PHILADELPHIA — One of two remaining unbeaten teams in Division I and already guaranteed of its first winning season in 13 years, the women's soccer team will play its first road game of its Ivy League schedule at 7 p.m. Friday against Penn.

GAME INFORMATION
GAME #11: Cornell at Penn
DATE: Friday, Oct. 2, 2015
TIME: 7 p.m.
SITE: Rhodes Field – Philadelphia, Pa. (artificial surface)
2015 RECORDS: Cornell 8-0-2, 1-0 Ivy League; Penn 4-2-2, 0-1 Ivy League
LIVE STATS: PennAthletics.com
ALL-TIME SERIES: Penn leads, 16-7-1
 
ABOUT CORNELL
The Big Red (8-0-2, 1-0 Ivy) won its fifth consecutive game on Sunday, using goals from sophomore forward Paige DeLoach and junior forward Meera Marhoefer to secure a 2-1 victory at Wagner. When the Seahawks scored on a penalty kick in the 81st minute, it marked the first goal scored against Cornell this season — making the Big Red the last team in Division I to concede its first goal. In its Ivy League opener on Friday night, Cornell defeated Columbia, 1-0, on a goal from senior midfielder Brenna Mockler. She converted a rebound of her penalty kick, which was stopped by the Lions' goalkeeper in the 62nd minute. … Junior midfielder Elizabeth Crowell is tied with DeLoach for the team lead with three goals, though Crowell earned her first assist of the season on Sunday to take the team scoring lead with seven points. DeLoach is second with six points, followed by a pair of freshmen — Jessica Ritchie has five points on two goals and an assist, and Carolyn Ruoff has four points on one goal and a team-high two assists. Sophomore forward Tess Pullano and senior midfielder Amanda Gaggioli have the Big Red's other goals this season. … With a win against Penn, the Big Red would be 2-0 in Ivy League play for the first time since 1995.
 
RARIFIED AIR
There are 333 women's soccer programs in the NCAA Division I ranks, and Cornell joins nationally-ranked North Carolina (10-0-1) as the only two remaining teams in the country that enter this week undefeated. Dating back to last season, which ended with a 1-0 victory over Ivy League contender Dartmouth, Cornell had 10 consecutive shutouts and a program-record run of 1,059 minutes, 19 seconds without retrieving the ball out of its own net. That broke the previous shutout streak mark of 939:24 from Oct. 7, 1987 to Sept. 17, 1988. … Cornell is also off to its best start in program history, having suffered no losses through 10 games. The previous record was eight, when the Big Red started the 1991 campaign 7-0-1.
 
TIERNEY'S TALE
Not surprisingly, junior goalkeeper Kelsey Tierney (8-0-2, 0.10 goals-against average, .962 save percentage) — 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 five weeks of this season, with her current total of 15 clean sheets ranking fourth in program history. Tierney also ranks sixth in career goals against average (1.10) and victories (18).
 
NONE SHALL PASS
While junior goalkeeper Kelsey Tierney hasn't surrendered a goal during the run of play yet this season, she's also had a minimal workload in most of the Big Red's 10 games. Excluding Tierney's six-save effort Sept. 11 at Syracuse, she's only been called upon to make 19 stops in the Big Red's other nine 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. … Though there are seven games left on the schedule, Cornell has already assured 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 289-140-45. 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 PENN
The Quakers opened their league slate with a 2-0 loss last Saturday at Harvard. Carrie Crook made nine saves in the loss, as Penn was outshot, 25-5. The Quakers mustered a pair of draws the previous weekend, scoring the final goal in a 1-1 decision with VCU on Sept. 18 before a scoreless deadlock two days later at Towson. Penn is 3-0-1 at home this season. … Sasha Stephens leads the team in scoring with five points. Her two goals are tied for the team lead with Paige Lombard. Erin Mikolai also has four points on one goal and two assists. … Crook (1-2-2, 0.98, .792, two shutouts) has seen the most action among the squad's goalkeepers with six appearances, though Kalijah Terilli (3-0, 0.76, .667) has also appeared four times.
 
THE SERIES WITH PENN
Penn was riding a 15-game series winning streak coming into last year's game at Cornell, but the Big Red staked itself to a three-goal lead within 32 minutes and held on for a 3-2 victory on Oct. 3, 2014 at Berman Field. Sophomore forward Meera Dheer's first collegiate goal proved to be the winner. Junior midfielder Elizabeth Crowell opened the scoring in the game, and junior defender/midfielder Aimee Tavzel and sophomore defender Whitney Farber had assists. The victory cut the Big Red's deficit in the series to 16-7-1. Cornell's last victory at Penn came on Sept. 16, 1995 (2-1).

UP NEXT
Cornell returns home for its next two games, hosting defending Ivy League champion Harvard at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10. The Big Red then concludes the non-league portion of its schedule at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 12 with a game against regional rival Colgate.