GAME INFORMATION
GAME #14: Cornell vs. Brown
DATE: Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009
TIME: 7:00 p.m.
SITE: Ithaca, N.Y. - Berman Field (1,000)
2009 RECORDS: Cornell - 5-4-4 (0-1-2 Ivy League); Brown - 7-1-5 (2-1 Ivy League)
SERIES RECORD: Brown leads, 33-19-4
LAST MEETING: Brown won, 2-0, on Oct. 25, 2008, in Providence, R.I.

The Cornell men's soccer team returns to Ivy League action on Saturday, taking on 18th-ranked Brown in a 7 p.m. contest at Berman Field. Cornell is still seeking its first league win of the year after opening conference action with a pair of draws and a loss last weekend to Yale.

HEAD COACH JARO ZAWISLAN
Jaro Zawislan is in his first season directing the Cornell men's soccer program, becoming the 11th head coach in Cornell history. Zawislan, who spent the last seven seasons as an assistant coach at Syracuse, made his collegiate head coaching debut against the Orange, a 2-1 Cornell loss, but picked up his first career win two days later at Hartwick. His coaching career also includes stops at Stanford and Creighton following a decorated playing career at Clemson. A 1993 graduate of Clemson, Zawislan played professionally in both the United States and his native Poland before turning to coaching. He is assisted by Joe Schneck, in his fourth season with the Big Red.

ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell closed out the nonconference portion of the season on Tuesday with a scoreless tie against Lafayette at Berman Field behind 11 saves from freshman goalkeeper Rick Pflasterer. The Big Red has hovered around the .500 mark for the month of October, posting a 1-1-3 record over the month. For the season, senior Matt Bouraee leads the Big Red with 12 points on three goals and a team-best six assists, while sophomore Chase Aaronson has a team-high four goals and nine points. Brody has seen the majority of time in goal, posting a 1.40 goals-against average and a .770 save percentage with two shutouts, while Pflasterer, in limited action, has a 1.13 goals-against average and a .857 save percentage.

ABOUT BROWN
The Bears are ranked in 18th in the nation in this week's NSCAA poll and boast a 7-1-5 mark on the year. Brown's only loss this season came last weekend at the hands of Harvard by a 1-0 score. Most recently, the Bears played to a 1-1 draw with St. John's on Tuesday night in New York City. Brown is paced offensively by Sean Rosa's 13 points on four goals and five assists, while Nick Elenz-Martin has 12 points on five goals and two assists. In all, 11 players have contributed to the 25 goals the Bears have scored, while 13 players have recorded at least one point on the season. In goal, Paul Grandstrand has seen the majority of time, posting a 0.85 goals-against average and a .776 save percentage with three shutouts.

THE SERIES WITH BROWN
The Bears lead the all-time series, 33-19-4, after winning last year's contest, 2-0, on Oct. 25. Brown currently owns a seven-game winning streak over the Big Red, with Cornell's last win over the Bears coming on Oct. 2, 1999, in Providence, R.I. The Big Red has not beaten the Bears in Ithaca since 1992.

QUITE THE DEBUT
Rick Pflasterer had a stellar outing in his first career start on Tuesday against Lafayette. The freshman picked up 11 saves in a scoreless draw to become the second straight Cornell goalkeeper to post a shutout in his first career start. Pflasterer had to work for his shutout, posting five saves during the second 10-minute overtime period alone. Current junior Scott Brody also posted a shutout in his first career start, earning a win against Hartwick in 2007.

THREE'S COMPANY
When the Cornell offense scored three goals in a win over Colgate on Oct. 13, it marked the first time in nearly two full seasons that the Big Red put a trifecta on the board. Cornell's last three-goal game came on Nov. 10, 2007, in a 3-2 overtime victory over Columbia.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!
Cornell has now scored three goals in back-to-back games for the first time in more than two full seasons. Cornell's three goals against Colgate on Oct. 13 and another three at Yale on Oct. 17 gave the Big Red three or more goals for the first time since the 2007 season, when Cornell scored four against IUPUI and three against Albany.

ON TRACK
Cornell sophomore Chase Aaronson has made a huge impact in his first season with the Big Red men's soccer team. The Palm Springs, Calif., native came to Cornell to run on the track and field team, but was added to the men's soccer roster in the preseason. Aaronson, a sprinter on the track team, has used his speed to his advantage, scoring a team-best four goals so far this season, including one goal in two of his last three games.

SHARING THE WEALTH
With the Big Red collecting five wins this season, five different players have recorded a game-winning goal. Matt Bouraee, Chase Aaronson, Scott Caldwell, Kyle Parsons and J.J. Bain each have tallied one game-winner this season. For his career, Bouraee ranks tied for eighth all-time at Cornell with four game-winners.

BALANCING ACT
Cornell has benefitted from a very balanced offensive attack this season, as 12 different players have recorded at least one point. Additionally, 10 different players have accounted for the 18 goals scored this year by the Big Red.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Freshman Ben Kenyon was named the Ivy League's Rookie of the Week on Oct. 12 for his play in the Big Red's tie with Harvard. Kenyon opened up the match by scoring his first career goal in the 10th minute, then helped the Big Red defense shut down the league's leading scorer in Harvard's Andre Akpan. Akpan was held scoreless in the match despite recording seven shots. Kenyon is the first Cornell player to earn league recognition this season.

MUST-SEE CU
With the Ivy League boasting a number of outstanding teams and players, including three teams ranked among the top 25 in the nation in last week's NSCAA poll, it's a bit surprising to see the Big Red ranking third among all Ivy League teams in average attendance. Cornell trails Dartmouth and Brown, averaging 811 and 628 people per match, respectively. On the road, Cornell is clearly the most-watched team, averaging 978 spectators in the four contests away from Ithaca. Cornell is the only school among the eight Ivy League teams to average more than 700 spectators per road game.

DUCK DUCK GOOSE-EGG
A year ago, Cornell couldn't avoid the shutout, as the Big Red was blanked 11 times. This season, that number stands now at two after being shut out against Binghamton on Sept. 23 and again on Oct. 20 against Lafayette.

CLIMBING THE LIST
Senior Matt Bouraee is quickly approaching the all-time top-10 list for career points, as the Manasquan, N.J., native is just one point shy of tying Chris Agoliati for 10th place. Bouraee entered the season with 32 career points and has added 12 so far this year. Bouraee's 44 points currently have him ranked in a tie for 11th all-time at Cornell. Meanwhile, his 17 career goals have him ranked ranked 12th all-time, three goals shy of moving into the top 10.

THE WINNER
With the Big Red's win over Colgate on Oct. 13, Scott Brody has cracked the all-time top 10 for career wins with eight. Brody now is tied with David Weed and Hugh O'Gorman for ninth place all-time, and would move into a tie for eighth place with Luca Cerretani with his next victory.

COMEBACK KIDS
Twice already this season, the Big Red rallied late to get a positive result. On Sept. 11 at Canisius, the Big Red fell behind in the 75th minute, only to tie the game six minutes later to force overtime. Two days later, Cornell rallied from another second half deficit to first tie, then go ahead against St. Bonaventure for the second victory of the year.

SECOND HALF TEAM
The Big Red has excelled in the second half of games this season, scoring 13 of the 18 goals after halftime. Three times this season, the Big Red has scored a goal in the final 10 minutes of the game to give the Big Red a needed result. The trend began on Sept. 7 at Hartwick when Kyle Parsons scored with just under eight minutes left for the 1-0 victory. Four days later, Matt Bouraee scored his first goal of the season in the 81st minute to give the Big Red a 1-1 tie at Canisius. Then, on Sept. 13 against St. Bonaventure, Scott Caldwell scored his first goal of the year with five and a half minutes left for a 2-1 win over the Bonnies.

LOVING HARTWICK
Junior goalkeeper Scott Brody likely couldn't be blamed if he wanted to play Hartwick every week. In two career games against the Hawks, Brody has a pair of shutouts against Hartwick. The first came in his first career start as a freshman in 2007, with the second coming on Sept. 7 in Oneonta. Brody added his third career clean sheet on Sept. 20 against Fairleigh Dickinson.

FOR STARTERS
Cornell is 33-23-8 in season openers dating back to the 1946 season. The 2009 season marked the third time that Cornell opened a season against Syracuse, with Cornell now holding a 2-1 lead against the Orange in season openers.

FOREIGN INFLUENCE
Five different countries are represented on the 2009 Cornell men's soccer roster, with the United States (24), Canada (2), Brazil (1), Bulgaria (1) and China (1) claiming team members.

NATIONAL APPEAL
Among the 24 players on the Cornell roster from the United States, the Big Red has drawn heavily from New York and New Jersey to fill out the roster. The Garden State leads all states with seven players calling New Jersey home, while six players reside in New York. Illinois, Ohio and Massachusetts each have two players, while Arizona, California, Connecticut, Indiana and Michigan have a single player on the Cornell roster.

UP NEXT
The Big Red takes to the road for an Ivy League contest at Princeton on Saturday, Oct. 21, at 7 p.m. in Princeton, N.J.