Ithaca, NY: though beautiful, it sure is one gloomy, far, cold place to travel for a weekend. However, there was one bright thing about the trip: another chance and another opportunity to make our mark in the Ivy League. Oh, well I guess there were two bright spots; the second being a gourmet, Italian meal from the Popolizio family. Similar to the trip two years ago, the team embarked on our journey early Friday afternoon so that we could stop for a solid, “day before the day” training session. At about 3pm on Friday, we pulled into the TJ Popolizio Memorial Soccer Complex in Clifton Park, NY. The streets were lined with fans and even the local news station came out to document the return of their homegrown star: Pops. No, that didn’t actually happen, but I personally was half expecting that to be the case. After a solid training session, we did nevertheless, get treated to some homemade chicken parm, ziti, Italian meatballs, and cookies. We may as well have been important enough to bring the local news crew out…. Mr. and Mrs. Popolizio served us well and we were very grateful to be getting back on the bus with a full stomach. Next stop, Ithaca.
Cornell Men’s Soccer was flying high, having the season of their lives. At 8-1-3, Cornell was on an 11 game unbeaten streak going into our Saturday afternoon game. Still full and energized from our meal in Clifton Park, the team departed the hotel at 1:45 ready for a battle. We were prepared for the kick ball, the long throw, the 3,4,5,6, maybe 7 different Cornell strikers we would face. Sure enough, 4 minutes into the game, Cornell had subbed their starting forward for a new fresh pair of legs. Bruno controlled the first half, with Rob Medairos and Evan Coleman destroying the center of the park, and Dylan Remick and Alex Markes ready for any long ball into the channels. We were well prepared. The defense once again kept me safe, going into the halftime break with the scoreboard reading 0s.
The second half did not begin the way we would have hoped. The home side got on the board early with a glancing header after the ball had been cleared and reserved from a Cornell corner kick. Having been down 1-0 before, everyone on Brown knew we could come back. What we didn’t know was that we would level the score only minutes later with a classy finish from our 6 foot 10 inch freshman forward, Ben Maurey. After Sean Rosa won us a corner, Jay Hayward, like he has so many times in his career, stepped up to take it. Maurey got free at the front post and knocked in his first collegiate goal from an exceptionally slight angle. Bruno and Cornell were level again. The half ended with some back-and-forth play. The team had a glorious chance in the final few minutes but couldn’t find a way to sneak out the win. Both overtime periods saw much of the same, with both teams looking to get out with some sort of a result. The game ended 1-1. Needless to say, we weren’t HAPPY with the tie but after a 6 hour bus ride and against a team that plays little of the beautiful game, it was a respectable outcome.
Next up on the Ivy League slate: Brown vs Penn at the confines of Stevenson Field in Providence.
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