PRINCETON, N.J. — After rounding the halfway point of the Ivy League season, Cornell men's soccer heads to Princeton this Saturday for a Halloween afternoon matchup at Roberts Stadium. The Tigers are tied for fifth in the Ivy League standings, sitting just above the Big Red in seventh. Both teams will be looking for their second conference win in hopes of gaining ground in the standings as the end of the season draws near.
GAME INFORMATIONGAME #15: Cornell Big Red at Princeton TigersWHEN: Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015, 4 p.m.
WHERE: Roberts Stadium — Princeton, N.J
.2015 RECORDS: Cornell 3-10-1 (1-3 Ivy), Princeton 7-4-2 (1-2-1 Ivy)
LIVE STATS:
GoPrincetonTigers.comSTREAMING VIDEO ($): Ivy League Digital Network ABOUT THE BIG REDCornell outshot Brown in Saturday's first half, 7-1, but a Bears' corner kick goal proved to be the deciding factor in the Big Red's 1-0 loss. … Cornell went 2-0 the previous week, including the team's first Ivy League win of the season. Sophomore
Eric Nuss scored in the 6
th minute to lift the Big Red to a 1-0 victory over Colgate on Tuesday before sophomore
Allen Michael Capo's golden goal earned Cornell a 2-1 overtime win over Yale. … The wins came after the Big Red posted a dominant performance over Harvard, outshooting the Crimson, 18-5, despite losing 2-0. … Cornell took home the CU Inaria Cup in late September after playing Duquesne to a scoreless draw and beating Air Force, 2-1, in overtime. Junior
Madison Heck netted a penalty kick goal to tie the game in regulation before taking the free kick that led to an Air Force own goal in overtime.
WORKING OVERTIMECornell is 2-1-1 in games that have needed extra time this season. The Big Red's only overtime loss came early in the season to Cleveland State, who scored on a penalty kick. Despite being a man down, Cornell held off Duquesne to preserve a scoreless double-overtime draw. Later that weekend, the Big Red rallied against Air Force to tie the game in regulation before snagging the win in overtime. In Ivy play, Yale evened the score in the 90
th minute, but
Allen Michael Capo put away a perfectly placed cross from
Zach Bialik for Cornell's second overtime win.
YOUNG BLOODThe Big Red has seen young players step into big roles this season. Freshmen
Ryan Bayne has earned a spot on the backline, starting and playing nearly every minute of ten straight games. Classmates
Ryan Watters and
Walter Prince have seen their roles increase as well, seeing substantially more minutes as the season has progressed. A number of sophomores have also become key fixtures for Cornell, including
Eric Nuss on the backline,
Tommy Griffin in the midfield and
Jonathan Cullom at forward. Nuss and Cullom each have a goal and an assist on the season, while Griffin has played an integral role down the middle, rarely leaving the field. In addition, Cornell's goalkeepers are a freshman (
Rhys Moller) and a sophomore (
Mitchell Meyer).
RHYS'S CUPFreshman goalkeeper
Rhys Moller was named the CU Inaria Cup's Defensive MVP after saving a penalty kick in the draw with Duquesne to preserve the shutout, his first career clean sheet. He also made a pair of key saves in overtime when the Big Red was short a man. Moller made 13 stops and posted a .916 save percentage in the tournament. … Earlier in the season, Moller earned a spot in the Cornell record books, making 11 saves in his collegiate debut, a 1-0 loss to Lehigh. The 11 stops were tied for second-most in a single game by a Big Red keeper over the past 15 years.
HECK YEAHJunior midfielder
Madison Heck was chosen as the CU Inaria Cup's Offensive MVP after converting a penalty kick against Air Force to send the game to overtime. He also took the free kick that led to the Falcons' own goal and earned the Big Red the victory. Heck provided energy off the bench and helped ignite the Big Red attack throughout the tournament.
ABOUT HEAD COACH JARO ZAWISLANZawislan, now in his seventh season at the helm of Big Red men's soccer, posted a winning record for four consecutive seasons entering 2015, earning him a spot among the top coaches in the Ivy League. He has led Cornell to 10+ wins in two of the past three seasons and also directed the Big Red to its first Ivy League title since 1995 and first outright title since 1977 in 2012. The Class of 2015, under Zawislan, posted the second-most career wins (41) of any senior class in program history. Heading into 2015, Zawislan held a 51-29-10 coaching record at Cornell, good for a .622 winning percentage, the second best in school history … Zawislan is a graduate of Clemson University '93, where he was a four-year starter in goal. Before pursuing a career in coaching, he played professionally both in the United States and his native Poland. After spending time as an assistant coach at Stanford, Creighton and Syracuse, Zawislan was named Cornell's 11th head coach in 2009.
ABOUT PRINCETONPrinceton is currently tied for fifth in the Ivy League standings after picking up its first conference win of the season this past weekend, upsetting second-place Harvard, 3-2, in Cambridge, Mass., on goals from freshman Jeremy Colvin, sophomore Daniel Bowkett and senior Thomas Sanner. Colvin earned Ivy League Rookie of the Week for his efforts, while Sanner was named AncientThe Tigers dropped a 2-0 decision to Columbia the week before, after tying Brown 1-1. Princeton opened their Ivy slate with a 1-0 loss to first-place Dartmouth. In non-conference play, the Tigers have been nearly perfect, posting big wins over Boston University (2-1), Seton Hall (3-2) and West Virginia (3-2, 2OT) and tying American. Princeton's two non-league losses were one-goal decisions against Florida International and Florida Gulf Coast, both of which have been in the mix for national rankings throughout the season. … Sanner leads the Tigers with 10 goals, including five game-winners. Senior Brendan McSherry has four goals and four assists. … Senior goalkeeper Ben Hummel (7-4-2) has seen the bulk of the minutes in net, posting a 1.60 goals-against average and .688 save percentage.
THE SERIES WITH PRINCETONPrinceton holds a 50-38-12 advantage in the all-time series between the Tigers and the Big Red. Princeton has won the past two meetings, both 2-1 decisions, including last season's matchup at Berman Field.
Devin Morgan tied the game for the Big Red in the 84
th minute before Andrew Mills scored the game-winner in the 88
th minute for the Tigers. Cornell's last win against Princeton game in 2012, a 1-0 victory en route to the Big Red's Ivy League title.
UP NEXTThe Big Red plays its final road game of the season at 4 p.m. on Nov. 7 when it travels to first-place Dartmouth.
