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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Cornell
Busch's Second-Half Goal Leads Men's Soccer To 1-0 Win Over Cornell
October 27, 2007 | Men's Soccer
It was a nice effort and a nice goal for the Princeton men's soccer team at Powers Field Saturday against Cornell, two things that helped extend the Tigers' home unbeaten streak and give Princeton some momentum heading into the final weeks of the Ivy League season.
Freshman Brandon Busch took advantage of a failed Cornell clear to score the game winner in the 59th minute as Princeton extended its home unbeaten streak to five with a 1-0 win against the Big Red. In the process, the Tigers (4-8-2, 2-2 Ivy) extended their home winning streak against the Big Red (5-7-1, 0-3-1 Ivy) to 11 straight dating back 20 years.
Busch scored his third goal of the season for Princeton, taking the failed clear, wheeling to his right and hitting a left-footed shot from near the top of the box into the left-hand corner of the net past Cornell goalie Luca Cerratani.
Princeton then held from there in a second half that had many fewer scoring opportunities than the first half. Cornell's best chance to tie the game came with just more than 12 minutes left, but Matt Bouraee's tough-angle shot from the right side hit the crossbar and bounced over the goal.
Busch had a good chance to give Princeton a two-goal lead just two minutes after his goal, but Cerratani made one of his four saves on Busch's shot from the left side of the box.
Though Princeton had corner kicks to just three for the Big Red, shots for the game were relatively even at 13-12 in favor of the Tigers. Tiger goalie Joe Walter had five saves to record his first shutout of the season.
Walter earned that shutout thanks to some solid first-half work. He made a diving stop to his right on Bouraee in the 17th minute and then kept the game scoreless late in the half by deflecting a header from Aaron Vieira over the crossbar in the 36th minute.
Shots were 9-8 in favor of Princeton in a back-and-forth first half that ended with no score.
Princeton hasn't lost to Cornell at home since the 1985 season, outscoring the Big Red 32-8 in 11 straight victories.
The Tigers visit Penn next Saturday evening in the first half of a men's/women's doubleheader against the Quakers at Rhodes Field. Game time is 5 p.m.