The Ithaca College men’s soccer team settled for a 1-1 draw against the Vassar College Brewers on Sept. 27 at Carp Wood Field. Although both of the game’s goals were scored in the first half, a second half filled with scoring chances on both sides of the field left the Bombers feeling they deserved a win over the reigning Liberty League Champions.
The team held a pregame ceremony to commemorate the life of former Bomber left-back James Bredin ’91. In his honor, Glenn Schneider, CEO of SUSA FC Soccer Academy and a friend of Bredin, donated $100,000 to the program. Three first-year Bombers and players for SUSA FC, defender CJ Abbott, midfielder Ryan Levy and midfielder Pat Morano, were all involved in the ceremony.
With the Bombers all wearing armbands to honor Bredin, it did not take long for the team to give the home supporters something to cheer for.
In the game’s opening 15 minutes, the Bombers made sure to not let their opponents get comfortable, with Vassar unable to enter the attacking third due to the IC high line and aggressive defending. Graduate student defender Ikey Borden was key to the defensive play.
As he snuffed out a Brewers attack in his own half with an intercepted pass, Borden instinctively drove the ball up the field in the air. The clearance sailed over the head of junior forward Jack Carney and the Vassar back line, bouncing in no-man’s-land towards the top of the box. Carney in full pursuit, shoulder to shoulder with a Vassar defender, charged towards the bounding ball as the goalkeeper left his line. The right foot of the Vassar goalkeeper met the ball first, but was overpowered by the charging Carney, who blocked the clearance attempt with his chest, leaving a completely empty net to open the scoring.
After the goal, the Bombers played with a sense of relaxation, taking their time on throw-ins and free kicks. The Brewers, determined not to allow their opponents to settle into the game, launched an attack of their own no more than five minutes after the opening goal.
The Brewers worked the ball from inside their own half all the way down to the right flank outside the Bombers’ box, until Brewers junior midfielder Mauricio Mejia had the ball at his feet. Mejia struck the ball with the inside of his right foot, directing the ball along the ground towards Vassar senior midfielder Jared Fiske. Fiske was sure to take advantage of one of the few Vassar chances of the afternoon, passing the ball with precision into the bottom left corner, an unsavable shot.
For only the second time this season, the Bombers were tasked with bouncing back after conceding a goal.
IC took claim to one of the final chances in the first half of play when they won a free kick in the opposing half, a chance to put bodies forward into the box. The free kick was swung into the Vassar box, but was taken care of by one of the many Brewers defenders piled into the area.
However, the Vassar defense failed to mark Abbott, who stood alone at the top of the box, ready to smash the lackluster clearance into the back of the net. Striking the ball on his right foot, Abbott guided the ball toward the bottom right corner. The shot deflected off of a Vassar foot and looped through the air, but did not dip low enough to dodge the top of the crossbar.
Luckily for the Bombers, more chances were in store for the second half of play.
Levy earned his first career start for the Bombers and capitalized on his extra minutes with a notable performance in the back half of the game.
Early into the final period of play, Levy was involved in two major chances, the most threatening coming off the head of Levy.
A cross to the back post from the right side of the box directed to Levy reached his head only with a leaping effort over a Vassar defender. As Levy nodded the ball toward the bottom left corner, the Vassar goalkeeper got into his spread, which was enough to prevent the Bombers from penetrating the back of the net.
Levy decided to take matters into his own hands soon after, sending a cross from the right side into the box for a once again unmarked Abbott, whose header glanced just past the right side of the goal’s frame.
“We had a lot of crosses we could have finished,” Levy said. “We just got to capitalize on them soon.”
As the Brewers worked themselves into the game, the Bombers’ chances slowed. Borden’s defensive line was soon put back to the test by the Vassar attack.
The Brewers began moving the ball into the final third with more consistency, and it did not take long before a scoring chance was created. On a cross into the box, a Vassar attacker struck a volley into the ground with the inside of his right foot. Borden, who had retreated to the goal line in order to protect his goalkeeper, stood in the path of the Brewers’ effort, preventing a goal and clearing the ball to safety.
When called upon, Borden’s defensive line has stood up to the task all but two times this season.
“Keeping them to one goal is going to be something that we’re going to do for a couple of the teams we play,” Borden said. “These guys are really good at scoring and it’s not always perfect.”
Both teams exchanged attacks, with the Bombers having better chances, but neither team was able to break down the opposing side for the remainder of the game.
Head coach Gabe Kuhn and the Bombers felt that they should have walked away with a victory, despite facing the reigning league champions.
“It’s another good team,” Kuhn said. “Every team in the Liberty League, we treat the same. … It’s another game. Another hard fought game.”
Kuhn felt that it would take more than just the one goal to take down the tougher opponents on their schedule.
“We’re not going to get 100 chances in a game,” Kuhn said. “So I think just capitalizing on opposing teams’ mistakes, I think we’ll be alright.”
Kuhn’s side look to reenter the win column when they travel to play against the Hamilton College Continentals at 4 p.m. Sept. 30 in Clinton, New York.
