If the Lafayette College men’s soccer team can withstand a sellout away-game crowd, save penalty kicks like a brick wall and mount a comeback in the 87th minute as they did against Lehigh University, anything can happen as the Maroon and White embark on their first trip to the NCAA men’s soccer tournament since 2012.
The Leopards (3-2-4 Patriot League, 8-6-7 overall) come into a Thursday first-round meeting against Cornell University riding a five-game win streak. The run was capped off by wins over Army, American University and Lehigh in the Patriot League tournament last week.
Lafayette’s offensive strides have been behind junior midfielder Samir Dishnica, freshman forward Nicolas Papadopoulos and sophomore defender Jackson Vajda — the latter scoring the heroic goal for the Leopards in the championship. All three have picked up their form late in the season, with Dischina notably tallying two of his six goals this season during the semifinal win over American.
But the Leopards’ defense has thrived more than the offense all season long. They have only given up 18 goals all season, and tend to rely on defensive formations. Against Lehigh, The Brown and White only managed six shots in the regulation period, before hitting 11 shots total going into penalties. The Leopards fired 15 shots during the game.
Senior goalkeeper Eric Axtman is the heart of the Leopards’ squad. Under the captain’s saves, Lafayette is the second-least scored on team in the Patriot League. He’s also showcased the mental side of being a goalkeeper in tournament games — defending a crafty Panenka kick during the first round of penalties and setting the tone for Lafayette’s 4-1 shootout victory.
Axtman’s confidence will certainly help him against the red-hot Big Red (5-1-1 Ivy League, 13-3-2 overall), which, besides losing to No. 3 Princeton University, has only lost one game all year.
Cornell thrives behind its offense, led by senior forward Westin Carnevale; the All-Ivy First Team star has six goals and has started all 18 matches for the Big Red. Cornell has 37 goals on the season and 346 shots in 18 matches. Sophomore defender Aidan Martin and junior midfielder Connor Miller, meanwhile, are clever players across both sides of the ball, leading the team in assists.
The Big Red fell 2-0 to Princeton in the Ivy League tournament final and received an at-large bid to the tournament for the second season in a row. One of their standout wins was a 5-0 rout over local rival and Patriot League foe Colgate University; the Leopards drew against Colgate in their annual Patriot League matchup this season during Homecoming.
Expect conditions to dip under 40 degrees Fahrenheit during Thursday’s match, with the game held on Cornell’s turf at one of the coldest northeast schools. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. — the Leopards’ second consecutive night game after facing rival Lehigh under the lights.
Lafayette and Cornell most recently met in 2018, when the Big Red came out victorious in a 2-1 dogfight, after the Leopards let a one-goal lead slip in the match’s fading minutes.
The Leopards know how to go on a rollercoaster. They rebounded mentally from giving up two goals in a semifinal grind against American, and withstood an agonizing Lehigh team that, until the 87th minute, craftily defended Lafayette’s many offensive strategies. Cornell will be the favorite on Thursday, but the Leopards should be ready for another upset.
