NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Goalkeeper
Elian Haddock and a strong Yale defense did most of the heavy lifting, and
Kahveh Zahiroleslam provided the late heroics as the Bulldogs earned a very important 1-0 victory over No. 19 Cornell on an unseasonably mild late October afternoon at Reese Stadium.
Haddock made six saves, a majority of which were of the acrobatic variety, as Yale posted its third shutout in the last five games.
More importantly, the Bulldogs remained unbeaten in Ivy play at 2-0-1. Yale has not allowed a goal in its three Ivy games.
Cornell, unbeaten in its last nine games entering the day, suffered its first Ivy loss and now sits at 2-1.
"This was far from our best performance today, but we showed incredible resilience as a group to stick together, dig in, and compete for 90 minutes," said
Kylie Stannard, the 5K Corral Head Coach of the Bulldogs. "Cornell is a very good team and put us under a lot of pressure all game. We had to bend a lot today, but we refused to break. When things aren't going as well as you hope, you fall back on your habits, and our guys found a way to give ourselves a chance to win the game."
The Big Red came in as the highest scoring team in the nation, but the Yale defense was up to the challenge. While Cornell generated plenty of offense, firing 20 shots at the goal, the Bulldogs were in strong defensive position on a majority of them. And when they weren't, Haddock was there. His best stop came when he knocked away a Matthew Goncalves shot from in front with his left hand while moving to his right.
Elian also got a hand from his brother Jeremy, who knocked away a shot while standing near the goal line in the first half.
Yale (5-4-3) didn't have a ton of good scoring chances but made the most of one opportunity.
TJ Presthus sent a long ball into the box.
Paolo Carroll deflected it to Zahiroleslam, who fired it into the back of the net from 15 yards out at 84:02, setting off a celebration on the Yale sideline.
The Bulldogs' defense did the rest, running out the clock and securing a key win.
"Such a collective performance but also some pretty amazing individual moments from several guys tonight," Stannard said.
Yale takes a break from league play, traveling to Stony Brook on Wednesday. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m.
