ITHACA, N.Y. — The men's soccer team begins Ivy League play on Sunday when it welcomes Penn to Berman Field for a 4 p.m. matchup.

GAME INFORMATION
GAME #10: Cornell Big Red vs. Penn Quakers
WHEN: 4 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 2, 2016
WHERE: Berman Field – Ithaca, N.Y. (natural surface)
2016 RECORDS: Cornell 0-7-2, Penn 2-1-4
VIDEO: Ivy League Digital Network
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
LIVE UPDATES: @CUBigRedGameday

ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell last played on Tuesday night, losing to then-ranked No.16 Virginia, 4-0, in Charlottesville. The game against the Cavaliers finished off a grueling stretch of non-league games for the Big Red – one that included four games in six days. First, Cornell took on Binghamton on Wednesday, Sept.14, and tied 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 – 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 then finished out the week with a game against No. 3 Syracuse and gave the Orange a tough test but ultimately fell, 3-1. … 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 No. 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. … 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 six games in goal for Cornell, making 37 saves, including a program record 13 against Syracuse.
 
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 13th overall 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 12th 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, a number that is the second-highest in the NCAA this year. Shellow is averaging 6.17 saves per game, which ranks him third overall in the country.
 
ENTERING THE IVY
Today's game against Penn marks the start of Ivy League play for Cornell. Last season, the Big Red went 2-5-0 in Ancient Eight play. Cornell last won the Ivy League in 2012, when the team went 6-1-0 to win it outright.

FRESHMAN 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 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 861 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 41 games he's played over the last two seasons and logged a team-leading 1,450 minutes last season
 
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 PENN
The Big Red lost last year's contest, 2-0, on the road. Cornell has an overall record of 30-62-13 against Penn, with the last Big Red win against the Quakers coming on Sept. 29, 2012 in a 3-2 win on Berman Field. 
 
ABOUT PENN
The Quakers enter the start of Ivy League play with a 2-1-4 record. Last weekend, Penn beat Drexel, 5-0, to extend their unbeaten streak to four games. … Etan Mabourakh has seen the majority of play in goal for Penn, posting a 1.27 goals against average and making 27 saves in his six starts. Offensively, Alex Neumann leads the Quakers with four goals, which is the most in the Ivy League. Sam Wancowicz has three goals and one assist and leads the team with 16 shots. Nine different players have registered a point for Penn.
 
UP NEXT
Cornell will next travel to Harvard on Oct. 8 to continue Ivy League play and then head to Colgate on Oct. 11 to finish out non-conference play.