ITHACA, N.Y. — The Big Red will face a pair of unfamiliar opponents when Duquesne and Air Force visit Berman Field for the fifth annual CU Inaria Classic this weekend. Cornell has never faced either team in program history, though the Big Red got a chance to see the Dukes in action last weekend at the Duquesne Invitational. Like Cornell, the Dukes dropped contests to the tournament's other two teams, Cleveland State and then-no. 12 Oregon State. The Big Red will look to take the CU Inaria Classic crown for the fourth time in five years. Please see below for important weekend parking information.
 
GAME INFORMATION
GAME #6: Cornell Big Red vs. Duquesne University Dukes (CU Inaria Classic)
WHEN: Friday, Sept. 18, 2015, 7 p.m.
WHERE: Charles F. Berman Field — Ithaca, N.Y.
2015 RECORDS: Cornell 0-5, Duquesne 1-3
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
HOMECOMING WEEKEND PARKING INFORMATION
 
GAME #7: Cornell Big Red vs. Air Force Academy Falcons (CU Inaria Classic)
WHEN: Sunday, Sept. 20, 2015, 1 p.m.
WHERE: Charles F. Berman Field — Ithaca, N.Y.
2015 RECORDS (not including Friday's games): Cornell 0-5, Air Force 2-2
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
 
ABOUT THE BIG RED
The highlight of the Big Red's season so far has been holding then-no. 12 Oregon State scoreless until the 80^th minute in the 2-0 loss, the Big Red's final game of the Duquesne Invitational. Cornell opened the tournament with a 2-1 overtime loss to Cleveland State. The Vikings got the first tally, but the Big Red answered in the second half with a goal from sophomore Jonathan Cullom, before a penalty kick in overtime sealed the victory for Cleveland State. … Cornell fell twice on the road to Patriot League opponents to start the season: to Lafayette, 2-1, and Lehigh, 1-0. … Most recently, the team dropped a 1-0 contest to Binghamton in the home opener at Berman Field… Four of the team's five losses have been by just one goal. … Freshman goalkeeper Rhys Moller made his collegiate debut at Lehigh and has now made four consecutive starts. … Juniors Madison Heck and Jack Ferguson lead the team with eight shots each.
 
BEAVER DAM
In the team's first game against a nationally ranked opponent, Cornell held then-no. 12 Oregon State to just a single shot in the first half and kept the Beavers off the scoreboard until the 80^th minute. The Big Red had the better of the scoring chances in the opening frame and finished the game with a 13-12 advantage in shots.
 
QUICK START
Madison Heck got the Big Red's season started quickly, scoring the team's first goal of 2015 in the seventh minute of the season opener, an eventual 2-1 loss to Lafayette. Last season, Cornell's first goal of the year also came against Lafayette, but it came 311 minutes into the season in the Big Red's third game, a double overtime 1-0 win against the Leopards at Berman Field. Cornell tied then-no. 2 Louisville, 0-0, in the 2014 season opener and then fell to Xavier, 1-0, in overtime. 
 
SAVES GALORE
In his collegiate debut, freshman goalkeeper Rhys Moller made 11 saves, tied for second-most in a single game by a Big Red keeper in the past decade. Several of the stops were big time plays to keep Cornell in the game, a 1-0 loss to Lehigh. Moller picked up seven more saves in the Duquesne Invitational, including five against no. 12 Oregon State. Sophomore keeper Mitchell Meyer also made an impressive seven saves in his first collegiate start in the season opener at Lafayette. 
 
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.
 
ACROSS STATE LINES
Cornell men's soccer is a diverse group, with players hailing from 13 different states and England. Six players come from New York, while five make the trip to Ithaca from the west coast — two from California and three from Washington state. JJ Black is a transatlantic transplant, coming to the Big Red from Cambridge, England.
 
ABOUT HEAD COACH JARO ZAWISLAN
Zawislan, 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 THE CU INARIA CLASSIC
The annual CU Inaria Classic, now in its fifth year, is a tournament co-hosted by Cornell and Colgate. The visiting teams — this year, Duquesne and Air Force — play a game at each host school. Three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw, and zero for a loss. Last season, Colgate and Cornell both finished the tournament with a perfect six points with wins over Fairleigh Dickinson and Siena. Colgate was named the tournament champion based on goal differential, posting a +4 margin to Cornell's +3. It was the first time Cornell had not won the tournament title.
 
ABOUT DUQUESNE
The Dukes opened the season with a 3-1 win over Niagara before losing their next three. Their first loss came to Marshall, 1-0. During the Duquesne Invitational, a tournament that the Big Red also participated in, the Dukes played a tight game with then-no. 12 Oregon State, losing 3-2, before falling to Cleveland State, 1-0, in the final game of the tournament. Duquesne finished just ahead of Cornell in the tournament based on goal differential (The Big Red lost 2-1 and 2-0). … Redshirt senior Colin Phillips leads the Dukes with four goals and 13 shots in four games. Junior Diego Vieira also has a goal for Duquesne. … Senior goalkeeper Sam Frymier (0-3) has started three games and posted 12 saves, a 1.67 goals-against average and a .706 save percentage. Redshirt junior Evan Kozlowski's lone start came in the season-opening win over Niagara, when he made two saves and allowed one goal. … This will be just the Dukes' second game away from Rooney Field this season.
 
THE SERIES WITH DUQUESNE
This will be the first meeting between the Dukes and the Big Red. Cornell is 13-7-2 all-time against current members of the Atlantic-10 Conference.
 
ABOUT AIR FORCE
The Falcons jumped out to a 2-0 record, posting a pair of overtime victories against Army West Point (1-0, 2OT) and Evansville (2-1, 2OT) to open the season before falling to Drake, 2-1, ad Cal Poly, 1-0. … Junior Tucker Axhoj leads Air Force with two goals and an assist through four games. Senior Zach Hill and junior A.J. Esparza each have a goal as well. … Junior goalkeeper Jon Wendt (2-2) has played every minute, posting nine saves, a 0.93 goals-against average and a .692 save percentage. … The CU Inaria Classic sits in the middle of an eight-game stretch away from home turf for the Falcons.
 
THE SERIES WITH AIR FORCE
The Falcons and the Big Red have never met in program history. This is Cornell's first contest against any current Western Athletic Conference team.

UP NEXT
Cornell takes on Air Force in the team's second and final game of the CU Inaria Classic on Sunday at 1 p.m. on Berman Field. After the tournament, the Big Red hits the road again to face a pair of in-state rivals. First, the team heads to Hartwick for a 5 p.m. start on Wednesday, Sept. 23 before travelling to Buffalo on Sunday, Sept. 27 for a 7 p.m. kickoff.