Cornell Men squeaked a win in NYC over a solid Columbia squad
Cornell held on to defeat Columbia by a score of 19-15 in NYC. Cornell's first two scores of the match came from two Cornell rookies.
Cornell played patterned rugby leading up to a score 8 minutes into the game. Freshman wing Justin Kozma scored in the corner after several phases with an unsuccessful conversion. Mike Rothstein’s try was also a multi-phase score that was converted.
Cornell’s inside backs had a rough 20 minutes to start the game defensively letting Columbia’s backs dice through them. Columbia had a very dynamic inside center who was easily breaking through the line and off-loading. Columbia's center eventually set up their only try of the 1st half. After the score, the Cornell backs seemed to fix the defense and were able to stop the center penetration most of the game.
Cornell Men squeaked a win at NYC’s Randall’s Island Field #75 against a solid team from Columbia.
In the second half, Ethan Venosa (senior captain) scored for Cornell at the 60 minute mark. Seth Feder kicked his second successful conversion of the game. Columbia stopped the Big Red from scoring the rest of the game and put two of their own unconverted tries at the 56 minute and 63 minute marks. For the final 17 minute, Cornell played tough defense to keep Columbia from scoring a go-head try. They played especially tough against their #8 on open runs which were impressive to watch.
Final score, Cornell 19 to Columbia 15.
Pregame
After a whirlwind preseason, Columbia men will start the fall Ivy Rugby Conference regular season campaign at home with a 6p kickoff against the Big Red of Cornell. Cornell travels to the Big Apple where they can expect a large alumni following at the match tonight.
Cornell suffered a disappointing defeat in Ithaca last weekend as Yale came storming back from an early deficit to defeat the Big Red 39-34. The two bonus points for Cornell only slightly dampen the sting of a great Yale victory.
Columbia Players to Watch
Cam Appel (Sophomore), Jadrian Guy (Junior), and Matthew Tremblay (Senior).