ITHACA, N.Y. – With spirits high after a 1-0 victory against local rival Colgate, Cornell men's soccer will return to Berman Field for homecoming on Saturday. The Big Red will welcome Yale for a 4 p.m. opening kick.
 
Cornell Big Red (7-4-1, 0-2-0 Ivy League) vs. Yale Bulldogs (1-8-2, 0-2-0 Ivy League)
Saturday, October 18, 2014 | 4:00 PM | Ithaca, N.Y. – Charles F. Berman Field
All-Time Series: Cornell Trails, 24-45-16
Last Meeting (2013): Cornell Tie, 0-0 (2OT)
Live Stats | Live Audio
 
SCOUTING CORNELL
 
Big Red Headlines
Cornell men's soccer wrapped up its regular season non-conference schedule with a 1-0 victory over local rival Colgate on Tuesday. Sophomore JJ Black slotted home the game-winner early, besting Raider keeper Ricky Brown for his first goal of the season in the seventh minute of play. Black and fellow sophomore Jack Ferguson collaborated on the pretty scoring play. Black took control of the ball around the midfield stripe and made an incisive run down the left flank. He passed the ball to Ferguson at the left corner of the box and made a swift diagonal run to the near post. Ferguson one-touched the ball back to Black on a quick give-and-go. The sophomore mid split the two defenders to corral the pass and rifled his shot low inside the left post.
 
About Head Coach Jaro Zawislan
Zawislan enters his sixth season at Cornell having established himself as one of the top coaches in the Ivy League during his short tenure. After taking over a program that was 1-15 the season before his appointment as head coach, Zawislan has transformed Big Red men's soccer into a consistent winner and a national presence in NCAA Division I. In his first five seasons on East Hill his teams have posted at least .500 winning percentages four times, while he has led Cornell to three consecutive winning seasons. He also directed the Big Red to its first Ivy League title since 1995 and first outright title since 1977 in 2012. His coaching record currently sits at 48-27-10 and his current .624 winning percentage is the second best mark in program history.
 
Zawislan is a graduate of Clemson University '93, while he was a four-year starting goalkeeper on the varsity soccer team. Upon his graduation he played professionally both in the United States and his native Poland, before pursuing a career in coaching. He made assistant coaching stops at Stanford, Creighton and Syracuse, before being named Cornell's 11^th head coach in 2009.
 
Last Meeting: Yale
Cornell and Yale battled to a scoreless draw in last season's matchup in New Haven, Conn. Both squads were able to manufacture offensive opportunities, but neither side could solve the keepers. Zach Zagorski made a career-high seven saves in the contest to keep the Bulldogs off the board. His most brilliant sequence came in the waning moments of regulation. Yale earned a penalty kick after a take down in the box. Zagorski stopped the initial attempt from Nick Alers and quickly recovered to deflect away a second shot from Alers off the rebound. Conor Goepel, Jake Rinow and Benjamin Williams each recorded two shots for the Big Red.
 
Recent Series: Yale
Cornell has stacked up well to the traditionally strong Bulldogs since head coach Jaro Zawislan took over the program in 2009. The Big Red is 2-2-1 against Yale under Zawislan and is 2-0-1 in its last three matchups. Cornell has split the last pair of matchups at Berman Field, which includes a 3-0 blanking of the Bulldogs in 2012.
 
Dynamic Defense
The Cornell defense was superb yet again on Tuesday, holding offensive minded Colgate scoreless in the 1-0 victory. The Big Red completely shut down on of the most dangerous offensive players in NCAA Division I in lethal striker Ethan Kutler. The sophomore entered the matchup third in the country with ten goals on the year; however, he was frustrated by the aggressive and physical Big Red defense. The shutout was Cornell's eighth of the season, tying the 2013 squad for the most shutouts for a single-season in program history. The Big Red currently ranks seventh in NCAA Division I with a 0.48 team goals against average and ranks tied for sixth in shutout percentage, marking a clean sheet in two-thirds of its contests this season.
 
Parsimonious Paws in Net
Senior keeper Zach Zagorski has been stellar in net for the Big Red this season. He was brilliant on a blustery Tuesday evening in the 1-0 victory over Colgate. He made three saves, including a couple acrobatic stops on scoring sensation Ethan Kutler. The clean sheet was his seventh of the season, tying him with Hemant Sharma '96 and Stephen Bott '83 for third most in a single-season in program history.
 
Zagorski currently leads the Ivy League for all eligible keepers in goals against average (0.500) and save percentage (.867). He currently ranks in the top-ten in NCAA Division I in two categories; checking in at eighth in save percentage and ninth in goals against average. His 39 saves are fourth most in the Ivy League. Zagorski now has 12 career shutouts and is all-alone in fourth on the program's all-time list for the statistic.
 
Home Sweet Home
The Big Red will return to Berman Field for its annual homecoming game on Saturday. Cornell has made of living of defending its home turf this season. The team holds a 5-1-0 mark at home this season, while conceding just one goal and posting a shutout in all five victories. The Big Red is 29-11-8 (.688) in home fixtures under head coach Jaro Zawislan.
 
Captains Are Clutch
With a young, though talented supporting cast, Cornell knew it would need big contributions from the team's four senior captains. Peter Chodas, Conor Goepel, Devin Morgan and Zach Zagorski have answered the call in resounding fashion this season. Each player finds his name amongst the Ivy League's best in varied categories.
 
Go for Goal
Cornell snapped its scoring drought with an explosive start against the Raiders on Tuesday. The Big Red looked crisp on the offensive end, knocking the ball round with considerable pace and accuracy in the Raider attacking third. The team will look to improve its first touch and possession on-the-ball on Saturday as it searches to tickle the twine for the first time in Ivy League play against the Bulldogs.
 
Blunting the Bulldog Attack
Under Zawislan's high pressure defensive style, opponents have found it extremely difficult to score against the Big Red. Yale has found the Cornell defense impregnable in recent years. Cornell has not conceded a goal against the Bulldogs in its last three matchups and has held Yale off the score sheet for 343-minutes and 17-seconds of game action. Andy Shorten was the last Yale player to score against the Big Red, slotting home a shot off the far left post in the 37^th minute in a 1-0 Yale victory in 2010.
 
SCOUTING YALE
 
Bulldog Headlines
Yale will be riding an emotional high coming into this weekend's matchup with the Big Red. The Bulldogs are coming off of a 1-0 shutout of Temple in double overtime at Reese Stadium. Conner Lachenbruch potted the golden goal on a penalty kick with 1:33 remaining in the second overtime period. Henry Albrecht drew the foul, getting tripped in the box after getting behind the Owl defense. Lachenbruch took the opportunity for the Bulldogs, lashing a bullet into the top right corner of the net. Yale is 1-8-2 entering this weekend's matchup.
 
About Head Coach Brian Tompkins
Tompkins is in his 19^th season at the helm of the Yale men's soccer program. During his tenure he has established the Bulldogs as one of the premier programs in the Northeast, leading the Bulldogs to an Ivy League title in 2005 and two NCAA College Cup appearances in 1999 and 2005. He currently sits in second place on the Bulldogs all-time win list. His 138 career wins at Yale trail only Steve Griggs, who collected 143 wins during his career.
 
Road Woes
Yale has had a miserable time on the road over recent seasons. The Bulldogs have posted an 11-28-7 mark on the road over its last six seasons, including a 0-5-0 mark in 2014. Yale has only found the back of the net once on foreign turf this year, which came in a 4-1 loss at Dartmouth.
 
Scoring Struggles
The Bulldogs offense has yet to find its rhythm this season. They have only scored five goals through 11 games in 2014, ranking 196^th out of 200 teams in NCAA Division I. Yale figures to face a difficult task against the Big Red and its Ivy League leading scoring defense.
 
First Win
The Bulldogs collected its first win of the season in its victory over the Temple Owls. Yale will look to carry the momentum over to Saturday as it also searches for its first Ivy League win of the season.
 
UP NEXT  
The Big Red will return to the road next weekend as it heads to Providence to take on Brown. Opening kick is scheduled 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 25.