ITHACA, N.Y. - The St. Bonaventure men's soccer team jumped out in front in the second half, but was unable to keep the advantage as the on-the-road weekend ended with a tough, 2-1, loss to Cornell on Sunday afternoon at Berman Field.

The loss drops the Bonnies to 1-4 on the season, while Cornell adds another one to the win column, moving to a 2-1-1 record.

"This game was a carbon-copy of our losses to Wright State and Siena. We played well enough to win and actually had the lead," said head coach Mel Mahler. "I give Cornell credit to come back after being down. It's unfortunate that we weren't able to go on the road and hold the lead."

At the 84:39 mark, Cornell's Scott Caldwell's shot on net deflected off the St. Bonaventure defense to go up and under the crossbar past keeper David Flynn to close out the tightly contested game.

A feisty second half saw a 25 of the combined 31 fouls. Each team produced nearly identical offensive statistics. The Big Red edged St. Bonaventure in shots 14-11, while the Brown and White held the advantage in corner kicks 7-5. Flynn earned five saves in the loss.

St. Bonaventure jumped on the board first on a left side run from senior Sam Maheu as Fabrizio Savarino centered himself in front of the net to notch his second goal of the season and move the Bonnies to 1-0 lead, just seven minutes into the second half.

The Brown and White's advantage did not last long as Cornell answered back four minutes later when Matt Bouraee rebounded his post shot to even the score 1-1.

"I'm disappointed that we gave up the lead so soon after going up 1-0," said Mahler. "It's a letdown when you play well enough to win, but you can't keep it at 1-1 to try and focus on an overtime. We need to be able to buckle down defensively and force overtime."

Cornell controlled the first half outshooting the Bonnies 9-4, but the Brown and White had several chances in the Big Red's zone leading the way in corner kicks 4-3.

St. Bonaventure returns to McGraw-Jennings field on Friday, Sept. 18 to face Big 4 rival Canisius. Kick off for Friday's contest is scheduled for 5 p.m.