The women's soccer team will hold its annual Senior Day at 1 p.m. Sunday, when it plays host to Brown at Berman Field. The Big Red will hold a halftime ceremony to honor Tori Christ, Kasia Jandura-Cessna, Mary Keroack, Andi McIntosh, Rachel Nichols and Rachel Schlobohm, as well as team manager McKenzie Huston.
 
GAME INFORMATION
GAME #14: Brown at Cornell
DATE: Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013
TIME: 1 p.m.
SITE: Berman Field – Ithaca, N.Y. (grass surface)
2013 RECORDS: Cornell 7-5-1, 1-3 Ivy; Brown 7-4-1, 2-1-1 Ivy
VIDEO: None
AUDIO: www.ustream.tv/channel/brsn-live
LIVE STATS: www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/wsoc/

ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell had seven wins in its first 11 games for the first time since 2003, but the team has dropped its last three Ivy League games. In its last game action, the Big Red conceded a goal early in the second half and eventually lost to Yale, 1-0. In its last home game, Cornell lost to league-leading Harvard, 7-2. Forwards scored both Cornell goals, with freshman Meera Marhoefer netting her first collegiate goal and sophomore Caroline Growney tallying her team-leading fifth goal of the season. Add on her one assist, and Growney has sole possession of the team scoring lead with 11 points. … Cornell is 1-3 in Ivy League play. A 2-0 win over Columbia on Sept. 27 was the Big Red's first victory in the Ivy League since a 1-0 win over Yale on Oct. 16, 2010. … Cornell has four players with at least 10 points for the first time since 1995. One point behind Growney with 10 points are freshman midfielder Elizabeth Crowell (three goals, four assists), senior midfielder Rachel Nichols (three goals, four assists) and freshman forward Dempsey Banks (two goals, six assists). … Freshman Kelsey Tierney has started eight of the last nine games in goal, sporting a 4-4 record with a 1.25 goals-against average and .771 save percentage.
 
ABOUT BROWN
The Bears dropped a 2-0 decision Tuesday at Dartmouth in a non-league tilt. The loss comes on the heels of a 3-1 Ivy League setback Saturday at Harvard, which was Brown's first loss in league play this season. The team has defeated Dartmouth (1-0) and Princeton (2-0), while playing to a draw with Columbia (0-0). … Brown has relied heavily on a strong back line this season, conceding just 13 goals in 12 games while posting five clean sheets. Senior Emily Wingrove and junior Annie Gillen were both defenders on the All-Ivy League Second Team last season. … As they have done in the recent past, the Bears are using a steady rotation of goalies Amber Bledsoe (1-2, 1.33, .810) and Ithaca native MC Barrett (6-2, 0.80, .800). The senior duo have appeared in the same fashion in each game this season, with Bledsoe starting and Barrett playing the second half and any subsequent overtime periods. … Up top, junior Chloe Cross leads the team in scoring with five of the team's 12 goals, plus two assists for 12 points. Senior forward Mika Siegelman, an All-Ivy first team pick in 2012, has two goals and an assist for five points, and senior forward Kiersten Berg has two goals for four points.
 
THE SERIES WITH BROWN
The Bears hold a 21-7-4 advantage in the all-time series, riding a four-game unbeaten streak into this year's clash. Cornell's last victory against Brown came on the road on Oct. 21, 2008, by a score of 2-0. The Big Red's first victory against Brown came in 1987, when it won a share of the Ivy League title.
 
RARE TERRITORY
A win Sunday against Brown would give the Big Red two Ivy League victories in a season for the first time since 2002. It would also guarantee Cornell has 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.
 
HAPPY TO HELP
Senior midfielder Rachel Nichols is tied for sixth in program history for career assists. She set up Caroline Growney for the Big Red's second goal against Harvard on Oct. 12, giving her 13 assists in her four years on East Hill. Nichols has the rare distinction of having played for a national team when she competed for The Philippines in tournaments over the last two years.
 
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 57 points this season, 42 have been produced by freshmen or sophomores. Senior midfielder Rachel Nichols has 10 of the 15 points via upperclassmen, plus junior forward Kerry Schubert and junior midfielder have one goal apiece, 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 six clean sheets through just 13 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 seven of the eight games this season in which Cornell has scored goals, and her six assists are tied for the Ivy League lead and rank 64th in the country.
 
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 has now scored one goal in each of her three seasons on East Hill. Her latest strike was the game-winner against Delaware State on Oct. 6. 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
The Big Red will play its final two games of the season on the road, starting with a visit to defending Ivy League champion Princeton at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2. Cornell then concludes its season with a noon, Saturday, Nov. 9 game at Dartmouth.