GAME INFORMATION
GAME #10: Cornell vs. Penn State
DATE: Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008
TIME: 7:00 p.m.
SITE: Ithaca, N.Y. - Berman Field (1,000)
2008 RECORDS: Cornell - 1-8, 0-2 Ivy; Penn State- 3-7-2, 1-2 Big Ten
SERIES RECORD: Penn State leads, 9-2-3
LAST MEETING: Penn State won, 2-1, in 2OT, on Oct. 23, 2007, in State College, Pa.
LIVE STATS: http://sidearmstats.com/cornell/msoc

Coming off a pair of Ivy League contests, the Cornell men's soccer team steps out of conference play on Wednesday night, playing host to Penn State in a 7 p.m. match at Berman Field in Ithaca.

HEAD COACH BRYAN SCALES
In his 11th season directing the Cornell men's soccer program, Bryan Scales has the Big Red primed for a push to the NCAA tournament in 2008. He has a 61-93-16 career record as the head coach of the Big Red. In 2001, Scales was named the New York Region Coach of the Year after leading the Big Red to a 9-4-3 overall mark and a No. 22 national ranking. Scales, a 1991 graduate of Hartwick College, was a four-year letterman with the Hawks and a two-year starter, helping Hartwick to a pair of NCAA tournament berths. He is assisted by Joe Schneck, in his third year, and Nenad "Ziggy" Zigante, in his sixth season.

ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell fell to 0-2 in the Ivy League with a 2-0 loss at Harvard on Saturday. The Crimson scored a goal in each half to send the Big Red to the defeat, while sophomore goalkeeper Scott Brody picked up a pair of saves. Senior Joe Yonga continues to lead the Cornell offense with four points on two goals, while Brody has a 2.18 goals-against average and a .622 save percentage.

ABOUT PENN STATE
Penn State snapped a four-game losing skid on Saturday with a 3-2 victory over #17 Ohio State in State College, Pa. Penn State has faced four ranked opponents, going 1-3 against those teams this season. Treavor Gelsinger leads the Nittany Lion offense with six points on three goals, while Corey Hertzog has two goals and two assists for six points. In goal, Liam Fitzwater has played 10 of the 12 contests, posting a 1.34 goals-against average and a .741 save percentage with three shutouts.

THE SERIES WITH PENN STATE
The Nittany Lions lead the all-time series, 9-2-3, and claimed last year's meeting in State College, Pa., 2-1 in overtime. Kevin Vieira scored the goal for the Big Red off a pass from Dan McKallagat, but Penn State got the game-winning goal with 1:52 remaining in the second overtime session. Cornell's last win in the series came in 2001, a 3-1 victory on Oct. 10 at Berman Field. In between, the Nittany Lions have claimed three straight victories.

BREAKING INTO THE SCORING COLUMN
Sophomore Scott Caldwell and freshman Pedro Pereira both found themselves in the goal column on the season stat sheet after the Oct. 4 game against Penn. Caldwell scored his goal in the first half to tie the score at one, while Pereira tallied his goal with 30 minutes remaining in the match to give the Big Red a 2-1 lead. For both players, the goal was the first of their Cornell careers.

NEW SCORERS
Of the four different players to score a goal for the Big Red, prior to this season, only one - junior Matt Bouraee - had previously tallied a goal in his collegiate career. Senior Joe Yonga, sophomore Scott Caldwell and freshman Pedro Pereira have each recorded their first career goals this season.

SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST
Senior Joe Yonga entered his final season in a Big Red uniform without having scored a goal, but he has already struck for a pair of tallies this season to lead the Cornell offense. Yonga, who has played nearly every position on the field for Cornell during his time on East Hill, scored the season's first goal against New Hampshire and then tallied the game-winner against Lafayette.

COMING UP HUGE
In soccer, penalty kicks are sometimes considered something of a formality, but that has not been the case for Cornell's opponents this season. Sophomore goalkeeper Scott Brody has saved a pair of kicks from the penalty spot, first recording a stop on Sept. 17 against Albany before making another save on a penalty kick against Lafayette four days later. Opponents are 0-for-2 against the Big Red this season in penalty kicks, while the Big Red has yet to be awarded a penalty kick.

AND THE AWARD GOES TO....
Senior Joe Yonga and junior J.J. Bain were both selected to the all-tournament team on Sept. 12 at the Days Inn Classic for their play against Bucknell and New Hampshire. Yonga scored the lone goal for the Big Red off a corner kick in the loss to New Hampshire, while Bain was solid in the midfield for the Big Red. For Yonga, this marks the second time in his career he has earned all-tournament team honors, as he was named to that spot as a junior when the Big Red won the UK Nike Soccer Classic in Lexington, Ky., to open the 2007 season.

FOREIGN INFLUENCE
Cornell's roster in 2008 has a pair of players who hail from overseas, as senior David Browning and freshman Pedro Pereira are natives of Belgium and Brazil, respectively.

WEST COAST BLUES
Cornell's third-ever trip to the West Coast ended with losses to Cal and Stanford, dropping the Big Red's all-time record on the left coast to 2-4-0. Cornell went 1-1 on its last trip to Cal and Stanford in 1991, then played in a tournament in Oregon in 2004, where it defeated Gonzaga, 1-0, but fell to Oregon State, 5-0.

AYE, AYE, CAPTAIN
A trio of seniors will serve as captains for the Big Red this season. David Browning, Jarid Siegel and Joe Yonga will share the captain's armband this year.

TOUGH BREAK FOR SIEGEL
Jarid Siegel, who was granted a fifth year of eligibility by the Ivy League after missing the 2006 and 2007 seasons due to injury, will miss his third straight season after suffering yet another injury during the summer. Despite the injury, Siegel served as a captain in 2007 and has again been selected to that role in 2008.

HOMEWARD BOUND
The season opening trip to California was a homecoming for Cornell senior Ed Chang, who hails from Palo Alto. Chang has appeared in eight games for the Big Red over the past three seasons after missing the 2005 year due to injury, and has appeared in four contests so far this season.

MILESTONE WATCH
Cornell head coach Bryan Scales is currently fourth among all coaches in Big Red men's soccer history with 61 career victories. Scales trails only Jack Writer (91), Nicholas Bawlf (86) and Dave Sarachan (64) in career coaching wins. Additionally, Scales is in his 11th season, marking the third-longest tenure of any coach in Cornell history. Only Bawlf (27 seasons) and Writer (13 seasons) were on the Cornell sidelines longer.

UP NEXT
Cornell remains at home to take on Yale in a 7 p.m. contest at Berman Field as the Big Red returns to Ivy League play. Saturday's game is the second game of a doubleheader involving the Cornell women's soccer team.