ITHACA, N.Y. – A program on the rise over the last four years, the Big Red men's soccer team won the Ivy League outright in 2012 for the first time since 1977. Now comes the hard part: defending the title.

With 14 athletes returning from last season and 13 newcomers, Cornell will look to find the right mix of youth and experience to continue its newfound winning tradition.

DEFENSE
The Big Red defensive unit has been the key component of Cornell's success in recent years, and returns in full force for the 2013 season and should once again flummox the opposition's offense all season long. 

The back line from 2012 of Peter Chodas, Jake Kirsch, and Jake Rinow, as well as MAC Hermann and Senior CLASS Award hopeful Patrick Slogic remains intact for 2013. Slogic, a 6-foot-6 center back, leads the way in the middle of the defense while Chodas and Rinow handle the right and left sides. Together, this group of four held opponents to just 13 goals in 17 games in 2012 and were part of seven shutouts; doing their part to ensure that even one Big Red goal would be enough to get a result in most games.

New to the defensive corps this season will be incoming freshmen Jack Ferguson, Liam Crotty, and Hollis Malkowski.

MIDFIELD
Among those lost in the midfield from the 2012 season is former Big Red captain and Second Team All-Ivy honoree Nico Nissl, the team's primary set-up man and assist leader. However, with a group of five dedicated midfielders this season including three returners and two freshmen, Cornell should have strength and depth at the position in 2013.

Senior captain Benjamin Williams, is a defensive-minded midfielder who has contributed to the Big Red's stellar defense over the last three years. Williams will likely take on more of an attacking role this season and play a vital role between the pure defenders and the attacking midfield that has helped Cornell's transition game immensely.

Also returning to the midfield is senior and Second Team All-Ivy selection Stephen Reisert, juniors Atticus DeProspo and Tyler Conway, and sophomores Ben Feldman and Sanath Shettigar. 

New to the Big Red midfield this year are Madison Heck, Maximilian Mansfield and midfielder/defender hybrid Ralph Lee Price IV.

FORWARD
Notably absent from the 2013 roster will be Ivy League First Team forward Tyler Regan and Ivy League Player of the Year Daniel Haber.

Now an undergraduate assistant coach, Regan was tied for second on the team in scoring in 2012 and netted three game-winning goals, including the overtime winner against Dartmouth that lifted the Big Red to the top of the Ivy League standings late in the season.

The team's leading returning goal scorer, Conor Goepel, had a strong sophomore campaign that saw him find the back of the net six times and assists on two other goals. Though he has played as a midfielder in his first two years, Goepel should play higher up in the offense this season.

Also returning for the Big Red is Devin Morgan who, although listed as a defender throughout the 2012 season, saw most of his action at forward.   

There are plenty of new faces in 2013 for the forward class as six of the 12 incoming freshmen may see time at forward. Pure forwards JJ Black, Sebastian Scales and Chris St. Germain will be joined by midfielder/forward hybrids Alex Sommer, Vincent Brunetti and Cameron Taylor.

GOALKEEPING
Although the Big Red will be without Rick Pflasterer's experience in goal this season, he joins Regan as an assistant coach and will mentor the corps of goalkeepers in 2013. Pflasterer finished his Cornell career as a two-time Ivy League First Team goaltender and a 15-win season in his senior year.

Junior Zach Zagorski proved himself capable of replacing Pflasterer in limited situations over the last two seasons. Zagorski has made nine saves in over 200 minutes of playing time, and holds a 1.65 goals against average for his career. Zagorski could step into the starting role in his junior year in 2013.

Also returning in goal will be senior Kurtis Teskoski. Though he has not made an appearance in net for Cornell, he did see limited action in the field last season.

New to the Cornell goalkeeping corps in 2013 will be 6-foot-4 freshman Evan King. A native of Bellevue, Wash., King was part of five state championships with Eastside FC and may challenge for playing time in his freshman year.

SCHEDULE
Another challenging schedule awaits the defending Ivy League Champions in 2013 as all its opponents will be playing the Big Red knowing what it accomplished last season.

All told, Cornell will be playing 17 games, including eight at home, eight on the road and one at a neutral site. Six of the Big Red's opponents had winning records in 2012, and three of those opponents made the 2012 NCAA Tournament.
Highlights of the schedule include two California opponents coming to Central New York for the third edition of the CU Inaria Cup, Cornell returning to Oneonta for the Mayor's Cup competition against Hartwick and an out-of-conference trip to Western New York for battles against two teams in the Buffalo area. The Big Red will also face Ivy League rival Brown at home on Oct. 26 and seek to avenge its only regular season loss from 2012.