GAME INFORMATION
GAME #1: Cornell at Syracuse
DATE: Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009
TIME: 7 p.m.
SITE: Syracuse, N.Y. - SU Soccer Stadium (1,500)
2009 RECORDS: Cornell - 0-0-0 (0-0-0 Ivy League); Syracuse - 0-1-0 (0-0-0 Big East)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 39-21-6
LAST MEETING: Syracuse won, 2-0, on Sept. 7, 2005, in Syracuse, N.Y.
LIVE STATS: http://livestats.internetconsult.com/syracuse/msoc/

GAME #2: Cornell at Hartwick
DATE: Monday, Sept. 7, 2009
TIME: 7 p.m.
SITE: Oneonta, N.Y. - Elmore Field (2,000)
2009 RECORDS: Cornell - 0-0-0 (0-0-0 Ivy League); Hartwick - 1-0-0 (0-0-0 Mid-American)
SERIES RECORD: Hartwick leads, 12-29-4
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 1-0, on Nov. 7, 2007, in Ithaca, N.Y.
LIVE STATS: none

The Cornell men's soccer team opens the Jaro Zawislan era with a pair of road games against Central New York foes this weekend. The Big Red will take on Syracuse in the season opener on Saturday before heading to Hartwick for a special Labor Day contest against the Hawks on Monday. Both games will begin at 7 p.m.

HEAD COACH JARO ZAWISLAN
Jaro Zawislan begins 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, will make his collegiate head coaching debut against his former team. 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 enters the Jaro Zawislan era with a young squad that features nine freshmen and six sophomores as the process to rebuild the program gets underway. In all, 11 new faces grace the Big Red roster. Still, the Big Red is not lacking in quality veterans, as Cornell returns its leading scorer from a year ago in senior Matt Bouraee, and its top goalkeeper in junior Scott Brody. Last season, Bouraee scored six points on three goals, tallying nearly half of the eight goals scored on the year. In goal, Brody posted a 2.27 goals-against average to pace the three netminders who saw time and added a .636 save percentage.

ABOUT SYRACUSE
The Orange opened up the 2009 season on Tuesday night, dropping a 3-2 contest at Binghamton. Seniors Hansen Woodruff and Tom Perevegyencev scored goals for Syracuse in the contest, while goalkeeper Evan Johnson made two saves in his first collegiate start.

THE SERIES WITH SYRACUSE
Cornell leads the all-time series against the Orange, 39-21-6, though the two programs have not met since the 2005 season, a 2-0 Syracuse victory. Syracuse is currently riding a three-game winning streak against the Big Red, with Cornell's last victory in the series coming in the 2001 season, a 2-1 double-overtime victory in Syracuse.

ABOUT HARTWICK
Hartwick began the 2009 season with a 1-0 victory over Fordham on Wednesday night, using Michael Cunningham's first-half goal as the difference. The Hawks got three saves from goalkeeper Jeremy Vuolo for the victory. Hartwick will Marist on Friday night before taking on the Big Red on Monday in Oneonta.

THE SERIES WITH HARTWICK
Hartwick holds a 29-12-4 lead in the all-time series between the two schools, though the Big Red won the last meeting, a 1-0 victory in Ithaca during the 2007 season. The two teams were scheduled to play last year but the game was called off due to a late October snowstorm.

TO THE OPPOSITE BENCH
Head coach Jaro Zawislan will make his collegiate coaching debut in a familiar place at the Syracuse Soccer Stadium, though for the first time in the last eight years, he'll be standing in front of the opposing bench. Zawislan had served as an assistant coach to Syracuse mentor Dean Foti before being named as the Big Red's head coach in April.

FOR STARTERS
Cornell is 33-22-8 in season openers dating back to the 1946 season. This year will mark the third time that Cornell and Syracuse have met in the season opener for the Big Red, with the first two coming in 1955 and 1965. Cornell won both of those two contests.

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 Cornell men conclude a three-game road trip to start the 2009 season, traveling to Canisius for a 7 p.m. game on Friday, Sept. 11, before opening the home portion of the season on Sunday, Sept. 13, against St. Bonaventure at 4 p.m. at Berman Field.