ITHACA, N.Y. — The women's soccer team returns to Berman Field for its final home game of the season, when the Big Red hosts Brown at 1:30 p.m. Saturday to kick off a Homecoming doubleheader at Berman Field. A ceremony at the field will honor Cornell's eight seniors — Paige DeLoach, Meera Dheer, Whitney Farber, Erin Fitzgerald, Kaylee Fitzgerald, Tess Pullano, Julia Schubauer and Katerina Weikert.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Brown at Cornell
DATE: Saturday, Oct. 21, 2017
TIME: 1:30 p.m.
SITE: Berman Field – Ithaca, N.Y. (natural surface)
RECORDS: Cornell 2-6-3, 0-2-2 Ivy League; Brown 9-4, 2-2 Ivy League
VIDEO: Ivy League Network
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
UPDATES: @CUBigRedGameday

ABOUT THE BIG RED
• Cornell is coming off its third consecutive road clean sheet, staving off Yale for a scoreless draw on Saturday in New Haven, Conn.
• The central defense of primarily sophomore Abby Adams and senior Whitney Farber effectively neutralized Yale target forward Michelle Alozie — who ranks second in the Ivy League with 19 points to date — and junior goalkeeper Meghan Kennedy answered the bell when called upon with eight saves.
• Both of the Big Red's on-target shots came in the game's first overtime period, with the most dangerous opportunity coming from 12 yards off the foot of sophomore midfielder Juliana Comer and resulting in a diving save by the Bulldogs' goalkeeper.
• With scoreless draws at Fairleigh Dickinson (Sept. 24) and Penn (Sept. 29) also in its pocket, Cornell hasn't conceded a goal on the road in over a month. A total of 368 minutes and 1 second have elapsed since Buffalo scored during the second half of a Sept. 8 game at UB Stadium — which the Big Red eventually won.
• After earning All-Ivy League honorable mention last year, Kennedy enters the weekend leading the circuit in saves per game (6.22) by a wide margin. That number also has her ranked 21st in the country, as of Monday.
• Senior forward Paige DeLoach leads Cornell in scoring with four points on two goals. Sophomore forward Kennedy Yearby, sophomore defender Kaili Gregory and freshman midfielder Shelby Wray have scored Cornell's other goals this season.
 
HEAD COACH DWIGHT HORNIBROOK
• After serving as an assistant coach for five seasons, Dwight Hornibrook was named the head coach in February 2017. While he's in his first season at the helm of the Big Red, he has 17 years of head coaching experience with the men's soccer programs at Houghton and SUNY Cortland. After joining the Cornell women's soccer team, Hornibrook had helped the Big Red win 30 games over the last five years — the program's highest total in such a span since 2002-06. Hornibrook's overall record as a head coach is 184-122-32.
• After a three-year professional career, two-time Cornell captain goalkeeper Tori Christ '14 joins the Big Red as an assistant coach. Megan Giles is the team's other assistant coach after serving as the volunteer assistant coach with the Big Red last year. Dana Daniels '17 now fills the role of volunteer assistant coach after completing a four-year career with Cornell as both a goalkeeper and field player.
 
MAYER ON THE MARK
• Sophomore Chrissy Mayer made 13 saves to earn a clean sheet in her first collegiate start on Sept. 24 at Fairleigh Dickinson. Playing in her hometown state of New Jersey, Mayer's effort was the highest save total for a Cornell goalkeeper since Oct. 26, 2008, when Kelly Murphy '12 had 13 stops in a 2-0 blanking of host Brown. Mayer made 23 saves in five career appearances before yielding her first goal on Monday against Colgate.

CASE IN POINTS
• Of Cornell's 36 points last season, 32 were notched by players who return to the squad this year. Also, eight of the team's 16 goals from its memorable 2015 season were scored by players on its current squad — four from senior Paige DeLoach, two from junior Jessica Ritchie and one each from seniors Carolyn Ruoff and Tess Pullano.
 
A CALL TO ARMBANDS
• Seniors Kaylee Fitzgerald and Whitney Farber are serving as the Big Red's co-captains this season. Both players are frequently in the mix for the Big Red, with Fitzgerald primarily on the back line and Farber moving into a midfield role this year. Cornell carries eight seniors on its roster of 28 this season.

NATIONAL APPEAL
• The Big Red has 14 different states, the District of Columbia and the province of Alberta represented on the team roster. The most represented state on the Big Red is California, which is called home by six players. Five hail from New York, four from New Jersey, two each from Illinois, Maryland and Ohio, and one each from Nevada, Oregon, Virginia, Wisconsin, the District of Columbia and Alberta. Head coach Dwight Hornibrook also hails from Canada, native to the New Brunswick capital of Fredericton.
 
ABOUT BROWN
• The Bears rebounded from consecutive losses to Ivy League frontrunners Columbia and Princeton with a 1-0 victory over host Harvard on Saturday. Jennifer Caruso scored the goal in the 54th minute, and the Bears kept their fourth clean sheet on the year.
• Senior forward Mikela Waldman leads the team in scoring with 18 points on seven goals and four assists. She's one of five players on the squad with multiple goals this season.
• Freshman forward Star White ranks second on the team with 14 points, and she leads the Ivy League with six assists. Celia Story is tied with White for second on the team with four goals.
• Junior goalkeeper Christine Etzel has started all 13 games for Brown, posting a 9-4 record with a 1.05 goals against average, .785 save percentage and three shutouts. She is the twin sister of Harvard goalie Danielle Etzel.
• Kia McNeill is in her second season as Brown's head coach.
 
THE SERIES WITH BROWN
• The Bears hold a 24-7-4 advantage in the all-time series, riding an eight-game unbeaten streak into this year's clash.
• Brown won last year's game, 1-0, on the strength of an 85th-minute goal from Amanda Lane. The goal was created by one of the Bears' seven corner kicks in the second half alone. Meghan Kennedy made five saves for Cornell.
• The Bears' last visit to Berman Field ended in heartache for the Big Red, with the Brown storming back for a 3-2 overtime victory. Senior forward Paige DeLoach scored Cornell's second goal in that game just 80 seconds into the second half.
• Cornell's last victory against Brown came on the road on Oct. 21, 2008, by a score of 2-0.

UP NEXT
• Cornell faces a stern test in its next road game, when it takes on nationally ranked Princeton at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28. The Big Red then concludes its season at 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5 at Dartmouth.