ITHACA, N.Y. – After a disappointing loss at Brown last weekend, the No. 17 Big Red men's soccer team returns home looking to stay near the top of the Ivy League as Princeton comes to Ithaca. The teams kick off on Saturday at 3 p.m.
MATCH INFORMATION
MATCH #14: No. 17 Cornell vs. Princeton
MATCH TIME: Saturday, Oct. 27, 3:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Berman Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Princeton leads 48-37-12
LAST MEETING: Teams tied 1-1 on Oct. 29, 2011
2012 RECORDS | LEAGUE STANDING: Cornell (12-1, 3-1 Ivy | t-2nd), Princeton (6-5-2, 2-0-2 Ivy | 4th)
LIVE STATS:
Cornell Live Stats
LIVE AUDIO:
RedCast
ABOUT THE BIG RED
One week after shattering the school record for consecutive victories, Cornell's 12-game winning streak came to an end against Brown. The Bears scored in the fifth minute to take a 1-0 lead, and a late own goal from the Big Red sealed its fate in front of a jubilant Stevenson Field crowd. Cornell was shut out for the first time since the season finale of 2010, and the Big Red also lost its distinction of being the only team in the country to not have either a loss or a tie on the year. Still, Cornell remains in strong shape with a 12-1 record, and its hopes of an Ivy League title is still within reach with some help.
HEAD COACH JARO ZAWISLAN
Now in his fourth year with the Big Red program,
Jaro Zawislan has unquestionably put his stamp on the team. With a stifling defense and an aggressive offense, Zawislan has transformed what was a 1-15 team before his arrival into an 8-2-6 team in 2011 and a potential contender for the Ivy League title in 2012. Zawislan, a native of Poland, holds a 30-17-15 record during his time in Ithaca. He played soccer for four years at Clemson and then spent time professionally in the United States and Poland.
ABOUT PRINCETON
The Tigers, based in Princeton, N.J., have faced a very difficult schedule this season and have emerged with a 6-5-2 record. The team is currently in fourth in the Ivy League, just a point behind the Big Red with eight. Princeton, which defeated Harvard 2-1 last week, is led by Thomas Sanner's 11 points on the year (three goals, five assists). Matt Sanner also has three goals, and Cameron Porter and Julian Griggs have two each. Seth MacMillan is the Tigers' top goalie with a goals against average of 0.83 in his nine appearances.
Princeton is coached by Jim Barlow, now in his 17th season leading his alma mater.
THE SERIES WITH PRINCETON
The Tigers have a distinct advantage in the lifetime series, defeating Cornell 48 times to Cornell's 37 wins. The teams have also tied 12 times. Last season was one of those ties with the Big Red scoring an own goal in the 14th minute before
Daniel Haber tied the game in the 40th. The Big Red has not defeated the Tigers since 2006.
A WIN AGAINST PRINCETON WOULD…
…be the team's first over the Tigers since 2006…be the most total victories in a season (13) since the 1995 campaign (15)…give Cornell four conference victories for the first time since 1999.
BERMAN BROKEN
Cornell saw a new program record on Oct. 13 as 1,121 fans came out to Berman Field watch its game against Yale. The previous attendance record, 983, was shattered by 138 people. The fans were rewarded with a 3-0 shutout victory against the Bulldogs.
DECISIVE VICTORIES
Cornell finished the 2011 season with six ties. Not only has the Big Red not had a tie game this season, but the team has not even been to overtime. Cornell's 12 victories have all come in regulation.
THREE GOALS IN SEVEN STRAIGHT
The win against Yale on Oct. 13 was Cornell's seventh consecutive game scoring at least three goals in game. Before this year, the Big Red had never scored three goals in more than five consecutive games. Cornell scored three goals in five straight games in 1980 and 1958.
AMAZING GOAL TOTAL
Junior forward
Daniel Haber has scored 16 goals this season, a number that is better than Yale (7), Columbia (10), Harvard (11), and Princeton (15) have scored as a team. Haber is not a one-man show, though, as his 16 goals account for less than half of the Big Red's 35 on the year.
FLAWLESS NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
With its victory against Colgate on Oct. 9, the Big Red finished its non-conference slate with a perfect 9-0-0 record. The Big Red had not been undefeated in non-conference competition since the 1983 season when it went 6-0-2. Cornell had not gone unblemished in non-conference games since 1965, when the team was just 4-0-0. In 1957, Cornell was also 3-0-0 in non-Ivy games.
OFFENSIVE SEASON
The Big Red is up to 35 goals on the year, a number well above 2011's total of 25. Cornell has not scored this many goals in a season since the 1996 campaign when it totaled 37 goals. The Big Red would equal that mark with two more goals on the year. The school record for goals in a year belongs to the 1972 squad's 43. The Big Red would need to average three goals per game to reach that total by the end of the regular season.
The Big Red have also tallied 31 assists this year, a number that is one shy of the team record of 32 set in 1995 and 1996. The Big Red eclipsed 100 points on the season two weeks ago and is 14 shy of the program record (115) set in 1971.
LAST WEEK IN THE IVY LEAGUE
Besides Cornell's game against Brown, Yale got its first league win with a 2-1 victory over Penn, Princeton defeated Harvard 2-1 in overtime and Dartmouth knocked off Columbia 2-1 in regulation.
NATIONALLY RANKED
Because of the loss to Brown, Cornell fell in every national poll this week. Cornell slipped to No. 17 in the NSCAA Coaches' Poll one week after breaking into the top 10. Soccer America saw Cornell drop from No. 13 to No. 21, College Soccer News has the Big Red at No. 12 one week after it was No. 7, and SoccerTimes.com dropped the Big Red to No. 21. Brown jumped ahead of the Big Red in every national poll. Cornell also fell from No. 24 to No. 27 in Top Drawer Soccer's NCAA Tournament projection.
NATIONAL STATISTICS
Cornell is still high up in the country in multiple statistical categories as of Monday. Cornell is the second-highest scoring team in the country (2.71 goals per game), just behind No. 1 Maryland. Cornell is also sixth in total goals (35), 35th in goals against average (0.85), 11th in total assists (31) and eighth in total points (101).
Individually,
Daniel Haber remains on top of the nation in points per game (3.00). He is still second on the country in total points, goals per game and total goals.
Nico Nissl is sixth in the nation with 0.62 assists per game, while Haber is right behind him in 12th with 0.54.
Tyler Regan is 28th in that category with 0.46. Goalie
Rick Pflasterer has the 40th-best goals against average (0.856) in the country.
CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
On Saturday:
Coming soon:
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Daniel Haber is two goals away (28) from a fourth-place tie in team history for career goals, and his next goal will be his 27th. His next point will put him all alone in fifth in team history (66) and he is two points away from a tie for second in Cornell history (41). He will be tied for fifth in team history with his next assist (14).
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Conor Goepel is one goal away from 10. He is six goals away (22) from the Cornell single-season mark.
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Tyler Regan and Nico Nissl's next assist will be their 10th.
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Zach Zagorski is one save shy of 10.
UP NEXT
The Big Red closes out its home season with a 6 p.m. game against Dartmouth on Nov. 3. Cornell then ends its regular season with a trip to Columbia for a 7 p.m. game on Nov. 10.
