RED FOX INVITATIONAL GAME INFORMATION
GAME #6: Cornell at Marist
DATE: Friday, Sept. 16, 2011
TIME: 7 p.m.
SITE: Poughkeepsie, N.Y. — Tenney Field at Leonidoff Stadium
2011 RECORDS: Cornell 1-4, Marist 2-3
SERIES RECORD: Tied, 0-0-1
LAST MEETING: Tied, 0-0, on Oct. 6, 2002 at Burlington, Vt.
LIVE STATS: goredfoxes.cstv.com
GAME #7: Cornell vs. Hartford
DATE: Sunday, Sept. 18, 2011
TIME: Noon
SITE: Poughkeepsie, N.Y. — Tenney Field at Leonidoff Stadium
2011 RECORDS*: Cornell 1-4, Hartford 5-0-1
SERIES RECORD: Hartford leads, 4-3
LAST MEETING: Cornell won in OT, 1-0, on Sept. 7, 2007 at Ithaca, N.Y.
LIVE STATS: www.cstv.com
* — records do not include results from Friday's games
ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell is coming off its first victory of the season, defeating Binghamton on Wednesday, 1-0, to close out a four-game homestand. Junior forward Xandra Hompe scored the contest's lone goal 1 minute, 35 seconds into the second half, calmly slipping a shot inside the post from 12 yards out. Senior goalkeeper Kelly Murphy made two saves to earn her sixth career shutout in a game where the Big Red outshot the visitors, 17-7. The team's biggest offensive outburst came in its debut on Sept. 2, when junior forward Maneesha Chitanvis scored twice in a 26-minute span against Fordham, then set up another goal finished by senior forward Brook Chang.
ABOUT MARIST
The Red Foxes used a pair of first-half goals to defeat visiting Lehigh, 2-1, on Sunday, Sept. 11. Freshman Amanda Epstein scored in the game's second minute, then junior goalkeeper Caitlin Landsman boomed a free kick from near midfield that junior Jackie Frey was able to flick into the goal with a header in the 36th minute. Marist's other win this season came against Central Connecticut, while its losses were all on the road against Wagner, Yale and Providence. The Red Foxes have split time between three goalies — Landsman, Courey Schaetzle and Andrea Wicks — with no clean sheets to date.
THE SERIES WITH MARIST
The only meeting between the two teams came in 2002 at the Vermont Invitational. The final score was even, 0-0, but the Big Red dominated the contest territorially with a 33-7 margin in shots and 16-1 in corner kicks.
ABOUT HARTFORD
The Hawks are ranked 10th in the Northeast Region by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America by way of a 5-0-1 record. It's the program's best start under eighth-year head coach John Natale and also the best start since 1995. Hartford started the campaign with a 1-1 tie against Old Dominion before rattling off five straight victories against Holy Cross, Fairleigh Dickinson, Temple, Quinnipiac and Long Island. Junior Caitlin Alves leads the team with four goals, which is also good for a tie for the points lead with classmate Amelia Pereira (two goals, four assists). Sophomore goalkeeper Erin Quinlan, a transfer from Syracuse, has surrendered just one goal in her six starts. Her 0.17 goals-against average ranks seventh in the country.
THE SERIES WITH HARTFORD
The Hawks hold a slight 4-3 edge in series history, but the Big Red won the teams' last meeting four seasons ago. Freshman Natalie Zandt provided the winner in double-overtime to give head coach Danielle LaRoche her first collegiate victory. The previous six games in the series were played in consecutive years ranging from 1992 to 1997.
HEAD COACH DANIELLE LAROCHE
Now in her fifth season directing the Big Red women's soccer program, Danielle LaRoche has assembled a team that is on the verge of a breakout. The fourth coach in Cornell history, she holds a career coaching mark of 14-49-3, but the Big Red is coming off its best season since 2005. LaRoche's career also includes 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 Megan Ramey and Danielle Plourde, both in their first season with the Big Red.
BUSY TIMES
The Big Red is currently playing four games over a seven-day span, marking the first time the team has done so since the program gained varsity status in 1982. If the team's 17-game slate is completed as scheduled, it would be the most games its played in a season since 2006.
ALL-IVY ANCHORS
Not only did Cornell lose just one starter to graduation after a 2010 season that saw the team record its highest win total in five years, but it returns a decorated pair of seniors. Central defender Sidra Bonner and goalkeeper Megan Bartlett, both named second-team All-Ivy League players last season, return to anchor a Big Red back line that surrendered just 17 goals while racking up six shutouts last season.
FOLLOW THE LEADER
Seniors Sidra Bonner and Abigail Apistolas serve as co-captains for the Big Red. Both were also captains in 2010 and have played in every one of the team's games in each of the last two seasons.
YOUTH IS STILL SERVED
After sporting just two seniors on its roster last season, the Big Red still has fewer seniors on its squad than any other class. Twenty of the team's 33 players are underclassmen, while just six – Megan Bartlett, Kelly Murphy, Abigail Apistolas, Abageal Vonderweidt, Brook Chang and Sidra Bonner – are seniors.
NATIONAL APPEAL
The Big Red has 13 different states represented on the team roster, with Virginia having six players on the roster. Cornell has five players that hail from California, four from Massachusetts, three from New Jersey and New York, and two apiece from Minnesota, Michigan, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. States with a single representative include Hawaii, Colorado, New Mexico and Oregon.
UP NEXT
Cornell hits the middle third of its schedule, returning home for three games at Charles F. Berman Field — including its Ivy League opener. A pair of non-league matchups with La Salle (Tuesday, Sept. 20) and Niagara (Sunday, Sept. 25) are sandwiched around Columbia's under-the-lights visit at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 23.
