ITHACA, N.Y. — The women's soccer team makes its first-ever trip to Loyola on Friday evening to play its second game of the season before returning home to open the home portion of its 2016 slate at 1 p.m. Sunday against regional rival Syracuse on the new-and-improved natural playing surface at Berman Field. The game against the Orange will be streamed live on the Ivy League Digital Network.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Cornell at Loyola
DATE: Friday, Sept. 2, 2016
TIME: 6 p.m.
SITE: Ridley Athletic Complex – Baltimore, Md. (artificial surface)
RECORDS: Cornell 1-0, Loyola 3-0-1
VIDEO: Patriot League Network
LIVE STATS: LoyolaGreyhounds.com
 
Syracuse at Cornell
DATE: Sunday, Sept. 4, 2016
TIME: 1 p.m.
SITE: Berman Field – Ithaca, N.Y. (natural surface)
RECORDS (not including Thursday/Friday results): Cornell 1-0, Syracuse 3-0-1
VIDEO: Ivy League Digital Network
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com

ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell won its season debut Sunday at Siena, 1-0, on the strength of a fifth-minute goal by junior forward Paige DeLoach. Senior midfielder Elizabeth Crowell and freshman midfielder Juliana Comer assisted on the goal, then the Big Red got four saves from senior goalkeeper Kelsey Tierney to preserve the victory. Cornell is now 9-0-3 in its last 12 non-league games dating back to Oct. 13, 2014, with clean sheets in 11 of those games. …Cornell is coming off a memorable season in which it accomplished a host of heights the program has not seen recently. The Big Red was the last Division I women's team in the country to concede a goal, recording 10 consecutive shutouts and a program-record shutout streak of 1,059 minutes, 19 seconds dating back to November 2014. Cornell's undefeated mark through 11 games was also a first in program history, and the team's final record of 9-4-4 marked its best finish since 1995. Both the starting goalkeeper (Tierney) and both primary central defenders (senior Kailey Joyce and sophomore Zoe McCormick) return to the Big Red this year. ... Crowell led the team in scoring for a second straight year with nine points. The All-Ivy League first team selection had four goals and one assist, with her goal total tying for the team lead with DeLoach. Sophomore midfielder Jessica Ritchie had two goals and an assist for five points last year, while sophomore midfielder Carolyn Ruoff is the only returning player with two assists last year.
 
HEAD COACH PATRICK FARMER
Now in his 24th season as a head coach in the NCAA, Patrick Farmer is entering his fifth season as the Cornell women's soccer program's 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 has amassed a 261-97-40 record at Ithaca College, Penn State, Tennessee Tech and Syracuse. 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 fifth season as an assistant coach after serving as the head coach of SUNY Cortland men's soccer for eight years, and the Big Red has added two new coaches for this year. Longtime Le Moyne head coach Tracey Leipold will join the Big Red staff as an assistant coach, and Megan Giles is the new volunteer assistant coach after winning two All-Southland Conference honors during her four-year career at Oral Roberts.
 
TIERNEY'S TALE
Senior Kelsey Tierney played every minute of the historic season in goal for the Big Red last year, helping the team tie a program single-season record with 12 shutouts and earning All-Ivy League first team honors. Tierney led the nation in goals against average for much of the season and finished the year ranked seventh (0.50), and she also ranked 13th in save percentage (.868). Her 12 shutouts ranked fourth in the nation, and she's started this season on a similar note with a four-save blanking of Siena last Sunday. That clean sheet brought Tierney's career total of shutouts to 19, which ranks third in program history behind Melissa Gambrell (22) and Sue DeLong (20). Tierney also ranks tied for fourth in career victories (20) and sixth in career goals against average (1.07). Tierney and classmate Elizabeth Crowell gave the Big Red its first All-Ivy first-teamers since 1995.
 
A CALL TO ARMBANDS
Seniors Kelsey Tierney, Kailey Joyce and Elizabeth Crowell are serving as the Big Red's tri-captains this season. The group has three All-Ivy League selection between them, providing the Big Red with leadership that has logged significant minutes over their collegiate careers.
 
QUICK STARTERS
Cornell has had great success in the 32 season openers in the program's history, picking up a 19-10-5 mark in the first game of the season after last Sunday's 1-0 win at Siena. The Big Red has earned shutouts in each of its last four season debuts, including three 1-0 victories.
 
BALANCING ACT
For the first time in Patrick Farmer's tenure as the head coach, the Big Red has a balanced roster in terms of age and production. Cornell is carrying a roster of 30 players, including seven seniors. There are also nine juniors, six sophomores and eight freshmen on the roster. Of Cornell's 108 points over the last two seasons, 63 were produced by players who are still on the team.

NATIONAL APPEAL
The Big Red has 12 different states and the District of Columbia represented on the team roster, with its home state of New York claiming nine players. Cornell has three players each that hail from California and Maryland, two each from the District of Columbia, New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania, and one each from Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, Oregon and Texas. The nine players from New York marks the most on a Cornell roster since it had 15 Empire State natives on the 1997 squad.
 
ABOUT LOYOLA
The Greyhounds are coming off consecutive six-win seasons under head coach Naomi Meiburger, with the 2015 season ending with a 2-1 loss to Boston University in the Patriot League semifinals. But Loyola has started this year strong with three straight victories over Mount St. Mary's, UMBC and Saint Francis (Pa.) before Sunday's 1-1 draw with St. John's. Senior defender Nicole Wahlig scored in the eighth minute on a header off a corner kick from sophomore Mia Sardella. Freshman Lily Andres made five saves to preserve the tie. … Wahlig, sophomore Julianna Cabrera and freshman Maddie Hart are tied for the team lead with four points on two goals apiece. Senior Emily Lung has Loyola's other goal on a free kick, and Sardella has a pair of assists — both directly off corner kicks. Andres (1-0-1, 0.45 goals against average, .917 save pct., SO) and sophomore Sumer Rahe (2-0-0, 0.50, .857, SO) have both started two games in goal.
 
THE SERIES WITH LOYOLA
The Big Red defeated the Greyhounds, 2-0, on the opening weekend last season in the first-ever meeting between the two programs. Jessica Ritchie scored her first collegiate goal in the 34th minute on a slight redirection of a free kick taken by defender Zoe McCormick. Cornell then doubled its lead in the 54th minute. A corner kick created a loose ball toward the middle of the field and Rowan Glass teed up a long shot that clanked off the post, then Paige DeLoach jumped on the rebound and finished with a low shot to the far side of the net. Kelsey Tierney made two saves for the shutout.
 
ABOUT SYRACUSE
The Orange is off to a fast 3-0-1 start after Sunday's 2-0 victory over visiting Albany. It was Syracuse's third consecutive shutout after it opened the campaign Aug. 19 with a 1-1 draw at Colgate. The Orange is also scheduled to close out a four-game home stand at 4 p.m. Thursday against Bucknell. … Syracuse posted a 7-11-1 record in 2015, then imported the nation's 18th-ranked recruiting class. … Junior Alanna O'Neill leads the team with two goals and her four points is tied for the scoring lead with freshman Taylor Bennett — a Tompkins County native from Dryden. Junior Sheridan Street has a goal and an assist, and junior Eva Gordon and senior Maddie Iozzi have the Orange's other goals to date. Syracuse's last three goals have come off free kicks or corner kicks.
 
THE SERIES WITH SYRACUSE
The Big Red will be seeking its first-ever victory against the Orange, with Syracuse holding a 7-0-2 lead in the all-time series after the teams played to a scoreless draw last year at SU Soccer Stadium. That marked the teams' first meeting since Oct. 13, 2004. The other draw on the books between the two schools was also scoreless in 2002. This will be Syracuse's first visit to Berman Field since 2003.

UP NEXT
Cornell faces its most challenging weekend of non-league play this season and in recent memory, starting with a 7 p.m. Friday trek to 2015 national semifinalist Rutgers. The Big Red then returns home for a 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 11 clash with a San Diego State squad that finished last year 15-4-1 and one goal short of a trip to the NCAA tournament.