Men's Soccer News Releases
Essandoh scores twice in 3-2 victory over Buena Vista
Coming up - Saturday, Oct. 31, vs. University of Dubuque (13-2-2, 6-1), Mount Vernon, 3 p.m.; End of season.
Ram rewind - Senior forward Joey Vandermause (Madison, Wis./Northland Pines) knocked in the decisive goal in the 67th minute to propel Cornell to a 3-2 Iowa Conference victory over Buena Vista Saturday in Mount Vernon.
Vandermause's unassisted score from the right wing put an end to an eight-match losing skid for the Rams, who improved to 4-12 overall and 1-6 in the IIAC. Cornell claimed its first conference win of the season, three days after falling 3-0 at Simpson.
The Rams, held to two total goals in their previous five matches, received a pair of first-half scores from junior forward Kobina Essandoh (Worcester, Mass./Presec) in the victory. The win was Cornell's first over Buena Vista in Mount Vernon since 2001.
Buena Vista (1-15, 0-7) struck for the first goal only 2 minutes, 20 seconds into the match. Cornell quickly countered with an assisted tally from Essandoh at the nine-minute mark. Essandoh then gave the Rams a 2-1 lead with his second goal, off an assist from freshman Eric Doernhoefer (Gambier, Ohio/Mount Vernon), in the 19th minute.
The Beavers tied the score at 2-2 with 30 minutes remaining in the contest. Cornell needed only eight minutes to regain the lead on Vandermause's second marker of the season. Freshman goalkeeper Ben Alleva (Cary, Ill./Cary-Grove) shut down the Beavers the rest of the way, notching his fourth victory of the fall.
Cornell held a 15-14 advantage in shot attempts. The Beavers attempted seven corner kicks to the Rams' five. Alleva collected a pair of saves in 90 minutes of work.
The Rams stumbled at Simpson, allowing all three goals in the opening 48 minutes of play. Alleva finished with six saves while facing 23 shots. Cornell was held to six shots, getting two each from Essandoh and Sungeun Kim (Kathmandu, Nepal/Lincoln).
Season finale - Cornell seniors Kyle Roberts (Appleton, Wis./Kimberly), Ryan Walden (Edina, Minn./Edina) and Vandermause will end their collegiate soccer career in Saturday's season finale against Dubuque in Mount Vernon. Roberts and Vandermause are both fourth-year letterwinners in the program. Walden is a two-year starter after joining the team in 2008.
The Rams face a talented Dubuque team (13-2-2, 6-1) that stands second in the IIAC race. The Spartans have won the last three meetings against the Rams, including a 5-3 decision last year in Dubuque.
Century mark - Alleva notched his 100th save of the season in the Simpson match and raised his total to 107 over the weekend. He is the first Ram to reach the 100-save mark since 2004, when Marc Myers finished with 113. Alleva ranks second among IIAC keepers with 7.13 saves per match.
Scoring leaders - The Rams now have seven players with at least two goals this fall. Alex Beehler (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) and Kim share the team lead with six goals apiece. Essandoh and Julian Peota (Minneapolis, Minn./Southwest) each have three goals. Vandermause, William Helland (San Antonio/Texas/International School of Americas) and Michael Morris (Waukee/Waukee) have scored two apiece.
