With five victories in its last six games, the women's soccer team hits the road this weekend for an Ivy League contest against Penn at 7 p.m. Friday, then its non-league finale against Delaware State at 1 p.m. Sunday.
 
GAME INFORMATION
GAME #10: Cornell at Penn
DATE: Friday, Oct. 4, 2013
TIME: 7 p.m.
SITE: Rhodes Field – Philadelphia, Pa. (grass surface)
2013 RECORDS: Cornell 6-2-1, 1-0 Ivy; Penn 4-1-3; 0-1 Ivy
VIDEO: www.ivyleaguedigitalnetwork.com
AUDIO: www.ustream.tv/channel/brsn-live
LIVE STATS: www.pennathletics.com
 
GAME #11: Cornell at Delaware State
DATE: Sunday, Oct. 6, 2013
TIME: 1 p.m.
SITE: Alumni Stadium – Dover, Del. (artificial surface)
2013 RECORDS*: Cornell 6-2-1, 1-0 Ivy; Delaware State 0-9
VIDEO: None
AUDIO: None
LIVE STATS: www.dsuhornets.com/liveStats/liveStats.dbml
* - does not include Friday's games

ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell is off to its best start through nine games since 2003, which was the last time it sported a 6-2-1 record. The Big Red has won five or its last six games, including a 2-0 victory over Columbia on Sept. 27 in its Ivy League opener. It was a night of firsts for the Big Red. Sophomore midfielder Shanay Fischer and freshman forward Dempsey Banks scored first-half goal in their first career Ivy League games, leading Cornell to its first league victory since Oct. 16, 2010. Freshman goalkeeper Kelsey Tierney made three saves for her second shutout. … Freshman Elizabeth Crowell had the secondary assist on Fischer's goal Friday, vaulting her into sole possession of the team scoring lead with three goals and four assists for 10 points. … Sophomore forward Caroline Growney leads the team with four goals. She has also one assist to give her nine points, which is tied for second on the team with senior midfielder Rachel Nichols (three goals, three assists) and freshman forward Dempsey Banks (two goals, five assists). … Freshman Kelsey Tierney has started the last five games in goal, sporting a 4-1 record with a 0.35 goals-against average and .917 save percentage. Her save percentage and goals-against average both rank sixth in the country. … Banks is also among the nation's elite in a statistical category. Her 0.56 assists per game ranks 39th in the country, and there are just five freshmen among the 327 Division I programs that average more assists per game than Banks – Villanova's Katie Martin (0.73), South Alabama's Lauren Allison (0.64), Wisconsin's Rose Lavelle (0.60), Purdue's Maddie Williams (0.60) and Mississippi State's Annebel ten Broeke (0.60). … The Big Red has already equaled its goal total from last year (16).
 
ABOUT PENN
The Quakers' six-game unbeaten streak to start the season was halted Sept. 27 at Harvard with a 2-1 loss. Two of the three goals in the game – including the Quakers' lone tally – were own goals. Penn then salvaged a 1-1 draw with Lehigh on Sept. 29 with Tahirih Nesmith scoring the tying goal in the 75th minute. It was Penn's third tie in the last four games, meaning the team hasn't won since a 1-0 decision Sept. 15 at Saint Joseph's. … Senior forward Kerry Scalora, an All-Ivy League First Team pick last season, leads the team in scoring with three goals and three assists for nine points. Nesmith has four goals for eight points, and Megan York ranks third in scoring with a goal and two assists. … The Quakers have conceded a scant five goals this season, all in the last three games. Kalijah Terilli is the team's primary goalkeeper with a 3-1-2 record, 0.60 goals-against average, .733 save percentage and three shutouts.
 
THE SERIES WITH PENN
Penn rides a 14-game series winning streak coming into the game with Cornell, extending its all-time lead to 15-6-1. Penn scored the first two goals in a 2-1 victory on Sept. 28, 2012 at Berman Field in the teams' last meeting. Maneesha Chitanvis '13 scored the only goal for the Big Red and goalkeeper Tori Christ made seven saves in the loss. The Big Red played well in its last visit to Rhodes Field, but surrendered a pair of second-half goals to lose, 2-1, on Sept. 30, 2011. Claire MacManus — who hails from nearby Rosemont, Pa. near Penn's base of Philadelphia — scored her first collegiate goal for Cornell on a header after a feed from Abigail Apistolas '12. The Big Red won the first six meetings between the teams from 1991-96.
 
ABOUT DELAWARE STATE
The Hornets entered Friday's game with New Jersey Institute of Technology seeking their first win of the season under first-year head coach Kerri Scroope. Through its first nine games, Delaware State has three goals – one each from sophomore forward Taylor Addison, senior midfielder Kaitlyn Schech and senior midfielder Kelly Pelz-Butler. Taylor also has an assist to lay claim to the team's scoring lead with three points. … Junior Katelyn Koslosky has been the squad's exclusive goalkeeper to date with an 0-9 record, 2.78 goals-against average and .643 save percentage.
 
THE SERIES WITH DELAWARE STATE
The Big Red defeated the Hornets, 7-0, in the programs' only previous meeting on Sept. 5, 2010 at Berman Field in Ithaca, N.Y. Megan Crowell '13 and senior Mary Keroack had two goals apiece for Cornell. Senior Rachel Nichols also added two assists. The seven goals scored by Cornell tied a program record. This year's game will mark the first time the Big Red has ever played a game in The First State.
 
RARE TERRITORY
Already off to its best start in 10 years, the Big Red is on the verge of several milestones …
* A win at Penn would give the Big Red two Ivy League victories in a season for the first time since 2002.
* A win at Penn would give the Big Red its best record after 10 games since 1991 (8-1-1).
* With two wins this weekend, Cornell would guarantee itself of a winning season for the first time since 2002 (9-6-2).
 
HEAD COACH PATRICK FARMER
Now in his 21st season as a head coach in the NCAA, Patrick Farmer is in his second season as the Cornell women's soccer program's fifth head coach. Farmer comes to the Big Red via the University of Wisconsin, where he served as an assistant coach with the Badgers' women's soccer team for three years. Prior to his stint at Wisconsin, Farmer amassed a 261-97-40 record at Ithaca College, Penn State, Tennessee Tech and Syracuse. He also served as a head coach at the professional level for two seasons, heading the New York Power of the Women's United Soccer Association. Megan Ramey returns to Cornell for her third season as an assistant coach, and Dwight Hornibrook is in his second season as an assistant coach after serving as the head coach of SUNY Cortland men's soccer for eight years. Brett Sarsfield has also joined the staff as a volunteer assistant coach.
 
AND THE WINNER IS …
Freshman goalkeeper Kelsey Tierney was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week on Sept. 23 after stopping 11 of 12 shots on target the previous week, while also notching her first collegiate shutout in a 2-0 victory over Binghamton on Sept. 18. It was the second consecutive week that the Big Red captured the league honor, with freshman Elizabeth Crowell being named both the Ivy League Player of the Week and the Rookie of the Week on Sept. 16 after a dominating performance of two goals and three assists in games against Marist and Albany. Crowell became the first Big Red player with three assists in a game since Amy Snow on Sept. 15, 1991. She was also the program's first Ivy League Player of the Week since Maneesha Chitanvis on Oct. 8, 2012, and the first Rookie of the Week since senior Mary Keroack on Sept. 6, 2010.
 
SPOT DUTY
Senior midfielder Rachel Nichols' overtime goal Sept. 13 against Marist was the Big Red's first converted penalty kick since Sept. 5, 2010, when Caedran Harvey scored her first collegiate goal from the spot in a 7-0 win over Delaware State. Cornell had not been awarded a penalty kick since Sept. 14, 2011 in a game against Binghamton. The trend continued Sept. 22 against NJIT, when sophomore forward Caroline Growney drew a foul in the box and also scored on her first collegiate penalty kick.
 
YOUTH IS SERVED
Of Cornell's 48 points this season, 36 have been produced by freshmen or sophomores. Senior midfielder Rachel Nichols has nine of the 12 points via upperclassmen, plus junior forward Kerry Schubert has one goal and senior forward Rachel Schlobohm has one assist.
 
QUICK STARTERS
Cornell has had great success in the 31 season openers in the program's history, picking up a 17-10-4 mark in the first game of the season. That trend was reignited this season, when a 1-0 victory over Sacred Heart gave the Big Red its first win in a season debut since defeating Oakland (Mich.) in 2008.
 
BLANK YOU VERY MUCH
Senior goalkeeper Tori Christ recorded the first shutout of her collegiate career on Sept. 6 at Sacred Heart. She needed to make just two saves to record the shutout in her 16th collegiate start. Tending goal runs in the family for Christ, whose father, Philip, played goalie for the Northeastern hockey team in his collegiate days and currently serves as a practice goalie for the NHL's Buffalo Sabres. Freshman Kelsey Tierney then posted her first shutout on Sept. 18 vs. Binghamton. The duo has also combined on two shutouts, giving the team five clean sheets through just nine games.
 
ALOHA!
Freshman forward Dempsey Banks needed less than five minutes to record the first point of her collegiate career, notching the primary assist on Kerry Schubert's goal Sept. 6 at Sacred Heart. Banks joins the Big Red from Honolulu, Hawaii, coming from the same strong Punahou School and Leahi SC programs that produced Jayann Gabrio '13, a key central defender for the Big Red over her collegiate career. Banks has been on the scoresheet in all six games this season in which Cornell has scored goals.
 
GOOD THINGS COME IN THREES
The Big Red has tri-captains for the fifth time in seven years with seniors Tori Christ and Rachel Nichols, and junior Claire MacManus wearing the armbands. Christ is the Big Red's first goalkeeper to serve as a two-time captain since Sherrie Chocola in 1985 and 1986.
 
SHE'S HONORED
Junior midfielder Claire MacManus was recognized for being one of the top defensive midfielders in the Ivy League last season, when she was tabbed as an All-Ivy Second Team selection. One of the team's best aerial threats, MacManus scored her only goal of last season against Sacred Heart. Off a corner kick on Sept. 14, MacManus redirected the service 10 yards from goal and past the Pioneers' keeper for the second goal of her collegiate career. MacManus is also a midfielder on the women's lacrosse team.
 
BREAKDOWN
The Big Red is carrying a roster of 25 players this season, which is the smallest since it carried 25 in 2009. While there are six seniors on this year's team, the most-represented class is the freshmen. Patrick Farmer's first recruiting class included eight freshmen, plus the addition of one transfer and two walk-ons.

NATIONAL APPEAL
The Big Red has 12 different states and China represented on the team roster, with its home state of New York claiming seven players. Cornell has three players that hail from New Jersey and Pennsylvania, two each from California and Virginia, and single representatives from Hawaii, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico and Oregon. Dana Daniels comes from China, but joins the Big Red via The Bullis School in the Washington, D.C. metro area.

UP NEXT
With nothing but Ivy League games ahead of it for the balance of the regular season, the Big Red returns home for a matchup with Harvard at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 12 at Berman Field. The game will serve as the opener of a doubleheader with the men's team, which also takes on Harvard that day.