GAME INFORMATION
GAME #3: Cornell at Lehigh
DATE: Friday, Sept. 11, 2009
TIME: 7 p.m.
SITE: Bethlehem, Pa. - Ulrich Sports Complex (1,000)
2009 RECORDS: Cornell - 0-1-1 (0-0-0 Ivy League); Lehigh - 2-1-1 (0-0-0 Patriot)
SERIES RECORD: Lehigh leads, 1-0-0
LAST MEETING: Lehigh won, 1-0, on Sept. 14, 2008, in Ithaca, N.Y.
LIVE VIDEO: www.LehighSports.com

GAME #4: Manhattan at Cornell
DATE: Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009
TIME: 1 p.m.
SITE: Ithaca, N.Y. - Berman Field (1,000)
2009 RECORDS: Cornell - 0-1-1 (0-0-0 Ivy League); Manhattan - 2-2-0 (0-0-0 MAAC)
SERIES RECORD: First meeting
LIVE STATS: http://sidearmstats.com/cornell/wsoc/

The Cornell women's soccer team seeks its first win of the 2009 season when it travels to Lehigh on Friday for a 7 p.m. contest against the Mountain Hawks in Bethlehem, Pa. The Big Red then returns home for a Sunday contest against Manhattan at Berman Field.

HEAD COACH DANIELLE LAROCHE
Danielle LaRoche is in her third 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 6-25-2. 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 Elke Reisdorph, in her first season with the Big Red.


ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell opened the 2009 season last Friday with a scoreless tie against Binghamton at Berman Field before dropping a Sunday contest to Niagara, 3-1. Sophomore Sidra Bonner scored her first career goal off a corner kick from classmate Samantha Wright, the first career point for Wright. Sophomore Kelly Murphy made six saves in the scoreless draw on Friday for her second career shutout, while classmate Megan Bartlett stopped three shots in taking the loss on Sunday against the Purple Eagles. Cornell has held a statistical edge in every category this season except goals, including out-shooting its opponents by a 28-26 margin through the first two matches.

ABOUT LEHIGH
The Mountain Hawks are 2-1-1 on the year after picking up a win against Albany on Sunday in Albany, N.Y. Lehigh also has a win over Nebraska to open the season, while losing to Virginia Tech and tying La Salle. Natalie Hojnacki and Liz Carlos lead the Mountain Hawk offense with three points each, while four different players have tallied a goal this year. Goalkeeper Lauren Mains has played every minute this season, posting a 0.47 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage with a pair of shutouts.

THE SERIES WITH LEHIGH
Cornell and Lehigh met for the first time last year at Berman Field, with the Mountain Hawks leaving Ithaca with a 1-0 victory.

ABOUT MANHATTAN
The Jaspers enter the weekend with a 2-2 record, scoring wins over Rober Morris and Fairleigh Dickinson while dropping games to Marshall and Holy Cross. The Jaspers have been potent on offense, scoring seven goals in the two games, including a pair of three-goal outbursts, but the defense has also allowed seven goals, including two goals in each of the past three games. Manhattan will play at Columbia on Friday night before taking on the Big Red on Sunday. Manhattan's offense is paced by Caroline Morse, who has four goals and two assists for 10 points through four games. In goal, Kara Davis has seen most of the action, allowing four goals for a 1.60 goals-against average and a .667 save percentage.

THE SERIES WITH MANHATTAN
Sunday's match will mark the first-ever meeting between the Big Red and the Jaspers.

INTO THE SCORING COLUMN
Sophomore Sidra Bonner scored her first career goal in the Big Red's loss to Niagara on Sunday, adding to the one assist she recorded last season. Classmate Samantha Wright tallied an assist on Bonner's goal for her first career point.

NO GOALS
When Cornell opened with a scoreless tie against Binghamton on Sept. 4, it marked the first time Cornell had posted a shutout in the season opener since a 2-0 win over St. Bonaventure in 2005. The scoreless tie to begin the season was the first since the 2004 season when Cornell drew with Stony Brook.

NEW FACES
When the Big Red made its season debut last Friday, freshman Jayann Gabrio was in the starting lineup, one of five freshmen to see action in the opener. Hannah Labadie, Megan Crowell, Xandra Hompe and Maneesha Chitanvis all came on as reserves against the Bearcats. Hompe and Crowell then found themselves in the starting lineup two days later at Niagara, while Renee Tornatore and Kristina Jackson both made their collegiate debuts against the Purple Eagles.

FOR STARTERS
Cornell has had great success in the 27 season openers in the program's history, picking up a 16-7-4 mark in the first game of the season. The Big Red is 1-1-1 in season openers under Danielle LaRoche, losing the first game of her tenure with the Big Red at Hofstra in 2007, but scoring a win over Oakland last year in Rochester, N.Y., and tying this year's opener against Binghamton.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Junior Lena Russomagno is quietly approaching the all-time top 10 in several offensive categories and could crack several career lists with a strong season in 2009. Russomagno enters the season with eight goals and seven assists for 23 points and is seven goals, four assists and 17 points shy of reaching the top 10 in each of those categories. Russomagno is capable of posting those types of numbers, as she tallied six goals as a freshman and five assists last season, with the five assists coming just shy of tying the all-time mark in a single season.

NATIONAL APPEAL
When Danielle LaRoche explains the recruiting efforts to bring together the 2009 team as searching far and wide, she's not kidding. The Big Red has 16 states and one Canadian province represented on the 2009 roster, with no state having more than three players who call that location home. California and Virginia both have three players on the Cornell roster, while Florida, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey and Ohio each have two representatives. Other states claiming an interest in the Big Red roster are Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, New York and Texas.

UP NEXT
The Big Red heads to Northern Virginia to play at the George Mason Invitational next weekend, facing William and Mary on Sept. 18 before battling the host Patriots two days later.