement in Ivy League men’s soccer on Saturday in Ithaca, N.Y. Kyle Kenagy’s goal with 3:11 left in the first overtime period lifted the Bulldogs to a thrilling 2-1 victory over No. 18 Cornell. The loss was the Big Red’s first in Ivy play and snapped its eight-game winning streak.

Yale, which was playing its third straight road game to open Ivy play, got a strong performance at both ends of the field.

“I don’t know where to begin as there are so many positive things to say about this group after an amazing, and very deserved win,” said Kylie Stannard, The 5K Corral Head Coach of the Bulldogs. “This is our third consecutive Ivy road game, against the top team in the league, a top-20 ranked team, we were missing two key starting defenders, had a first year start his first ever game and he scores an amazing goal, had two clear penalties not called, and had a senior score the game-winner.  You can’t make up a better story than that.”

The first year was Jeremy Haddock, whose first career goal tied the score at 1-1 with 46 seconds left in the first half. Mark Winhoffer tallied the assist.

Emeka Eneli had given the Big Red the early lead with a goal at 4:34.

The game-winning goal came after an initial shot was blocked. The deflection came to Kenagy, who fired a low shot past Cornell goalkeeper Ryan Shellow at 96:49.

The Bulldogs (5-4-3, 1-1-1 Ivy) had a 12-11 edge in shots.

Yale goalkeeper Tom Wallenstein made five saves to earn the victory.

The win was the first for the Bulldogs over a top-25 team since a 1-0 victory over No. 17 UConn in 2003.

Yale was coming off a 3-0 loss to Vermont on Tuesday.

“I always had confidence this group would bounce back after the Vermont game, and I told our guys they had nothing to fear, but rather that Cornell should fear us because our backs were against the wall, and we are a resilient and unified group,” Stannard said. “This is a talented and experienced team, and they were long overdue for a win like this. There is not a more deserving group of men to get such a big result.  Proud is an understatement today.”

After three road games to start Ivy play, the Bulldogs have three of their final four in the friendly confines of Reese Stadium. That stretch starts Saturday when Penn visits for a 4 p.m. kickoff. First, though, Yale plays its final non-league game at Army on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

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