No. 21 Cornell will open the Ivy League men’s soccer tournament at home Thursday, Nov. 12, hosting Harvard at 3:30 p.m. at Berman Field with an NCAA Tournament berth at stake this weekend.
The top-seeded Big Red enters at 11-3-1 overall after an unbeaten 6-0-1 conference season. Fourth-seeded Harvard is 4-7-4 overall and 2-3-2 in Ivy play. Thursday’s semifinal will stream on ESPN+.
Berman Field hosts the chase for an NCAA berth
Second-seeded Penn, 7-3-5 overall and 3-1-3 in the league, faces third-seeded Yale, 4-6-5 and 2-1-4, in Thursday’s second semifinal at 7 p.m. The winners meet at Berman Field at 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15, for the championship and the Ivy League’s automatic NCAA berth. Fans can find broadcast, live statistics and ticket links on the tournament schedule.
Cornell secured its fifth Ivy League title and first since 2012 with Saturday’s 4-1 Senior Day victory over Columbia. The Big Red scored three first-half goals, including one in the opening minute, and finished the regular season 6-0 in completed home matches.
Cornell outscored its conference opponents 16-7. Against the teams in the other semifinal, it beat Penn 5-3 at home and drew 1-1 at Yale.
The Columbia victory also gave John Smith his 100th career coaching win. Already Cornell’s winningest coach after reaching 92 wins earlier this season, Smith is 6-1-2 against Harvard.
Cornell won the first Harvard meeting 4-1
The Big Red scored four second-half goals in a 4-1 win over Harvard at Berman Field on Sept. 26. Cornell held a 13-6 edge in shots and a 9-1 advantage in shots on goal.
Kasper Wollstein scored twice, with Adam Schaban and Calvin Momanyi adding goals. Freshman Lennon Harrington enters the rematch with successful penalty kicks in each of Cornell’s last two matches and a team-leading three game-winning goals.
Thursday will be the teams’ 75th meeting in a series that began with a 3-3 draw in Ithaca on Oct. 9, 1948. Harvard leads 35-24-15 overall, but Cornell is unbeaten in the last eight meetings at 6-0-2 and has won the last three at Berman Field. Cornell’s home series record is 17-12-8.
Miller leads a balanced Cornell attack
Senior midfielder Connor Miller leads Cornell with 16 points on four goals and eight assists. He is the only Ivy League player on the 2026 men’s MAC Hermann Trophy watch list for college soccer’s top individual award. His 0.62 assists per game are tied for eighth in Division I, while his eight assists are tied for 22nd.
Freshman Andrew Miles has 13 points, Schaban and Wollstein have 12 apiece, and Harrington has 11. Wollstein leads the team with six goals, while Miller and Schaban each have four.
Cornell ranks third nationally in shots per game at 17.87, with 268 total attempts, and fourth in corner kicks per game at 7.07. Its 38 goals put it sixth in scoring offense at 2.53 per game. The Big Red ranks 11th in both points per game, at 7.07 with 106 total points, and goal differential, at plus-21 after allowing 17 goals.
Freshman goalkeeper Reuben Clarson is 4-0-1 with a 0.87 goals-against average and .800 save percentage in five starts. Junior Filip Versterre is 7-3-0 with a 1.30 goals-against average and two shutouts.
Harvard clinched its spot on the final day
The Crimson rallied for a 3-3 draw with Dartmouth on Saturday to secure the final tournament berth as Penn beat Princeton 3-2 and Brown tied Yale 1-1. Harvard is making its second consecutive tournament appearance.
Senior forward Dylan Tellado scored the tying goal against Dartmouth and leads Harvard with five goals and 12 points. Sophomore Adam Poliakov has four goals and 10 points. Harvard has allowed a league-high 27 goals.
Before the Dartmouth draw, Harvard’s conference stretch included a 2-1 victory at Brown, a 3-2 loss at Yale and a 2-0 loss to Princeton. The semifinal brings the Crimson back to Ithaca for the second time this season.
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to news@fingerlakes1.com.