Men’s Soccer Takes on No. 23 Cornell for Senior Day

Saturday, November 8

New York, N.Y.

5:00 p.m.

Columbia University

Cornell

The 2025 Senior Class

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics / Stockton Photo, Inc.

Men’s Soccer Takes on No. 23 Cornell for Senior Day

11/7/2025 2:22:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Nine Lions to be honored in pregame ceremony

NEW YORK — The Columbia men's soccer team (3-7-4, 1-4-1 Ivy) will host No. 23 Cornell (11-2-2, 4-1-1 Ivy) in the 2025 season finale on Saturday. Kickoff at Rocco B. Commisso Soccer Stadium is scheduled for 5 p.m.

SENIOR DAY
Columbia will honor its graduating senior class of nine seniors prior to the start of Saturday's game. The senior class consists of Dean Kelliher, Carmine Falco, Alessandro Franciosa, Ryan Yang, Brandon Newman, Christoph Kuttner, Joao Lima, Cy Sokolowski and Jesse Greissman. Eight of the nine seniors are four-year members of the program – Kuttner is a three-year member who transferred in from Radford as a sophomore in 2023. Senior Day ceremonies will begin at approximately 1:45 p.m.

GAME COVERAGE:
Fans unable to make it to the game can watch live on ESPN+. Fans can also track the live stats courtesy of GoColumbiaLions.com. In-game updates will also be provided on the @CULionsMSOC social media accounts.

HOME SWEET HOME
The Lions are an impressive 3-1-2 at home this season. They have scored 13 goals across those six games (2.17 goals per game), including eight over their last two home games. Their most impressive showing came in their last home outing, scoring five times in a 5-1 win over Fordham. It was the most goals Columbia has scored in a game since a 6-0 shutout over Harvard in 2019.

Columbia is outscoring opponents, 13-6, with 81 total shots and a shots on goal percentage of 44.4 percent at home this season. Defensively, they allow an even 1.00 goal per game.

In contrast, the road has not been kind to the Lions. They are 0-6-2 away from home, getting outshot 115-93, putting just 22.6 percent of their shots on goal. Opponents average 1.50 goals against Columbia, put 38.3 percent of their shots on goal, and allow the Lions just 0.63 goals per game.

LAST TIME OUT
Columbia was defeated, 1-0, by Brown last Saturday at Stevenson-Pincince Field in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown scored the game's only goal in the 16th minute. It stemmed from a corner that Stistrup Petersen sent into the box. Columbia goalkeeper Alexander O'Brien punched the inswinger away, but only as far as Greyson Mitchell just outside the area. Michell headed the ball back toward goal and Stefano D'Agostini was there to back-heel it past O'Brien.

Columbia had the majority of possession in the second half and took 10 shots over the final 45 minutes. Ultimately, the equalizer never came.

ABOUT THE LIONS
Columbia has made tremendous strides on the attack this season, scoring 18 goals and averaging 1.29 goals per game. It's the team's most goals in a season since scoring 23 and averaging 1.35 per game in 2019. It's also double the amount of goals (9) that the Lions scored all of last season.

Leading the attack this season is first year Stepan Kapranov with four goals. The Holmdel, New Jersey native has found the back of the net in two of his last three games, scoring in the 5-1 win over Fordham (Oct. 28) and the 3-1 win over Harvard (Oct. 25). He and Jack McDaid are tied for the team lead in points with eight apiece. McDaid owns three goals and two assists. His last goal came on September 28 in a 2-2 draw with Penn. Twelve different Lions have found the back of the net this season.

After senior Dean Kelliher sustained an injury, sophomore Alexander O'Brien has started the last three contests in goal. Opponents have scored once in each of those three games. O'Brien owns a record of 2-2-1 in five starts on the campaign, with 15 saves and a save percentage of 68.2 percent.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Cornell has entered the United Soccer Coaches Poll Top 25 and is looking to keep impressing to bolster its NCAA Tournament resume. The Big Red had a bit of a disappointing result last Saturday, unable to solve Harvard and drawing the Crimson, 0-0. Cornell has 13 points on the Ivy season and needs a draw or a win to lock in the No. 2 seed for next week's Ivy League Tournament.

The Big Red have scored 35 goals and average 2.33 goals per game on the season. Both of those marks lead the Ivy League, ranking 10th nationally in scoring offense and 19th nationally in total goals. Cornell is the national leader in shots on goal per game (8.93), No. 2 in shots per game (19.93), No. 7 in team goals against average (0.600) and No. 8 in goal differential (+26).

The attack is led by Westin Carnevale's six goals. However, Cornell has several goal-scoring threats, as four different players have scored four goals, and another five have scored at least twice. Defensively, Ryan Friedberg has started all 15 contests in goal. He owns a 0.604 goals against average with 30 saves and a save percentage of 76.9 percent. Friedberg owns seven shutouts and ranks No. 10 in the country in goals against average.

THE SERIES
Columbia leads the all-time series, 35-26-13. The last time Cornell visited NYC, the Lions pulled out a 0-0 draw behind a career-high 10 saves by Michael Collodi on his Senior Day.

2025 SEASON NOTES

FIVE-GOAL EXPLOSION
Three days after scoring a season-high three times to defeat Harvard, the Columbia men's soccer team poured in an avalanche of goals in a 5-1 win against Fordham on October 28. Stepan Kapranov put the first away in the game's sixth minute. The next four Columbia goals were all the first of each player's respective collegiate careers, which included sophomore Peter Chang, senior Ryan Yang, sophomore Luke Zielinski and sophomore Will Carnoy. For Carnoy, his goal came just three minutes into his collegiate debut after subbing on in the 81st minute. Columbia rolled off its second straight win, stringing together victories for the first time since 2019. The five goals were also the team's most in a game since 2019.

CASE NAMED OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sophomore midfielder Will Case was named the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week for games played October 20-26. A native of Yarrow Point, Washington, Case helped lead the Lions to a 3-1 victory over Harvard at Rocco B. Commisso Soccer Stadium. First, he assisted Brandon Newman's goal in the 59th minute that opened the scoring. Six minutes later, Case doubled the lead with his first collegiate goal. It was Case's first career Offensive Player of the Week selection, and marked the first time since Antonio Matarazzo and Rhys Williams in 2014 that two different Lions earned Ivy League "Player" of the Week honors in the same season.

MCDAID NAMED OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior midfielder Jack McDaid was named the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week for games played September 22-28. A native of Havertown, Pennsylvania, McDaid scored two goals during the week, one in each of Columbia's matches. His first came at Hofstra, when he blasted home a perfectly placed free kick to cut the Pride's lead in half in the 70th minute. Then, in the Ivy League opener against Penn, he opened the scoring with a left-footed blast from outside the box in the game's 13th minute.

This was the first Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week selection for McDaid. It was the first time a Lion had been named a player of the week for an offensive performance since John Denis in 2019.

RETURNING
The Lions return 22 players from last year's team. Of them, 18 returners played in eight or more matches last season, while 10 players started at least half of last season's 14 matches.

In goal, senior Dean Kelliher returns with the most experience. He started nine matches a year ago in his first season as the primary keeper. It included his first collegiate shutout in a 1-0 victory over the previous season's Ivy League tournament champion, Yale. He would later make a career-high six saves in a one-goal loss to Harvard. Alexander O'Brien played and started four matches in his rookie season. They will both compete for the starting spot alongside first-year Aris Taki.

The defensive half and the back line also return a lot of game experience. Staples to last year's defensive formation included senior Carmine Falco, junior Joe McDaid, junior Jack McDaid, junior Jackson ten Oever and sophomore Andrew Hilton II. All five started at least 12 of 14 matches, with Falco and Joe McDaid starting all 14. Jack McDaid and ten Oever each scored twice and shared the team lead in goals. McDaid was named Second Team All-Ivy League, while ten Oever earned All-Ivy Honorable Mention.

Returners in the attacking half include senior Ryan Yang, senior Joao Lima, sophomore Luke Zielinski and senior Alessandro Franciosa. Those four started at least half of last season's matches with Lima earning one goal and one assist.

Columbia returns 89 percent of its scoring from last season, but will look for an uptick in goal production. They managed to find the back of the net just nine times last season, averaging just 0.64 goals per game. Will Case, Luka Peric, Peter Chang and Andres Garcia also got plenty of experience last season, all playing in 10 or more matches. Garcia came away with a goal and an assist as a rookie.

THE CAPTAINS
Columbia men's soccer announced that its captains for the 2025 season are senior Carmine Falco and junior Jackson ten Oever. Falco has played in 38 matches and started 37 of them heading into his senior year. Last season, he totaled 1,075 minutes on the field and went the full 90 four times. Ten Oever was a 2024 All-Ivy League Honorable Mention and was also named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District Team. He was named Ivy League Player of the Week following his game-winning goal while preserving a shutout against Yale. The Brooklyn native has played and started 27 matches in his career.

THE NEWCOMERS
In late June, Columbia announced the addition of eight new players to the 2025 roster. In the announcement, head coach Michael Casper stated, "We want players that fit the model of what we want Columbia men's soccer to look like – hard-working and technical with the ability to become difference makers."

Among the newcomers are goalkeeper Aris Taki, defenders Conor Owen and Sage Kinner, midfielders Yianni Goulandris, Stepan Kapranov, Oli Sacks and Amir Yahalom, as well as forward Henning Myrvang.

YEAR THREE UNDER CASPER
In what is now his third season leading the Lions, head coach Michael Casper will look to turn the corner and bring the program back to prominence. Last year saw a step in the right direction, when Columbia put an end to a five-year Ivy League winless drought by defeating the 2023 tournament champion Yale, 1-0, at Rocco B. Commisso Soccer Stadium. With key defensive pieces returning, he will look to a talented group of returners and newcomers to increase goal production.

ABOUT COLUMBIA MEN'S SOCCER
The 2025 season marks the 78th varsity season of men's soccer at Columbia University. The program was established in 1906 but discontinued as a varsity sport from 1916-57. The program regained its varsity status in 1957 and played 63 straight seasons until the 2020 campaign was canceled due to COVID.

Columbia men's soccer came to prominence in the late '70s, advancing to their first NCAA Tournament in 1978 before going all the way to the Final Four in 1979. After multiple NCAA Tournament appearances and Ivy League championships through the early '80s, the Lions made a run to the NCAA Tournament Championship Game in 1983. Columbia defeated UConn, 4-0, in the Final Four to take on Indiana for the National Championship. The Hoosiers outlasted Columbia, 1-0, in overtime.

Columbia owns 10 Ivy League championships and 13 NCAA Tournament appearances all-time.

FOLLOW THE LIONS:
For the latest on Columbia men's soccer, be sure to follow the team on Twitter and Instagram (@CULionsMSOC), on Facebook (ColumbiaMensSoccer), or by visiting GoColumbiaLions.com.