GAME INFORMATION
GAME #11: Cornell vs. Yale
DATE: Saturday, Oct. 18, 2008
TIME: 7:00 p.m.
SITE: Ithaca, N.Y. - Berman Field (1,000)
2008 RECORDS: Cornell - 1-9, 0-2 Ivy; Yale - 4-6-1, 0-2 Ivy
SERIES RECORD: Yale leads, 42-22-15
LAST MEETING: Tied, 1-1, on Oct. 13, 2007, in New Haven, Conn.
LIVE STATS: http://sidearmstats.com/cornell/msoc
The Cornell men's soccer team returns to Ivy League play on Saturday night, battling Yale in an Ivy League battle at Berman Field. Both teams are seeking their first Ivy League victory of the season, with the game serving as the second of a Cornell-Yale doubleheader with the women's teams squaring off at 4:30 p.m.
HEAD COACH BRYAN SCALES
In his 11th season directing the Cornell men's soccer program, Bryan Scales has a 61-94-16 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
A pair of late goals provided the cushion for Penn State as the Nittany Lions downed the Big Red, 3-1, on Wednesday night in a non-conference contest at Berman Field. Sophomore Scott Caldwell scored the lone tally for the Big Red, breaking up the shutout with 1.5 seconds remaining in the contest. Senior goalkeeper Steve Lesser, in his first action of the season, made six saves in taking the loss. Senior Joe Yonga added an assist in the loss to Penn State and continues to lead the Cornell offense with five points on two goals and one assist, while sophomore Scott Brody has played the majority of time in goal and has a 2.18 goals-against average and a .622 save percentage.
ABOUT YALE
The Bulldogs lost a non-conference contest against Boston College on Tuesday night, falling on a literal last-second goal as the game-winner was scored as the final horn sounded. The Bulldogs dropped to 4-6-1 on the year and are 0-2 in Ivy League play following identical 1-0 losses at Harvard and Dartmouth. Eric Meyer leads the Yale offense with eight points on three goals and two assists, while Liam Leonard has two goals and three helpers for seven points. In goal, Travis Chulick has played every minute for the Bulldogs, posting a 0.97 goals-against average and a .833 save percentage to go along with four shutouts.
THE SERIES WITH YALE
Yale leads the all-time series, 42-22-15, with the two teams battling to a 1-1 draw last year in New Haven, Conn. In last season's game, Matt Bouraee scored in the 73rd minute, but Yale rallied four minutes later for the equalizer with Eric Meyer finding the back of the net. Cornell's last win in the series came in 2006, a 2-1 victory in Ithaca.
A FLAIR FOR THE DRAMATIC
For 89:58 on Wednesday night against Penn State, it appeared as though the Nittany Lions would escape Berman Field with a shutout victory over the Big Red. That came to a screeching halt with 1.5 seconds showing on the scoreboard clock as sophomore Scott Caldwell slammed home a shot at the back post to put the Big Red on the board. Matt Stengel started the play by sending a ball from near midfield into the penalty area, where it was flicked onto Caldwell by Joe Yonga.
LESSER IS MORE
Senior goalkeeper Steve Lesser made his first appearance in more than a year with Wednesday's first significant action since his sophomore year. Last season, Lesser played in just 1:09, while playing in two games as a sophomore after starting all 15 matches as a freshman in 2005.
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 first goal of the season 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.
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 returns to the road for a three-game road trip, opening up on Tuesday, Oct. 21, with a 7 p.m. contest at Colgate. Cornell also faces Brown and Hartwick before returning to Berman Field for a 4:30 p.m. contest against Princeton on Nov. 1.
