The men's soccer team delivered two impressive performances on the road, battling first-place Cornell to a 1-1 tie before defeating Holy Cross 1-0 three days later.
Cornell 1, Brown 1
The Bears (8-4-2, 2-1-1 Ivy) made the long trip to Ithaca, N.Y. Saturday to take on the Big Red (8-1-4, 3-0-1), currently undefeated in conference play.
"They play a style that makes it hard to get into a rhythm," said defenseman Ryan McDuff '13. "They do a good job of setting the pace of the game and putting you under pressure."
Cornell stuck to its game plan and, after a scoreless opening half, the Big Red drew first blood 1:46 into the second.
The Bears refused to back down, responding three minutes later with a headed goal by forward Ben Maurey '15, the first of his college career. Neither team was able to find the back of the net for the remainder of regulation or in extra play.
"I think in overtime, we definitely focused on coming out with at least one point," McDuff said. "We couldn't lose because that would put us out of contention for the Ivy League championship, so we played smarter and made sure we were solid defensively."
After the game, Head Coach Patrick Laughlin reiterated the team's motto of "scoring the second goal."
"That second goal is massive in most games," Laughlin said. "It is either going to put you up 2-0, or tie it at 1-1. Obviously, you want to get that first goal, but whatever happens, we want to ensure that we're the team that gets that second goal."
Holy Cross 0, Brown 1
Bruno made a shorter trip to take on a struggling Holy Cross (1-12-2) in a non-league matchup Tuesday.
"It was definitely a change of pace," McDuff said. "We hadn't played a midweek game in a few weeks, and we went in there knowing that it would be tough. They're a team that doesn't have a good record, but that allows them to play with freedom and the mindset that they had nothing to lose."
The teams appeared evenly matched initially, and neither squad scored by the end of regulation. But it did not take Bruno long to find the back of the net in extra time — just 1:02 in, defender Eric Robertson '13 scored the golden goal, the first of his college career.
Five of the Bears' last six games have either been decided in overtime or ended in a tie, which McDuff said is the result of a newfound emphasis on defense.
"Part of it is that we're really focusing on being sound defensively," he said. "In the beginning of the season, we focused more on keeping the ball and playing a pretty style of soccer. But after a few losses, we realized that we had to get back to the defensive mentality that was instilled into us."
The Bears return to action at home Saturday in a highly anticipated matchup against Penn.
"They are a team that we haven't beaten in the Ivy League in a while, and they are going to be a big challenge for us," Laughlin said. "We want to keep our home field a fortress."
