GAME INFORMATION
GAME #11: Cornell vs. Yale
DATE: Saturday, Oct. 18, 2008
TIME: 4:30 p.m.
SITE: Ithaca, N.Y. - Berman Field (1,000)
2008 RECORDS: Cornell 1-8-1, 0-3 Ivy; Yale 6-5-1. 1-2 Ivy
SERIES HISTORY: Cornell leads, 14-12
LAST MEETING: Yale won, 5-0, on Oct. 13, 2007, in New Haven, Conn.
LIVE STATS: http://sidearmstats.com/cornell/wsoc
Seeking its first Ivy League victory of the season, the Cornell women's soccer team battles Yale on Saturday as the first game of a doubleheader with the Cornell men's team. The women's game against the Bulldogs kicks off at 4:30 p.m. at Berman Field in Ithaca.
HEAD COACH DANIELLE LAROCHE
Danielle LaRoche is in her second season directing the Cornell women's soccer program. The fourth coach in Cornell women's soccer history, LaRoche picked up her first collegiate head coaching victory on Sept. 7, 2007, when the Big Red knocked off Hartford, 1-0, in double overtime in Ithaca, N.Y. She has a career coaching mark of 5-20-1 entering the the weekend. Prior to her arrival at Cornell, LaRoche had stops as an assistant coach at George Mason, Binghamton and Howard. A 1995 graduate of Maryland, LaRoche played two seasons for the Terrapins under April Heinrichs, who would later go on to serve as the head coach of the U.S. Women's National Team. LaRoche is assisted by Allison Cowan, in her second season, and Brighid Wood, in her first season.
ABOUT THE BIG RED
The Big Red enters Saturday's contest with Yale on a five-game losing streak and is 0-3 in Ivy League play for the year. The Big Red has struggled offensively, posting just seven goals through the first 10 games of the season. Cornell is coming off a 3-0 loss at Harvard last weekend in Cambridge, Mass., with freshman goalkeeper Kelly Murphy making a career-best 11 saves in the loss. The Big Red offense is paced by sophomore Lena Russomagno, who has six points on two goals and two assists, while sophomore Cristina Law and freshman Brook Chang both have four points on a pair of goals. In goal, sophomore Jodi Palmer has seen about half the time this season, posting a 2.17 goals-against average and a .718 save percentage, while Murphy has a 1.88 goals-against average and a .815 save percentage. Combined, Cornell's trio of goalkeepers has a 2.39 goals-against average and a .737 save percentage.
ABOUT YALE
The Bulldogs have split their last four matches, going 2-2 over that span, with shutout wins over Bryant and Dartmouth and losses to Princeton and Harvard. Yale has been active on the offensive end, scoring 22 goals in 12 games, while allowing just 14 goals and posting six shutouts. Maggie Westfal leads the Bulldogs with seven goals and five assists for 19 points, while Becky Brown and Emma Whitfield are both in double figures in scoring at 15 and 12 points, respectively. In goal, Ayana Sumiyasu has played the majority of time in goal, posting a 1.21 goals-against average and a .794 save percentage.
THE SERIES WITH YALE
Cornell holds a slim 14-12 lead in the all-time series against the Bulldogs, though Yale won last year's meeting by a 5-0 score in New Haven, Conn. Cornell's last win over Yale came in 2006, scoring a 3-1 victory at Berman Field.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Despite just being halfway into her sophomore season, goalkeeper Jodi Palmer has already climbed into the top 10 with her five career victories. Palmer posted four wins as a freshman last season and picked up win number five in the season opener against Oakland. She is now tied with Katrina Matlin (2003-06) and Taylor Hendren (2005-06) with five wins. Palmer's next victory will move her into a tie for ninth place with Debbie Moreau (1987-90). Sue DeLong holds the career mark with 30 victories from 1990-94.
CLEAN SHEET
Cornell's shutout against Buffalo on Sept. 19 marked the third shutout in the career of sophomore goalkeeper Jodi Palmer. Last season, Palmer posted clean sheets against Hartford and Siena on her way to four victories on the season. One more shutout will move Palmer into a tie for 10th place all-time in Cornell history with Kristin Pepe, who posted four from 1995 through 1997.
AND ANOTHER ON PALMER
Jodi Palmer made a career-best eight saves in the tie against Buffalo on Sept. 19, surpassing her previous high of seven stops, set in her second career game on Sept. 2, 2007, at St. John's. She then bested that mark with nine saves in the Big Red's 3-1 loss at Columbia on Sept. 26.
SHOT STOPPERS
Cornell's trio of goalkeepers have played well this season in terms of making saves, as the three have combined for a 2.39 goals-against average and a .737 save percentage. That second number is the highest save percentage by Cornell goalkeepers as a team since the 2002 tandem of Kristin Lotito and Katie Thomas combined to stop 86.2 percent of the shots they faced on their way to a 9-6-2 record. All three netminders have posted outstanding individual performances, with Murphy's 11 stops at Harvard the team best this season. Bartlett has a season-high eight saves against Colgate on Sept. 28, while Palmer set a career-best with nine saves at Columbia on Sept. 26.
NIFTY NEILSON
Kala Neilson scored her first collegiate point in the Big Red's loss to Colgate on Sept. 28, knocking in a textbook header on a corner kick to put the Big Red ahead, 1-0, in the fifth minute. Normally a defensive midfielder, Neilson is a key target on set pieces, standing 5-9.
TO THE VICTORS GO THE SPOILS
For their efforts in helping the Big Red to a 1-1 mark at the Puma/St. Bonaventure Invitational, both sophomore Lena Russomagno and freshman Brook Chang were selected to the all-tournament team. With Cornell not having played in an in-season tournament last year, this marks the first such honor for both players.
ROAD WORK
Cornell's win on Sept. 5 against Oakland marked the first win away from Berman Field during the short tenure of head coach Danielle LaRoche. The Big Red went 0-8 a year ago away from home, but posted a 4-4 mark on its home turf, including a 4-1 record in non-conference action.
SPEEDY SCORER
Lena Russomagno's goal in the first minute against Oakland on Friday was impressive, but it was not the fastest goal in Cornell women's soccer history, or for that matter, even in the last five years. Jackie Stromberg scored a goal 22 seconds into a match against Syracuse on Oct. 13, 2004, while Molly Easterlin scored a goal 36 seconds in on Sept. 4, 2005, at Robert Morris. The goal did break Russomagno's own personal mark for fastest goal, set on Sept. 14, 2007, against Siena, when she scored at the 2:20 mark of the contest in a 3-0 Big Red win.
NEW YORK STATE OF MIND
While Cornell was on the road several times in the opening month of the 2008 season, last week's game at Harvard was the first trip outside of the state of New York for the Big Red. Cornell's first two games of the year were played in Rochester, and were followed by a four-game home stand. Cornell's only other road games this season were to New York City and to Hamilton, N.Y. The Oct. 11 date marks the latest in Cornell women's soccer history that the Big Red ventured outside of New York State for a match.
AYE, AYE, CAPTAIN
Senior Whitney Stich has been selected as one of three tri-captains for the Big Red in 2008. Joining Stich in wearing the captain's armband will be junior Eva Dixon and sophomore Lena Russomagno.
LATE START
While the Ivy League schools traditionally start after the rest of the nation, the Sept. 5 date for the first game of the 2008 season is the latest Cornell has opened its year since the 2004 season. That year, the Big Red opened at Stony Brook, picking up a 0-0 draw against the Seawolves, on its way to a 4-10-3 overall mark. Still, the Sept. 5 date is not the latest the Big Red has ever had to open a season, as Cornell has begun its season on Sept. 14 three times, most recently in 1996.
ON THE RECRUITING TRAIL
Head coach Danielle LaRoche and assistant Allison Cowan spent countless hours on the road recruiting the incoming class of freshman for 2008, and that hard work paid off with the Big Red's first-ever top-100 recruiting class. Cornell's incoming class was ranked 94th in the nation by SoccerBuzz.com, and was also ranked ninth in the Northeast Region. Additionally, the Big Red was selected as the Ivy League's "hot mover" from 2007 to 2008. The site also singled out a pair of incoming players in Samantha Wright and Brook Chang as key recruits.
BACK FOR MORE
While the newcomers garnered headlines during the offseason, the Big Red will still look to its core of returning players to help the team to success in 2008. Cornell returns a pair of players who were selected honorable mention All-Ivy League last season in junior Eva Dixon and sophomore Lena Russomagno. Dixon struggled with injuries a year ago but still caught the attention of the league's coaches, despite not producing the same numbers she did as a freshman. Russomagno, meanwhile, made a huge impact in her first season, leading the team in goals, assists and points, including recording the 14th hat trick in program history with her three-goal outburst in a 3-2 victory over Lafayette on Sept. 16, 2007.
UP NEXT
Cornell heads to Rhode Island next weekend for a pair of matches. The Big Red takes on Division I newcomer Bryant on Oct. 24, before battling Brown two days later in Providence.
