ITHACA, N.Y. – It's crunch time now. Cornell remains on top of the Ivy League with just two games to go and controls its own destiny. Its next step toward a conference title comes Saturday at Dartmouth.

MATCH INFORMATION
MATCH #15: Cornell at Dartmouth
MATCH TIME: Saturday, Nov. 5, 5 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Burnham Field (Hanover, N.H.)
SERIES RECORD: Dartmouth leads 33-26-5
LAST MEETING: Dartmouth won 1-0 on Nov. 6, 2010
2011 RECORDS: Cornell (8-1-5, 3-0-2 Ivy League); Dartmouth (7-4-3, 3-1-1 Ivy League)
LIVE STATS: Dartmouth Athletics
LIVE VIDEO:  Dartmouth Athletics (subscription required)

ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell remains on top of the Ivy League with two games to go and is eyeing its first league championship since 1995. A win against Dartmouth could clinch a share of the league title if other results go Cornell's way over the weekend, but the team knows its best chance to win the conference is taking care of its own business by earning victories in its final two games.

HEAD COACH JARO ZAWISLAN
The 2011 season is Jaro Zawislan's third at the helm of the Big Red. He racked up a 10-14-10 record in his first two seasons, improving a team that finished 1-15 in 2008 to 6-6-5 in 2009. He earned his first Cornell victory on Sept. 7, 2009 against Hartwick and his 10th on Oct. 12, 2010 at Colgate. Zawislan, a native of Poland, played soccer for four years at Clemson and then spent time professionally in the United States and Poland. His first college coaching job was at Creighton in 1999.

ABOUT DARTMOUTH
The Big Green, based in Dartmouth, N.H., enter Saturday's game with a 7-4-3 record and a 3-1-1 mark in the Ivy League that is good for second place overall. Dartmouth is coming off a 1-1 tie against league cellar dweller Harvard last weekend yet also controls its own destiny in the league. Lucky Mkosana leads the team with nine goals and an assist.

The Big Green is coached by Jeff Cook, who is in the 11th season of coaching the team.  His alma mater is Bates.

THE SERIES WITH DARTMOUTH
Cornell and Dartmouth have squared off 64 times over the years, and the  Big Green holds a narrow 33-26-5 lead in the series. The  Big Red has not beaten the Big Green since 2006, and last year Dartmouth won 1-0. In that game, Andrew Olsen scored in the 11th minute and the Big Red was unable to get an equalizer.

BREAKING THE BERMAN RECORD
Cornell's last home game on Oct. 22 against Brown saw 983 fans in attendance, 22 more than ever before at Berman Field. With $5 for every fan in attendance going to cure pediatric cancer, the team raised nearly $5,000 during the game.

A WIN WOULD…
…clinch a share of the Ivy League title for Cornell IF Brown and Yale tie AND Columbia does not beat Harvard…give Cornell its first victory against Dartmouth since 2006…extend the team's already school-record unbeaten streak to 14 games…put the Big Red eight games over .500 for the first time since Nov. 16, 1996.

NATIONAL RANKINGS
In the NCAA's newest Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) numbers released Tuesday, Cornell sits at No. 61.
CollegeSoccerNews.com has Cornell coming in at No. 25. TopDrawerSoccer.com, whose rankings system aims to project the 48 teams which will make the NCAA Tournament, also lists the Big Red among its teams for the first time this year. Cornell rose this week from No. 42 to No. 41.

DRAWING A BLANK
The Big Red has already recorded seven shutouts this season, a number that is tied for second in a single season in Cornell history. The all-time record, eight, would be tied with one more shutout.

TWO-TIME PLAYER OF THE WEEK
After scoring the game-winning goal late against Colgate and earning another goal on Saturday against Yale, sophomore striker Daniel Haber was once again named the Ivy League's player of the week. Haber also earned Ivy League Co-Player of the Week honors for the week of Sept. 18-25. He scored the game-winning goal against St. Joseph's on Sept. 23 and also earned two assists on Sept. 21 against Binghamton. Haber became the Red's first Player of the Week winner since midfielder Brian Kuritzky on Sept. 4, 2007.

Haber leads the team with 50 shots, which is good for third in the Ivy League. He also tops the Big Red with 21 shots on goal, eight goals, three game-winning goals and 20 points. Those 20 points are best in the conference. He has also taken and converted the only penalty kick for Cornell this year.

TWO-TIME ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
For scoring the game-winning goal against Hofstra just four minutes into the contest, Goepel was named the Ivy League's Rookie of the Week for the week of Sept. 10-17. Goepel, a midfielder from Chatham, N.J., has played in all 13 games for the Big Red this year, starting in five. He has racked up 13 shots, including six on goal, and has scored three times. Goepel looks to be a promising contributor to Cornell soccer for years to come.

PROLIFIC SCORERS
Goepel's goal against St. Bonaventure on Sept. 26 was the team's 14th of the season. That total is one more than the offense's entire output from the 2010 campaign. The Big Red remains on pace to more than double its number of goals from last year, and it currently has 23. Cornell is tied for the most goals among the Ivy League with Penn and Princeton.

BRICK WALL
Goalkeeper Rick Pflasterer's overall goals against average continues to hover among the lowest in the country. His current goals against average of 0.60 is now 11th-best in the nation through last weekend's games. That average is also best in the Ivy League. His 0.55 GAA in conference games is tops among the Ancient Eight. Pflasterer earned clean sheets in seven of his last 11 outings. The team had a streak of 501 minutes without allowing a goal until the 87th minute of the St. Bonaventure game, and Pflasterer has played all but nine minutes this year.

Pflasterer earned Defensive MVP honors in the CU Inaria Classic in mid-September and was named to the Ivy Le ague's weekly Honor Roll for two shutouts two weeks ago.

TOUGH STRETCH
Cornell wrapped up its most crowded period of the season after the St. Bonaventure game on Sept. 26, playing five games in 11 days and emerging with a 4-0-1 mark. The game against Colgate on Oct. 11 was the team's final midweek game of the year.

SPREADING THE LOVE
Of the 29 players on Cornell's roster, 25 have seen playing time in the first 14 games and 20 different players have started. Of the 20 starters, only six have started every game: Patrick Slogic, Jake Rinow, Peter Chodas, Jimmy Lannon, Ben Williams and Rick Pflasterer.

THROWING OFF OPPONENTS
Jimmy Lannon continues to be dangerous with long throw-ins into the penalty area. Lannon's throw-in during the season opener against Niagara led to a goal by Slogic, and Lannon earned an assist from a throw-in on Conor Goepel's game-winning goal against Hofstra on Sept. 17. A Lannon throw-in also helped create Haber's game-winner against Penn. Lannon was named Offensive MVP of the CU Inaria Classic in mid-September and owns the team lead with six assists.
 
DEFENSIVE MINDED
Cornell's back four, made up of Jake Rinow, Patrick Slogic, Kyle Parsons and Peter Chodas, have been a huge factor in the team's success this year. Cornell has given up just four goals in its last 11 games and has allowed an Ivy League-low nine goals this season.

UNBEATEN STREAK EXTENDED
Despite falling behind early on an accidental own goal, Cornell stayed strong in its road game at Princeton last weekend. Daniel Haber's 40th-minute goal tied the game, and the team fought for another 70 scoreless minutes to earn a tie. The tie extended Cornell's unbeaten streak to a school record 13 games.

CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
• Chase Aaronson is one goal away from the 10th in his career.
• Scott Caldwell is one assist shy of 10 at Cornell.
• Matthew Altebrando needs one more game for his 10th.
• Daniel Haber's next goal will be his 10th, and his next point will be his 25th.
• Jimmy Lannon played his 60th game for the Big Red last weekend.
• Nico Nissl is two games away from his 40th.
• Tyler Regan needs two points for his 10th.

BRING IN THE YOUNG GUNS
The 2011 Cornell squad features 10 new players, including nine freshmen and one transfer. All together, the 10 newcomers make up more than one third of the 29-player roster. Justin Orden, who spent his freshman year at Wake Forest, is the lone transfer. All 10 have seen playing time this year, with goalkeeper Zach Zagorski and midfielder Matt Leach earning their first minutes in the Binghamton game.

UP NEXT
The Big Red ends its regular season next weekend with a home contest against Columbia on Nov. 12. The game is set to kick off at 7 p.m.