ITHACA, N.Y. — After three games at home, the men's soccer team will travel to No. 16 Virginia on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. matchup with the Cavaliers. This is Cornell's second straight game against a ranked opponent and fourth overall this season.

GAME INFORMATION
GAME #9: Cornell Big Red at No. 16 Virginia Cavaliers
WHEN: 7 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2016
WHERE: Klöckner Stadium – Charlottesville, Va.
2016 RECORDS: Cornell 0-6-2, Virginia 3-2-2
VIDEO: Watch ESPN
LIVE STATS: VirginiaSports.com
LIVE UPDATES: @CUBigRedGameday
 
ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell heads into the game against No. 16 Virginia with a solid week of rest under its belt. The team last played on Tuesday night against No. 2 Syracuse. Cornell opened up the scoring – becoming the only team this year to score first on the Orange – but Syracuse was able to find three goals to take the game, 3-1. The Big Red started the tough week with a game against Binghamton on Wednesday, Sept.14, tying the Bearcats, 1-1, in extra time. The Big Red then returned home for the CU Inaria Classic and played Saint Francis on Friday, Sept. 16 – again going to a second overtime period before ultimately falling, 2-1 – and then took on New Hampshire on Sunday, Sept. 18, dropping the game, 2-0. … Cornell opened up the season at home against Central Connecticut State and tied, 2-2, in overtime. The team then hit the road for four games. After playing then-ranked #14 Connecticut to a tough, 2-0, loss, the Big Red then headed to the Capitol Cup where it lost to George Mason, 1-0, in overtime, and dropped a game, 5-2, to American, a team that was ranked No. 20 at the time. The team's two goals against Eagles made them just one of two teams this year that have scored more than one goal against American. … Cornell has received goals from five different players. Brady Dickens and George Pedlow have two goals each, while Madison Heck, Jonathan Cullom and Ryan Watters have one each. Tommy Griffin has two assists. … Ryan Shellow has played the last five games in goal for Cornell, making 32 saves – including a program record 13 against Syracuse – and posting a 1.86 goals against average.
 
ABOUT HEAD COACH JOHN SMITH
Smith comes to East Hill after spending four years at Stanford, two as associate head coach. In 2015, Smith helped lead the Cardinal to its first national title in program history and an 18-2-3 record, the team's most wins since 2002. Smith, who worked primarily with Stanford's strikers, was named NSCAA Far West Region Assistant Coach of the Year in 2014. Prior to his time in Palo Alto, Smith amassed a 62-26-10 record in six seasons as the head coach of Division II power Incarnate Word and spent time as an assistant coach at CSU Bakersfield. Smith is a graduate of Rollins, where he was two-time All-American. He was selected 13^thoverall by the Columbus Crew in the 1997 MLS Draft and played for two years in the A-League. He was named the Cornell men's soccer program's 12^th head coach in March 2016.
 
SAVES BY SHELLOW
Freshman goalkeeper Ryan Shellow set a program record when he made 13 saves in the game against No. 2 Syracuse. The previous high for saves in a single game was held by Doug Allan, who made 12 saves in a game against Penn on Oct. 8, 2001.
 
FRESHMEN FINISHERS
Freshmen Brady Dickens leads Cornell in scoring with two goals and one assist for five points while classmate George Pedlow has two goals of his own and leads the Big Red with 10 shots on goal. When Pedlow scored against No. 2 Syracuse, he became the first player this year to score first on the Orange, a feat which earned him Ivy League Rookie of the Week. The two freshmen have played a part in five of Cornell's seven goals.  
 
IRONMEN
Junior captain Eric Nuss and classmate Spencer Kopko are the only two Big Red players to have played every single minute this season. The defenders have logged 771 minutes each, including two, 110 minute efforts in double-overtime games against Central Connecticut and Binghamton.

AN ABUNDANCE OF OVERTIMES
In the first seven games that Cornell played this season, four of them went to overtime. The last – and only other time – the Big Red played in four overtime games through the first seven games played in a season came in 1995. Cornell went on to play in eight overtime games that year, the most in program history. The last season in which Cornell did not play in a single overtime game was 2008.
 
CAPTAIN'S ARMBANDS
Head coach John Smith has selected senior Zach Bialik and junior Eric Nuss to serve as the Big Red's captains for the 2016 season. Bialik, a midfielder, logged more than 60 minutes on 10 occasions in 2015. Nuss has started on defense in all 40 games he's played over the last two seasons and logged a team-leading 1,450 minutes last season.
 
INTERNATIONAL APPEAL
Cornell men's soccer is a diverse group, with players hailing from 15 different states and England, as senior JJ Black and freshman George Pedlow both come to the Big Red from England. Six players come from New York – including Spencer Kopko from Ithaca – while California, Colorado and New Jersey have three representatives each.
 
BIG RED REWIND
Cornell ended the 2015 season with a 4-12-1 record but finished strong, going 3-3 over the last six games. …The team returns every single player that registered a point last year, including senior midfielder Madison Heck, who led the team with five points …This year,  Cornell has a senior-heavy roster that brings a wealth of experience to the pitch. Eleven players are entering their final seasons in a Big Red uniform and the newcomers to the team – nine freshmen and a transfer from Syracuse – have added depth at every position.
 
THE SERIES WITH VIRGINIA
The Big Red last played the Cavaliers on Oct. 11, 1996, with Virginia winning, 5-0, in Charlottesville, to move their overall series lead to 4-0.
 
ABOUT VIRGINIA
The No. 16 Virginia Cavaliers come into the match against Cornell with a 3-2-2 record. The Cavaliers last played on Saturday night when they lost, 6-1, on the road at No. 13 Louisville. The game before that, UVA battled No. 7 Clemson to a 3-3 double overtime draw. … Sophomore Edward Opoku leads the Cavaliers in scoring with three goals and two assist for eight points while redshirt junior Pablo Aguilar has five points on two goals and one assist. Overall, UVA has received points from 10 different players and goals from seven different players, five of whom have at least two goals. … Junior Jeff Caldwell has played every minute in goal for Virginia, making 29 saves and posting a 1.74 goals against average.
 
UP NEXT
The Big Red will return to Berman Field on Sunday when it opens up Ivy League play against Penn at 4 p.m.