ITHACA, N.Y. — After nearly three weeks away from Berman Field, Cornell men's soccer returns home Saturday afternoon looking to snap a three-game losing streak and improve to 1-1 in Ivy League play. Harvard visits Ithaca having won two in a row, including a 3-1 victory over Yale in the Crimson's league opener.
GAME INFORMATIONGAME #11: Cornell Big Red vs. Harvard Crimson WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015, 4:30 p.m.
WHERE: Charles F. Berman Field — Ithaca, N.Y.
2015 RECORDS: Cornell 1-8-1 (0-1 Ivy); Harvard 2-4-2 (1-0 Ivy)
YOUTH SOCCER DAY: Activities begin at 12:30; free admission for kids; t-shirt decorating and poster making; post-game autographs with the men's and women's teams
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.comSTREAMING VIDEO ($): Ivy League Digital Network ABOUT THE BIG REDAfter winning the CU Inaria Cup and notching its first win of the season, the Big Red has dropped three 2-0 contests, including an Ivy-opening loss at Penn this past weekend. … Cornell took home the CU Inaria Cup 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. … In the Duquesne Invitational earlier in the season, the Big Red held then-No. 12 Oregon State scoreless until the 80
th minute in a 2-0 loss. … Heck leads the team with 14 shots and two goals.
THE BERMAN ADVANTAGEThe matchup with Harvard will be just the fourth home game for the Big Red this season. Cornell is 1-1-1 at Berman Field in 2015, with its CU Inaria Cup-winning scoreless draw with Duquesne and win over Air Force coming on home soil. The 2-1 win was also the Big Red's first multi-goal game of the season.
TOURNAMENT TRIUMPHFor the fourth time in five years, Cornell took home the CU Inaria Cup title. The Big Red earned four points in this year's tournament: one from the 0-0 draw with Duquesne and three from the 2-1 win over Air Force. The Dukes also grabbed four points, picking up a 1-0 win over Colgate on Sunday and forcing the tournament champion to be decided through tie-breakers. Duquesne and Cornell were tied in head-to-head play (0-0 draw) and in goal differential (+1), but the Big Red won on the third tie-breaker with two goals for. Cornell is now 8-0-1 in CU Inaria Cup fixtures.
RHYS'S CUPFreshman goalkeeper
Rhys Moller was named the CU Inaria Cup's Defensive MVP after saving a penalty kick in Friday night's 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 0.916 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.
JUNIOR ARMY After graduating seven seniors after last season, the Big Red has just two seniors on the team,
Ben Feldman and
Stevin Bienfait. The team includes a whopping 13 juniors, meaning the Class of 2017 makes up exactly half of this season's roster. Five sophomores and six freshmen round out the squad.
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 HARVARDAfter a rocky start, the Crimson (3-4-2) has won two in a row, including a 1-0 victory over previously unbeaten New Hampshire on Tuesday. Harvard played a difficult non-conference schedule and is 0-0-2 against ranked opponents on the season, playing to draws with then-No. 23 Southern Methodist (2-2) and then-No. 9 Washington (0-0). The Crimson's losses came to Loyola Marymount (1-0), Connecticut (2-1), Seattle (2-0) and Boston University (3-0). Harvard defeated Stony Brook, 2-1, earlier in the season and opened Ivy League play with a 3-1 victory over Yale on Saturday. … Senior Jake Freeman leads the team with four goals and 19 shots. Classmate Oliver White is close behind with two goals and 15 shots. … Senior goalkeeper Evan Mendez earned Ivy League Player of the Week honors on Sept. 21 for his shutout effort against then-No. 9 Washington. Mendez has played every minute for the Crimson, posting a 1.27 goals-against average and a .750 save percentage.
THE SERIES WITH HARVARDThe Crimson holds a 40-22-15 advantage over the Big Red all-time. Last season, Harvard edged Cornell, 1-0, on Oct. 11, 2014 in Cambridge, Mass. The Big Red's last win over the Crimson came on Oct. 6, 2012, when Cornell's 3-1 victory gave the Big Red its 10
th win in as many games.
UP NEXTThe Big Red closes non-conference play against Colgate at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Berman Field. The Raiders, who co-hosted the CU Inaria Cup, are 4-4-1 on the season, including a 2-1 win over then-No. 19 American.
