The women's soccer team continues its stretch of road games this weekend, first by returning to Ivy League play with a Saturday visit to Harvard, then with a non-league trip Monday to St. Bonaventure.
 
GAME INFORMATION
GAME #11: Cornell at Harvard
DATE: Saturday, Oct. 11, 2014
TIME: 1:30 p.m.
SITE: Soldiers Field Soccer/Lacrosse Stadium – Cambridge, Mass. (artificial surface)
2014 RECORDS: Cornell 6-4 (1-1 Ivy); Harvard 6-3-2 (1-0-1 Ivy)
VIDEO: Big Red Digital
LIVE STATS: GoCrimson.com
 
GAME #12: Cornell at St. Bonaventure
DATE: Monday, Oct. 13, 2014
TIME: 6 p.m.
SITE: Tom '80 and Michelle Marra Athletics Field Complex – Olean, N.Y. (artificial surface)
2014 RECORDS (not including Saturday's games): Cornell 6-4; St. Bonaventure 4-7-1
LIVE STATS: GoBonnies.com

ABOUT THE BIG RED
In search of its first winning season in 12 years, Cornell dropped a hard-fought 2-1 decision Monday to Colgate — a team which is receiving votes in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America national rankings. After conceding early on a goal-mouth scramble, Cornell stormed back to tie the game at 1 on sophomore midfielder Elizabeth Crowell's team-leading sixth goal of the season. Freshman defender Whitney Farber drew the assist, starting the play on a throw-in from the right side. The teams remained even into the half before the Raiders found the winner just before the hour mark. … The Big Red won its third Ivy League game over the last five years on Friday, Oct. 3, topping Penn, 3-2. Cornell blitzed Penn for three goals in the opening 32 minutes, then held on for the program's first victory against the Quakers since 1996. Junior forward Caroline Growney set up Crowell's goal in the second minute, then scored one of her own 13 minutes later on a diagonal run set up by senior midfielder Claire MacManus' perfect through-ball. Freshman forward Meera Dheer then netted the winner on a 30-yard effort from the right side, taking advantage of a pestering breeze that played a big role in the contest. … Growney was named Ivy League Player of the Week on Monday for her efforts against Penn. She also earned the honor on Sept. 8, which makes Growney the first Cornellian to win the Ivy honor twice in the same season since 1997. … With her goal Monday, Crowell has regained the team scoring lead with six goals and two assists for 14 points. Growney had four goals and a team-high five points for 13 points, which is two off the career high she set last season (7-1—15). MacManus' career-high three assists have her tied for third in scoring with sophomore forward Meera Marhoefer. … The Big Red is in position to continue building off a strong 2013 campaign. Cornell was 7-8-1 last season, which featured more than double the program's win totals from the 2011 and 2012 seasons combined. Cornell had at least five victories in its first six games for the first time since 2005. … Continuity is strong with 17 of 23 letterwinners returning from last season, plus a group of newcomers yielding a few new starters. Despite the strong group of incumbents, the team still has a younger slant. There are just four seniors on the roster — including co-captains Sydney Cetrullo and MacManus. … The top three scorers and 10 of the 12 players who had points last season are back with the Big Red in 2014.
 
ABOUT HARVARD
The defending Ivy League champions have recently hit a speed bump, mustering just a pair of scoreless draws against Massachusetts (Sept. 29) and Yale (Oct. 4) before Wednesday's 2-1 double-overtime loss to Boston University. Freshman defender Mia Bladin scored the game's opening goal for the Crimson in the 43rd minute, and senior goalkeeper Bethany Kanten made 11 saves in the loss. … All discussion about Harvard begins with sophomore forward Midge Purce, who leads the team in scoring with four goals and one assist for nine points. She is the reigning Ivy League Player and Rookie of the Year and was named a third-team all-American as a freshman. Junior midfielder Haley Washburn was also an All-Ivy League First Team selection last year. … Senior midfielder Meg Casscells has two goals and a team-high two assists, though she hasn't played in the last two games. Her six points are tied for second on the team with junior forward Emily Mosbacher, who has three goals. … Kanten is the third goalkeeper Harvard has used this season, though she has also appeared in two games as a forward and scored a goal. Senior Cheta Emba is 3-1 with a 0.54 goals-against average and .864 save percentage with two shutouts, and sophomore Lizzie Durack is 3-1-2 with a 0.40 goals-against average and .846 save percentage with one clean sheet.
 
THE SERIES WITH HARVARD
The Crimson holds a 21-3-9 lead in the all-time series after last year's 7-2 victory at Berman Field. But the Big Red has proven to be a worthy test of Harvard in years immediately before that. The lone non-win in the Crimson's march to the Ivy League title in 2011 came at the hands of Cornell when the teams settled for a 2-2 tie on Oct. 8, 2011 at Berman Field. The Big Red once again rallied late in 2013, with senior Mary Keroack '14 netting the equalizer in the 75th minute to give Cornell a 1-1 tie and its only point in league play. Cornell hasn't beaten Harvard since Oct. 2, 1993, when an overtime goal by Amy Duesing proved to be all the scoring.
 
ABOUT SAINT BONAVENTURE
The Bonnies are enduring a three-game losing streak in which they have been outscored 8-0 by UMass-Lowell (Sept. 21), Davidson (Oct. 3) and Richmond (Oct. 5). In its most recent outing, St. Bonaventure surrendered three goals in less than a minute early in the second half of a 5-0 loss at Richmond in an Atlantic 10 game. The Bonnies' victories this season have come against Kent State, Canisius, VMI and Binghamton. The team's 1-0 victory against VMI came on Cornell's Berman Field during the Big Red Shootout on Sept. 14. … Senior forward Brittany Charles leads the team in scoring with two goals and three assists for seven points. Freshman midfielder Danielle Vis has a team-high three goals for six points, which ranks second on the team. Both Charles and Vis, along with sophomore defender Jennifer Morris, were named to the Big Red Shootout All-Tournament Team. … Junior Christina Sarokon has started 11 games in goal, posting a 4-6-1 record, 1.28 goals-against average, .803 save percentage and four shutouts.
 
THE SERIES WITH SAINT BONAVENTURE
The Big Red has a 9-3-1 lead in the all-time series with the Bonnies, though the teams have not played each other since the Big Red's 3-1 victory on Sept. 10, 2010 at Colgate's Raider Invitational. The last time the teams met in Olean, N.Y. was Sept. 9, 2007, when the Bonnies secured a 4-2 victory.
 
HEAD COACH PATRICK FARMER
Now in his 22nd season as a head coach in the NCAA, Patrick Farmer is in his third season as the Cornell women's soccer program's fifth head coach. Farmer came 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. Farmer has amassed a 275-123-42 record at Cornell, 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 fourth season as an assistant coach, and Dwight Hornibrook is in his third season as an assistant coach after serving as the head coach of SUNY Cortland men's soccer for eight years.
 
CROWELL ON A ROLL
Sophomore midfielder Elizabeth Crowell has a pair of two-goal games to her credit this season and has already topped her point total from her freshman campaign. Her first two goals this season were both banked off the woodwork and into the net during a 5-0 rout of Virginia Military Institute on Sept. 12. Two days later, Crowell assisted on the Big Red's lone goal in a double-overtime loss to Temple. She was not only named to the Big Red Shootout All-Tournament Team, but she was tied for most votes received. She led the tournament in scoring with five points.
 
TOPS IN THE TOURNEY
After finishing in second place in the Big Red Shootout on Sept. 12 and Sept. 14, the Big Red had three players voted to the event's all-tournament team — junior forward Caroline Growney, sophomore midfielder Elizabeth Crowell and junior defender Charlotte Tate.
 
ON TO THE NEXT CENTURY
In the same year Cornell University is celebrating its sesquicentennial, the women's soccer team has celebrated a slightly bigger number. The Big Red registered the 200th victory of the program's history of 32-plus years last Friday with a 3-2 victory against Buffalo at Berman Field. Opponents for some other milestones include Hamilton in 1982 (first), Yale in 1988 (50th), Colgate in 1994 (100th), Wagner in 2002 (150th) and now Buffalo in 2014 (200th).
 
QUICK STARTERS
Cornell has enjoyed great success in the 33 season openers in the program's history, picking up a 19-10-4 mark in the first game of the season. That trend continued this season with a dramatic 1-0 victory Sept. 4 at Massachusetts on the strength of junior forward Caroline Growney's 110th-minute goal. Sophomore midfielder Elizabeth Crowell assisted on the strike, and sophomore goalkeeper Kelsey Tierney made six saves for her third career shutout.
 
A CALL TO ARMBANDS
Senior midfielder Claire MacManus and senior defender Sydney Cetrullo are the Big Red's co-captains this season. It's just the second time in the last eight years that the Big Red has had fewer than three captains, with 2011 (Abigail Apistolas and Sidra Bonner) and 2009 (Katie Hayes and Lena Russomagno) being the other occurrences in that span.
 
ALOHA!
Last season, forward Dempsey Banks and midfielder Elizabeth Crowell gave the Big Red two freshmen with at least 10 points in a season for just the second time in program history and the first time since 1988. Banks' total of 12 points ranked ninth all-time in freshman scoring. She joined the Big Red by way of 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. Crowell joined the Big Red immediately after her sister, Megan Crowell '13, concluded her playing career at Cornell as a four-time letterwinner.
 
SHE'S HONORED
Senior midfielder Claire MacManus has been recognized for being one of the top defensive midfielders in the Ivy League, as she has been tabbed as an All-Ivy Second Team selection in each of the last two seasons. One of the team's best aerial threats, MacManus scored one goal in each of her first three seasons on East Hill. Her latest strike was the game-winner against Delaware State on Oct. 6, 2013. MacManus is also a midfielder on the women's lacrosse team, being named to the All-Ivy League Second Team in that sport as well.
 
YOUTH IS SERVED
The Big Red is carrying a roster of 27 players this season, but only four are seniors. All four of the fourth-year players — Kelly Abrams, Sydney Cetrullo, Claire MacManus, Kerry Schubert — have started at some point in their careers. There are also six juniors, eight sophomores and nine freshmen on the roster. Of Cornell's 66 points last season, 49 were produced by underclassmen and 54 were produced by returning players to the squad this season.

NATIONAL APPEAL
The Big Red has 13 different states and the District of Columbia represented on the team roster, with its home state of New York claiming eight players. Cornell has three players that hail from Pennsylvania and California, two each from New Jersey, Ohio and Illinois, and single representatives from Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

UP NEXT
Cornell returns home with an Ivy contest against Yale at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18 at Berman Field in Ithaca. The game also represents the front end of the Big Red's only back-to-back games this season, as the squad will travel to New Jersey Institute of Technology for its final non-league game of the season at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 19.