ITHACA, N.Y. – It's tournament time. After a phenomenal one-loss season that saw Cornell men's soccer win the Ivy League outright, the team will host an NCAA Tournament game at Berman Field on Thursday night against local rival Syracuse. The game kicks off at 7 p.m.

MATCH INFORMATION
MATCH #17: No. 11 Cornell vs. Syracuse, NCAA First Round
MATCH TIME: Thursday, Nov. 15, 7 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Berman Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads 39-22-7
LAST MEETING: Teams tied 1-1 on Sept. 22, 2010
2012 RECORDS: Cornell (15-1), Syracuse (12-6)
LIVE STATS: Cornell Live Stats
LIVE AUDIO: Redcast

ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell is in the middle of one of the greatest seasons in team history. With its 1-0 victory against Columbia on Saturday night, Cornell claimed its first outright Ivy League title since 1977 and earned its first NCAA berth since 1996. The team got its lone goal against the Lions from Daniel Haber, who scored his 18th of the year. Rick Pflasterer earned yet another shutout and broke the school record for goalie victories in a season. After the game, Cornell was presented with the Ivy League trophy. On Monday night, the team learned it would be hosting Syracuse from the NCAA Men's Soccer Selection Show.

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 the 2012 Ivy League Champions. Zawislan, a native of Poland, holds a 33-17-15 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 SYRACUSE
The Orange, based in nearby Syracuse, finished the regular season 12-5 in the very competitive Big East. The team then played one game in the Big East tournament, losing to eventual champion and NCAA No. 1 seed Notre Dame. Syracuse earned an at-large bid to the tournament thanks to a strong 5-3 conference record in one of the country's toughest leagues. Syracuse is on a two-game losing streak and is making its first NCAA appearance since 1984.
On offense, the Orange is led by Jordan Vale's eight goals and one assist for 17 points. Tony Asante and Lars Muller have five goals apiece. In goal, Alex Bono has a 0.84 goals against average and has allowed just 14 goals in 17 appearances.
Syracuse is coached by Ian McIntyre, now in his third year with the Orange.

THE SERIES WITH SYRACUSE
Cornell has met Syracuse more than any non-Ivy opponent in its history. The teams have clashed 68 times, with Cornell winning 39 of those games and Syracuse taking 22. The teams tied seven times, including the most recent contest in Sept. 2010. In that game, current Cornell senior captain Nico Nissl had the Big Red's only goal, while goalie Rick Pflasterer made five saves. Syracuse won when the teams met in 2009, 2005, 2004, 2003 and 2002. Cornell's last victory over the Orange came in 2001.

A WIN AGAINST SYRACUSE WOULD…
…advance Cornell to the NCAA Second Round for a 7 p.m. game at Virginia Commonwealth on Sunday night…advance Cornell to the NCAA Second Round for the first time since 1977…break the school record for wins in a season with 16…be Cornell's first postseason…be Cornell's first win against Syracuse since 2001…be Cornell's 40th victory all-time against the Orange…tie the school record with nine home victories in a year (1995).

COMMON OPPONENTS
The Big Red and the Orange have four opponents in common on their 2012 schedules. The teams defeated Hartwick, Binghamton and Colgate this year. While the Big Red knocked off Cal State Fullerton 2-1 in its season opener, Syracuse fell to the Titans 3-1 in mid-September. Combined, Cornell has scored 14 goals against those four opponents and allowed three while Syracuse scored nine and allowed three.

CORNELL IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
The Big Red has played 19 NCAA Tournament games in its history and holds an 8-11 record in those contests. Cornell first reached the tournament in 1971, defeating Long Island 3-1. Cornell's best year, 1972, saw it reach the national semifinals before falling to UCLA in Miami. The Big Red made the tournament every year from 1971-78, winning eight games in those eight years. The end of that era came in 1980 when that group made its last NCAA appearance, falling to Hartwick. The team also reached the NCAAs in 1995 and 1996, losing in overtime both years to Lafayette and Rutgers, respectively.

IVY LEAGUE CHAMPIONS
The Big Red claimed the Ivy League title on Saturday night, making it just the fourth time in program history Cornell won the Ivy League. The Big Red shared the title in 1995 and 1975 with Brown. This season and in 1977, Cornell won the title outright.

IVY LEAGUE AWARDS
Daniel Haber was named the Ivy League Player of the Year on Wednesday afternoon, becoming the first player in Cornell men's soccer history to earn that honor. Haber was a unanimous selection for the award as well as a unanimous member of the All-Ivy First Team, the only unanimous selection in the league. Haber was joined by goalie Rick Pflasterer, defender Patrick Slogic and forward Tyler Regan on the First Team. On the All-Ivy Second Team for the Big Red were midfielders Stephen Reisert and Nico Nissl.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK YET AGAIN
For his goal against Columbia that clinched the Ivy League title for the Big Red, junior forward Daniel Haber was named the conference's Player of the Week on Monday. This is the fifth time this year Haber won Ivy League Player of the Week and is the seventh time Cornell's players won the award in 12 weeks.

HOME COOKING
Cornell's victory against Dartmouth marked the first time Cornell has gone unbeaten and untied in its home games during a season since 1975. The Big Red went 9-0 at home that year and was 8-0 at home this season. Those are the only two seasons the Big Red was unblemished in Ithaca.

THREE-GAME IVY WINNING STREAK
Until last year's three-win start to the Ivy League, the Big Red had not won back-to-back Ivy League games since 2006. The victory against Columbia was just the team's third Ivy League winning streak of three games – counting this year and last year's other such streaks – since 1999.

SENIOR DAY
Saturday's victory against Dartmouth was the last regular season home game for three Big Red seniors. Goalie Rick Pflasterer had a season-high seven saves, forward Tyler Regan had the game-winning goal and midfielder Nico Nissl distributed the ball while playing through pain after a hard foul in the first half. Saturday will be the last regular season game of their Cornell careers, and they earned one final playoff home game on Thursday night.

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. Cornell expects to come close to breaking the record again on Thursday night.

DECISIVE VICTORIES
Cornell finished the 2011 season with six ties. Not only did the Big Red not tie once in 2012, but the team has only been to overtime once. Fourteen of Cornell's 15 victories have 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 18 goals this season, a number larger than three entire Ivy League teams: Yale (9), Columbia (12) and Harvard (15). Haber is not a one-man show, though, as his 18 goals account for less than half of the Big Red's 39 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 39 goals on the year, a number well above 2011's total of 25 and a number that is the third-highest in team history. Cornell has not scored this many goals in a season since the 1995 campaign when it totaled 41 goals. The Big Red would tie for second in team history with two goals against Syracuse. The school record for goals in a year belongs to the 1972 squad's 43.

NATIONALLY RANKED
Thanks to three consecutive victories, the Big Red is on the upswing in every national poll. One week after being No. 14 in the NSCAA Coaches' Poll, the team has shot back up to No. 11, one spot lower than its best ranking all year. On College Soccer News, Cornell is as high as No. 8 in the national polls. Top Drawer Soccer had the Big Red as No. 18 in its NCAA Tournament Projection.

NATIONAL STATISTICS
Cornell is still high up in the country in multiple statistical categories as of Monday. Cornell is the fourth-highest scoring team in the country (2.44 goals per game). Cornell is also 16th in total goals (39), 14th in goals against average (0.74), 28th in total assists (35) and 20th in total points (113). The Big Red also has the best winning percentage (.938) in the nation.

Individually, Daniel Haber remains on top of the nation in points per game (2.69). He is first in the country in goals per game (1.13) and third in total points (43) and total goals (18). Nico Nissl is 13th in the nation with 0.5 assists per game, while Haber is right behind him in 34th with 0.44. Tyler Regan is 60th in that category with 0.38. Goalie Rick Pflasterer has the 19th-best goals against average (0.75) in the country.

CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
On Saturday:
• Daniel Haber tied for fourth place in team history with his 28th career goal and tied for second in team history with 18 goals in a season. He also moved up to second in a season for total points.
• Rick Pflasterer broke the single-season record for wins by a goalie with 15.

Coming soon:
• Daniel Haber is one goal away (29) from sole possession of fourth place for career goals and sole possession of second place goals in a single season (19). He will be tied for fifth in team history with his next assist (14). His next point will be his 70th.
• Rick Pflasterer is one wins away from tying the Cornell career record for wins (29).
• Tyler Regan and Nico Nissl's next assist will be their 10th.
• Atticus DeProspo is 38 minutes shy of 2,500.
• Conor Goepel's next goal will be his 10th.

UP NEXT
With a victory against the Orange, Cornell would move on to the NCAA Second Round and face Virginia Commonwealth in Richmond, Va., on Sunday at 7 p.m.