GAME INFORMATION
GAME #5: Albany at Cornell
DATE: Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2008
TIME: 7:00 p.m.
SITE: Ithaca, N.Y. - Berman Field (1,250)
2008 RECORDS: Albany - 3-2; Cornell - 0-4
SERIES RECORD: Series tied, 1-1-0
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 3-2, on Sept. 9, 2008, in Hamilton, N.Y.
LIVE STATS: http://sidearmstats.com/cornell/msoc
After playing each of its first four matches away from home, the Cornell men's soccer team will make its Berman Field debut on Wednesday night, playing host to Albany in a 7 p.m. non-conference matchup.
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 60-89-16 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
The Big Red dropped two games last weekend at the Bucknell Days Inn Classic in Lewisburg, Pa., falling to the host Bison on Friday by a 3-0 score before falling to New Hampshire on Sunday, 2-1. Sophomore goalkeeper Scott Brody made the start in goal in both games for the Big Red, making three saves against Bucknell and four against New Hampshire. Senior Joe Yonga scored his first career goal in the loss to the Wildcats, heading home a corner kick from classmate Kevin Vieira in the 89th minute of the match.
ABOUT ALBANY
The Great Danes are 3-2 on the young season but, after opening the season with three straight wins, have now dropped two in a row at San Diego State and Rhode Island. Albany's offense has scored eight goals through the first give games, but the Great Danes have also allowed 10 over that span, with six coming against San Diego State alone. Claudio Dantas has four goals and three assists for a team-best 11 points for Albany, while Shaun Kane has a pair of goals on the year to go along with an assist. In goal, Steward Ceus has played in three matches, posting a 1.33 goals-against average and a .765 save percentage, while Adrian Foncette has appeared in the other two games, posting a 3.00 goals-against average and a .684 save percentage. Both netminders have one shutout on the season.
THE SERIES WITH ALBANY
The two teams have met just twice in men's soccer, with each side taking one victory. Cornell's win came last season in the opening round of the Colgate adidas Soccer Classic in Hamilton, N.Y., a 3-2 Big Red victory behind an overtime game-winner from Matt Bouraee.
YONGA AT HEART
Senior tri-captain Joe Yonga scored his first career goal in the loss against New Hampshire on Sunday. Yonga, who has played primarily in the back and in the midfield for the Big Red, appeared in 44 games before scoring in his 45th against the Wildcats. He has a pair of assists from his freshman year, giving him a total of four points for his Cornell career.
AND THE AWARD GOES TO....
Senior Joe Yonga and junior J.J. Bain were both selected to the all-tournament team last weekend 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.
BRODY IN GOAL
Sophomore Scott Brody has made a move to make himself the number one option in goal for the Big Red, as he has started in each of the last three games. Brody has a 2.33 goals-against average and a .650 save percentage in 270 minutes this season.
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.
DEEP END OF THE POOL
Cornell coach Bryan Scales has always stressed the need for a deep roster of players, and that philosophy showed during the first weekend of the season as 21 of the 28 players on the roster have seen time in the first four games of the year. Of the 21 players that have made an appearance this season, all have played in at least two games.
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.
ONE SOLID SEASON
Junior Matt Bouraee exploded onto the scene a year ago with nine goals and four assists to lead the Big Red on his way to second-team All-Ivy League honors. The outburst for Bouraee not only was far above his performance of his freshman season, in which he scored a pair of goals, but was also just two points shy of tying him for the ninth-best individual season in Cornell men's soccer history. Bouraee had 22 points, two shy of the 24 put up by Derl Derr (1950), Jim Rice (1977) and Adam Skumawitz (2000). Additionally, his nine goals were one shy of tying him with six other players for 10th place all-time in Cornell history.
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 two contests so far this season.
MILESTONE WATCH
Cornell head coach Bryan Scales is now fourth among all coaches in Big Red men's soccer history with 60 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's brief stop at home ends with Wednesday's match against Albany as the Big Red takes to the road again to face Lafayette in a non-conference contest on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Easton, Pa.
