GAME INFORMATION
GAME #5: Colgate at Cornell
DATE: Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2009
TIME: 7 p.m.
SITE: Ithaca, N.Y. - Berman Field (1,000)
2009 RECORDS: Cornell - 0-3-1 (0-0-0 Ivy League); Colgate - 1-3-2 (0-0-0 Patriot)
SERIES RECORD: Colgate leads, 14-13-3
LAST MEETING: Colgate won, 3-2, in 2OT on Sept. 28, 2008, in Hamilton, N.Y.
LIVE STATS: http://sidearmstats.com/cornell/wsoc/

GAME #6: Cornell vs. William & Mary
DATE: Friday, Sept. 18, 2009
TIME: 5 p.m.
SITE: Fairfax, Va. - George Mason Stadium (5,000)
2009 RECORDS: Cornell - 0-3-1 (0-0-0 Ivy League); William & Mary - 4-2-0 (0-0-0 Colonial)
SERIES RECORD: William & Mary leads, 2-1
LAST MEETING: William & Mary won, 5-0, on Oct. 29, 1988 in Williamsburg, Va.
LIVE STATS: http://www.gomason.com

GAME #7: Cornell vs. George Mason
DATE: Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009
TIME: 2:30 p.m.
SITE: Fairfax, Va. - George Mason Stadium (5,000)
2009 RECORDS: Cornell - 0-3-1 (0-0-0 Ivy League); George Mason - 5-1-0 (0-0-0 Colonial)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 2-1
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 2-0, on Oct. 13, 1995, in Fairfax, Va.
LIVE STATS: http://www.gomason.com

A busy week awaits the Cornell women's soccer team as it will play three games in the next five days, including a pair of games against regionally ranked opponents. The week begins with a Wednesday night contest against Central New York rival Colgate at 7 p.m. at Berman Field. Cornell then takes to the road, heading to northern Virginia for the George Mason Invitational this weekend. The Big Red will face two difficult opponents in William & Mary and in the host Patriots, as both squads are ranked in the Mid-Atlantic region in this week's NSCAA poll.

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 6-27-2. 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
A young team featuring just six seniors and two juniors, the Cornell women's soccer team has played well in the first four games of the season, but has yet to break into the win column, opening 0-3-1. After opening the year with a scoreless tie against Binghamton on Sept. 4, the Big Red has dropped three straight games, including a crushing 1-0 loss on Sunday at home to Manhattan. Sophomore Sidra Bonner has scored both of the Big Red's goals this season off of corner kicks, with classmate Sam Wright and freshman Xandra Hompe both picking up one assist on the year. Cornell has actually outshot its opponents this year, but have struggled with finishing, scoring just two goals while allowing eight. Sophomore goalkeeper Kelly Murphy has played in three games, posting a 1.55 goals-against average and a .737 save percentage, while classmate Megan Bartlett has appeared in the other contest, allowing three goals and posting three saves.

ABOUT COLGATE
After opening the year with a shutout win over Buffalo, the Raiders have gone 0-3-2 since, earning ties against Oregon and Marist while losing to Niagara, Denver and Syracuse. Colgate has played solid defense, allowing more than one goal just once this season. Maddie Malone leads the team in scoring with two of the five Colgate goals for four points, while Jamie Herrmann has a goal and an assist for three points. In goal, Ashley Walsh has played all but eight minutes for the Raiders, posting a 0.92 goals-against average and an .893 save percentage.

THE SERIES WITH COLGATE
Cornell's most frequent opponent in women's soccer, the Big Red and Raiders will meet for the 31st time on Wednesday. Colgate won last season's meeting, 3-2 in double overtime on Sept. 26 in Hamilton, N.Y., to give the Raiders a 14-13-3 lead in the all-time series.

ABOUT WILLIAM & MARY
Receiving votes in the NSCAA National Top 25, the Tribe is also ranked second in the Mid-Atlantic region by the NSCAA. William & Mary enters the weekend with a 4-2 markand is coming off a 3-0 victory over Coastal Carolina on Friday. The Tribe has additional wins over Monmouth, Brigham Young and Utah with losses to Charlotte and UC Santa Barbara. Erin Liberatore leads a balanced William & Mary attack with three goals for a team-best six points, though seven different players have accounted for the 10 goals scored by the Tribe this season. In all, 10 different players have recorded at least one point. In goal, Grace Barnard has played all but 14 minutes, posting a 1.16 goals-against average and a .788 save percentage with one shutout.

THE SERIES WITH WILLIAM & MARY
Cornell and William & Mary have met three times previously in women's soccer, but not since the 1988 season. Cornell took the first meeting, a 2-0 win in 1985, before the Tribe claimed the next two matches, a 1-0 overtime win in 1987 and a 5-0 victory the following season.

ABOUT GEORGE MASON
Like William & Mary, George Mason is ranked in the NSCAA Mid-Atlantic region, taking the seventh spot in this week's regional rankings. The Patriots are coming off an 8-1 thrashing of Coastal Carolina on Sunday, while also having beaten UC Santa Barbara last week by a 3-1 score. The Patriots enter the week with a 5-1 mark, with the lone blemish coming at the hands of Penn by a 3-1 margin on Sept. 4. The Patriots feature a potent offense, having scored 25 goals while allowing just five through six games. Omolyn Davis leads three players in reaching double figures already, with six goal and an assist for 13 points, while Kelly Keelan has four goals and five assists for 13 points and Tiana Kallenberger has four goals and three assists for 11 points. Three players have split time in goal, with Katie Frey seeing the majority of time. Frey has a 0.94 goals-against average and a .778 save percentage to go along with her 4-1 record and a shutout.

THE SERIES WITH GEORGE MASON
The Big Red and Patriots have met three times in women's soccer, with Cornell holding a 2-1 lead in the all-time series. The last meeting between the two schools came in 1998, when the Patriots scored a 2-0 victory. Incidentally, this will mark the second time that the Big Red has participated at George Mason's tournament, with the first coming in 1995. That season, Cornell opened with a 2-0 win over the host Patriots before falling to Maryland by a 5-0 score.

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 against Binghamton on Sept. 4, 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 Moonie Mancho, Renee Tornatore and Kristina Jackson both made their collegiate debuts against the Purple Eagles.Hompe, Crowell, Chitanvis, Labadie and Gabrio have each seen action in all four of the Big Red's games this season.

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
Following the trip to the George Mason Tournament, the Big Red returns home for a Friday night game against Columbia to open the Ivy League slate. The Big Red will take on the Lions at 7 p.m. on Sept. 25.