GAME INFORMATION
GAME #5: Cornell vs. Monmouth
DATE: Friday, Sept. 18, 2009
TIME: 5 p.m.
SITE: Princeton, N.J. - Roberts Stadium (2,356)
2009 RECORDS: Cornell - 2-1-1 (0-0-0 Ivy League); Monmouth - 5-0-0 (0-0-0 Northeast)
SERIES RECORD: First meeting
LIVE STATS: goPrincetonTigers.com

GAME #6: Cornell vs. Fairleigh Dickinson
DATE: Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009
TIME: 12 p.m.
SITE: Princeton, N.J. - Roberts Stadium (2,356)
2009 RECORDS: Cornell - 2-1-1 (0-0-0 Ivy League); Fairleigh Dickinson - 2-2-0 (0-0-0 Northeast)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 4-0-0
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 1-0, on Sept. 29, 1999, in Teaneck, N.J.
LIVE STATS: goPrincetonTigers.com

The Cornell men's soccer team will face its toughest test of the 2009 season this weekend, heading to Princeton, N.J., for the Princeton Invitational. Cornell opens the tournament on Friday against nationally ranked Monmouth before facing Fairleigh Dickinson on Sunday.

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 carries a three-game unbeaten streak into the weekend, picking up a win against St. Bonaventure on Sunday in its last time out. Cornell also closed out a three-game road trip to open the season with a 1-1 tie at Canisius. Matt Bouraee and Scott Caldwll lead the Big Red in scoring with four points apiece, with both players tallying one goal and two assists. Five different players have accounted for the five goals scored this year by the Big Red. In goal, Scott Brody has played every minute, posting a 2-1-1 record to go along with a 0.95 goals-against average and a .857 save percentage and one shutout.

ABOUT MONMOUTH
The Hawks are ranked 19th in the nation in this week's NSCAA National poll, moving up five spots after defeating Delaware and American last week. Monmouth has played stifiling defense, allowing only two goals in the five matches this season. Ryan Clark leads the Hawk offense with seven points on two goals and three assists, while both Ryan Kinne and Chase Barbieri have a pair of goals on the year. Bryan Meredith has played every minute in goal for the Hawks, posting a 0.40 goals-against average and a .867 save percentage with three shutouts.

THE SERIES WITH MONMOUTH
Friday's match between the Big Red and the Hawks will mark the first-ever meeting between the two schools in men's soccer.

ABOUT FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON
The Knights enter the weekend with a 2-2 mark and will play Princeton on Friday following Cornell's game against Monmouth. The Knights opened the year with wins over Manhattan and Hofstra before falling in a pair of games last weekend to Cal State Northridge and Cal State Fullerton at the Northridge Tournament. FDU has been a team of two halves, outscoring its opponents, 5-1, in the first half, but being outscored, 5-0, in the second half of games. The Knights are paced offensively by Paul King's three goals and one assist for seven points, while Dominic Reinold has two goals and two assists for six points. Majdi Zaineh has a 1.50 goals-against average and a .714 save percentage while playing every minute for the Knights in goal.

THE SERIES WITH FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON
Cornell and Fairleigh Dickinson have met four times in men's soccer, with the Big Red claiming all four meetings. The two teams have not played since the 1999 season, with Cornell scoring a 1-0 victory in Teaneck, N.J.

IN THE RANKINGS
Cornell goalkeeper Scott Brody appears among the national leaders in both key statistical categories, ranking 40th in the nation with his .857 save percentage and 78th in the country with a .947 goals-against average.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES
After the Big Red went just 1-15 last season, Cornell has already improved upon that mark in 2009. With two wins in the first two weeks of the season, the Big Red has doubled its total from last year. Additionally, the Cornell offense struggled to the tune of just eight goals a year ago - the Big Red has already found the back of the net five times through four games this season.

DUCK DUCK GOOSE-EGG
The Cornell men's soccer team has also yet to be shut out this season, having scored at least once in every game. A year ago, Cornell couldn't avoid the shutout, as the Big Red was blanked 11 times.

COMEBACK KIDS
In both of the last two games, 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.

WORKING LATE
If the last three matches are any indication, there should be no question about the fitness level of the Cornell men's soccer team. In each of the last three matches, 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 Sunday 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 only two shutouts of his career. The first came in his first career start as a freshman in 2007, with the second coming on Monday in Oneonta.

NO PK? NO PROBLEM
When senior Matt Bouraee pushed his penalty kick wide left against Hartwick early in the second half with the score tied at zero, it didn't spell disaster for the Big Red. Despite missing the penalty, Cornell turned up the intensity on offense, and that paid off with Kyle Parsons' game-winner with just under eight minutes to play.

HELPING HANDS
Cornell players have tacked on two assists to both of the Big Red's goals this season, with Scott Caldwell and Ben Kenyon helping on Brett Sumpio's goal against Syracuse and Caldwell and Shane Merriman assisting on Kyle Parsons' goal against Hartwick. In contrast, of the two goals scored by the Big Red's opponents this season, only one assist has been recorded.

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.

INTERNATIONAL STUDENT DAY
The Big Red's Sept. 23 game against Binghamton has been designated as International Student Day, with a flair for the international that evening to celebrate the five countries comprising the Big Red roster in addition to Polish-Canadian head coach Jaro Zawislan.

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
Cornell returns home to open up a two-game home stand next week. The Big Red will face Binghamton on Wed., Sept. 23, at 7 p.m., before facing Long Island on Sun., Sept. 27, at 1 p.m.