ITHACA, N.Y. — Undefeated through eight games to start the season, the women's soccer team will start Ivy League play at 7 p.m. Friday against Columbia at Berman Field. The Big Red then wraps up the weekend with a non-league contest at 3 p.m. Sunday at Wagner.  

GAME INFORMATION
GAME #9: Columbia at Cornell
DATE: Friday, Sept. 25, 2015
TIME: 7 p.m.
SITE: Charles F. Berman Field – Ithaca, N.Y. (natural surface)
2015 RECORDS: Cornell 6-0-2, Columbia 4-3
VIDEO: Ivy League Digital Network
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
ALL-TIME SERIES: Cornell leads, 18-11
 
GAME #10: Cornell at Wagner
DATE: Sunday, Sept. 27, 2015
TIME: 3 p.m.
SITE: Wagner College Stadium – Staten Island, N.Y. (artificial surface)
2015 RECORDS (not including Cornell's game Friday): Cornell 6-0-2, Wagner 1-7-1
VIDEO: NEC Front Row
LIVE STATS: WagnerAthletics.com
ALL-TIME SERIES: Tied, 1-1
 
ABOUT CORNELL
The Big Red enters Ivy League play not only undefeated, but also unscathed defensively with eight shutouts through eight games. Cornell (6-0-2) has won its last three games by identical 1-0 scores, getting the winning goal in the 62nd minute from junior midfielder Elizabeth Crowell in its last game against Binghamton on Sunday at Berman Field. Junior defender Kailey Joyce had her first collegiate assist on the goal. Sophomore forward Tess Pullano scored in the ninth minute of last Thursday's 1-0 win at Seton Hall. … Crowell leads the team with three goals, with her subsequent six points one point ahead of the five held by freshman midfielder Jessica Ritchie (two goals, one assist). Sophomore forward Paige DeLoach also has two goals for four points, and senior midfielder Amanda Gaggioli and freshman forward Carolyn Ruoff have the Big Red's other two goals this season.
 
RARIFIED AIR
There are 335 women's soccer programs in the NCAA Division I ranks, and Cornell joins nationally-ranked Rutgers (8-0) as the only two remaining teams in the country yet to concede a goal this season. Dating back to last season, which ended with a 1-0 victory over Ivy League contender Dartmouth, Cornell has nine consecutive shutouts and a run of 884 minutes, 5 seconds without retrieving the ball out of its own net. That's the second-longest such streak in the program's 34-year history, trailing a stretch of 939:24 from Oct. 7, 1987 to Sept. 17, 1988. … Cornell is also undefeated through eight games for just the second time in program history. The Big Red was 7-0-1 through eight games in 1991.
 
TIERNEY'S TALE
Not surprisingly, junior goalkeeper Kelsey Tierney (6-0-2, 18 saves) — who has played every minute of the season to date — has been raking in both regional and national accolades for the team's defensive prowess. Tierney was consecutively named the Ivy League Player of the Week on Sept. 7 and Sept. 14, the ECAC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 9, and she was named the lone goalkeeper on the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week for Sept. 6. The Ivy honors mark the first time Cornell has taken league player of the week accolades in consecutive weeks since 1988. Tierney has more than doubled her career shutout total in four weeks of this season, with her current total of 14 clean sheets ranking fourth in program history. Tierney also ranks sixth in career goals against average (1.14) and victories (16).
 
NONE SHALL PASS
While junior goalkeeper Kelsey Tierney hasn't surrendered a goal yet this season, she's also had a minimal workload in most of the Big Red's eight games. Excluding Tierney's six-save effort Sept. 11 at Syracuse, she's only been called upon to make 12 stops in the Big Red's other seven games — most of which were of the pedestrian variety. That's a credit to Cornell's back line, which has primarily featured junior Kailey Joyce and freshman Zoe McCormick as central defenders and senior Charlotte Tate and sophomore Whitney Farber on the flanks. Junior Taylor Wright and sophomore Kaylee Fitzgerald have seen time as reserves, and — after graduating three-time All-Ivy selection Claire MacManus '15 — the Big Red has received terrific play in the defensive midfield from seniors Shanay Fischer and Brenna Mockler, junior Aimee Tavzel and Fitzgerald.
 
TOPS IN THE TOURNEY
The Big Red won the Alumni Classic, which was hosted by St. Bonaventure from Sept. 4-6, with victories over Cleveland State (3-0) and Akron (2-0). As a result, Cornell placed four players on the all-tournament team — freshman forward Carolyn Ruoff scored her first collegiate goal, junior Elizabeth Crowell scored goals in both games, junior goalkeeper Kelsey Tierney made five saves and senior defender Charlotte Tate was a key part of both shutout victories.
 
LOOKING BACK
What a difference one win makes. With Brenna Mockler looping a shoot from 20 yards into the net for a 1-0 victory over Dartmouth in the 2014 season finale, the Big Red won its eighth game in a season and its second game within Ivy League play for the first time since 2002. The program is now three-plus years into its transformation under head coach Patrick Farmer, who has amassed 287 victories over his career. The team started strong in 2014 with wins in five of its first six games. Among the victories in that stretch was a 3-2 come-from-behind win against Buffalo, which then went on a 14-game unbeaten streak and MAC championship. … Junior Elizabeth Crowell led the team with six goals and 14 points, the latter of which was one better than senior Caroline Growney. Both earned All-Ivy Honorable Mention, as did senior defender Charlotte Tate. … With two wins this weekend, Cornell can assure itself of its first winning season in 13 years.
 
HEAD COACH PATRICK FARMER
Now in his 23rd season as a head coach in the NCAA, Patrick Farmer is in his fourth 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. Prior to his stint at Wisconsin, Farmer served as a head coach at Ithaca College, Penn State, Tennessee Tech and Syracuse, and his career record as NCAA head coach now stands at 287-140-45. 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. Dwight Hornibrook is in his fourth season as an assistant coach after serving as the head coach of SUNY Cortland men's soccer for eight years, and 2012 D3Soccer.com Goalkeeper of the Year Becca Salant has joined the staff as an assistant coach for the 2015 campaign.
 
A CALL TO ARMBANDS
Senior defender Charlotte Tate and senior midfielder Shanay Fischer are the Big Red's co-captains this season. Fischer is in her third season with the Big Red after starting her collegiate career at Saint Peter's, and Tate is a four-year starter who earned All-Ivy League honorable mention in 2014.
 
YOUTH IS SERVED
The Big Red is carrying a roster of 28 players this season, but only four are seniors. There are also eight juniors, nine sophomores and seven freshmen on the roster. Of Cornell's 127 points over the 2013 and 2014 seasons, 99 were produced by players who are still on the team, and 81 were produced by underclassmen.

NATIONAL APPEAL
The Big Red has 11 different states and the District of Columbia represented on the team roster, with its home state of New York claiming seven players. Cornell has five players that hail from California, three each from Illinois and Ohio, two each from Maryland and Oregon, and single representatives from Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Texas.
 
ABOUT COLUMBIA
The Lions won three of four games on their recent home stand, including a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Army on Sunday. The Black Knights scored directly off a corner kick in the first minute of the game, but Columbia freshman forward Emma Anderson set up freshman forward Rachel Alexander's tying goal in the 17th minute and scored the winner in the 73rd minute from 20 yards. The Lions also have victories against Wagner (3-0), Manhattan (1-0) and Iona (1-0), and losses against Hofstra (2-0), Boston College (2-0) and Fordham (1-0). … Alexander leads the team with three goals and six points, and Anderson has two goals and one assist for five points. Sophomore defender Natalie Neshat and midfielder Caroline Militello have the Lions' other two goals this season, and sophomore midfielder Holly Neshat has two assists. … Junior Allison Spencer (3-3, 1.11, .806, one shutout) has started six of seven games in goal for the Lions, though senior Gabby Dubick (1-0, 0.00, two saves, one shutout) earned the victory by playing the second half of Sunday's game against Army.
 
THE SERIES WITH COLUMBIA
The Big Red holds an 18-11 advantage in the all-time series between the Ivy League rivals, who have met in every season since the Lions added the sport in 1986. Columbia hosted last year's meeting — the first under the direction of head coach Tracey Bartholomew — and secured a 1-0 win on the fast artificial surface at the Lions' home facility. Cornell won the last meeting at Berman Field, 2-0, on Sept. 27, 2013. Senior midfielder Shanay Fischer and junior forward Dempsey Banks had first-half goals for the Big Red, and junior goalkeeper Kelsey Tierney made three saves for the shutout.
 
ABOUT WAGNER
The Seahawks are 1-7-1 and winless in six games since that lone victory, which was a 4-2 decision against Saint Peter's on Aug. 26. Most recently, Wagner lost 1-0 to both UMass-Lowell on Sept. 13 and Hartford last Sunday. … Junior forward Megan Fritz leads the team with three goals and an assist for seven points. Junior midfielder Sydney McNutt, freshman midfielder Peyton Beck, sophomore midfielder Jackie Otake and freshman midfielder Maria D'Amico have score the Seahawks' other goals. … Three goalkeepers have seen action in at least two games. Sophomore goalkeeper Kaitlin Flaherty (0-5-1, 1.57, .743) has seen the bulk of the action, starting six games.
 
THE SERIES WITH WAGNER
Cornell and Wagner have each won one game against each other in their respective program histories, with the Seahawks' victory coming in the form of a 1-0 decision Sept. 28, 2014 at Berman Field. The only other meeting between the teams was a lopsided 4-0 Cornell victory on Oct. 23, 2002.

UP NEXT
Cornell resumes Ivy League play when it visits Penn at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2. The Big Red then returns home for a challenging weekend in which it faces Harvard at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10 and Colgate at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 12.