Score: Cornell 3, UAlbany 2
 
Location: Berman Field in Ithaca, N.Y.
 
Records: UAlbany (4-6-1) | Cornell (4-2-2)
 
Short Story: UAlbany men's soccer's rally comes up short after two goals in the final 10 minutes at Cornell.
 
Key Stats

• Jeff Thielmann scored his second penalty kick goal of the season
• Ander Castillo scored his third goal of the season
• Alex Pechacek recorded his seventh assist of the season
• Cornell outshot UAlbany 9-6
• Cornell committed 21 fouls to UAlbany's 13
• Three penalty kicks were awarded in the game

Head Coach Trevor Gorman: "Tough loss tonight.  It's hard to win on the road against good teams, and allowing penalty kicks makes it harder.  We had good spells but need those spells to be a full 90 minutes.  We'll get prepared for a good conference game this weekend."
 
How it Happened

• The University at Albany men's soccer team broke from America East play after two games to pay a visit to Cornell, its penultimate non-conference opponent of the 2023 regular season.  The Big Red had recorded two signature victories this season, over then-#19 New Hampshire, defending America East champion, and then-#7 Syracuse, defending ACC and NCAA champion.
• UAlbany and Cornell had played three times in the Great Danes' Division I era in Ithaca, and in all three games the Great Danes came away with a victory.  In their last meeting, in the 2019 season, UAlbany clinched a late 2-1 victory when Kaio DaSilva scored with 16 seconds remaining in regulation.
• The game started slowly for both teams.  Alejandro Giner took the first shot of the game in the 10th minute, and the Great Danes' defense held Cornell without a shot until their first in the 18th.
• Cornell scored to go ahead 1-0 in the 20th minute when Westin Carnevale bested UAlbany goalkeeper Shafique Wilson in the low left corner off a setup from Matthew Goncalves. 
• Shots came at a premium for the duration of the game, but especially in the first half, with the teams combining to take just five attempts on goal in the first 45 minutes.  UAlbany, despite trailing 1-0 at the break, held a 3-1 advantage in corner kicks, however.
• Cornell drew a foul in UAlbany's box in the 60th minute and was awarded a penalty kick.  Big Red leading scorer Alex Harris stepped up for the attempt and successfully converted to put Cornell up 2-0.
• Less than 10 minutes later, in the 67th minute, Cornell was awarded yet another penalty kick after drawing a second foul in UAlbany's box.  This time, Wilson Eisner took the attempt, and his conversion gave Cornell a 3-0 lead with 23 minutes to play.
• The Great Danes broke through in the 80th minute, after drawing a penalty kick of their own.  For the second time this season, Jeff Thielmann scored a penalty kick goal, this one sparking the beginnings of a UAlbany comeback.
• In their first 10 games, the Great Danes had scored five goals off of set pieces.  That number increased to six in the 85th minute.  Alex Pechacek, after UAlbany drew a foul in Cornell's defensive third along the right sideline, served the ball towards the far post for Ander Castillo.  Castillo, charging towards goal, connected and found the back of the net to cut Cornell's lead to one with just under five minutes remaining.
• UAlbany's comeback effort stalled there, however, despite one final dangerous service into the Cornell box in the closing moments, but the ball fell into the hands of Cornell goalkeeper Isaac Delgado and the Big Red held on to win 3-2.  Overall, Cornell outshot UAlbany 9-6, and both teams managed to put four shots on target.

Next: UAlbany hosts Binghamton on October 8.