ITHACA, N.Y. — The women's soccer team's quest for its first Ivy League victory of the season will take it to Harvard on Saturday, where the teams are scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m. at Jordan Field in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The game will be broadcast on ESPN Plus.
 

GAME INFORMATION

Cornell at Harvard
DATE: Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018
TIME: 1 p.m.
SITE: Jordan Field – Cambridge, Mass. (artificial surface)
RECORDS: Cornell 1-7-1 (0-2 Ivy League); Harvard 4-4-1 (1-0-1)
VIDEO: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: GoCrimson.com
 

LAST TIME OUT

• Cornell is coming off a 2-0 loss on Saturday to a stingy Penn squad that has conceded just three goals in nine games so far this year. Both of the Quakers' goals came in the second half, as did all three of the Cornell's shots on target.
• The Big Red opened Ivy League play on Sept. 22, suffering a heartbreaking 2-1 golden-goal loss to Columbia in New York. Kaili Gregory scored off corner-kick service from Jessica Ritchie in the 24th minute, and the Big Red led until the 87th minute despite being outshot in the game by a 38-1 margin.
• Rachel Alexander finally equalized with 3:45 remaining in the second half for Columbia, the 2017 Ivy League runner-up, then she set up the winning goal 28 seconds into the second overtime period.
• Goalkeeper Meghan Kennedy made a career-high 15 saves against Columbia, including 10 in the second half. The 15 stops were tied for fifth-most in a single game for a Cornell goalkeeper in program history, and the most since 2001.
 

ABOUT THE BIG RED

• Kaili Gregory has taken over the team scoring lead with five points on two goals and an assist. Her first goal of the year came in the 100th minute of Cornell's season-opening 2-1 overtime victory on Aug. 24 at St. Bonaventure.
• Kennedy Yearby ranks second in team scoring with three points on a goal and an assist – both in the second half of a 2-2 tie with Albany on Sept. 18 during the Big Red's last game at Berman Field.
• With six games left to play, Cornell has already eclipsed its goal output from the entire 2017 campaign.
• Shelby Wray, Naomi Jaffe and Aidan Julia Reineman have the Big Red's other goals this season. Reineman also leads the team with 14 shots through eight games.
• Meghan Kennedy is Cornell's primary goalkeeper, sporting a 1-5-1 record, 1.75 goals against average and .809 save percentage. Chrissy Mayer (0-2, 1.00, .778) has also made a pair of starts, the last coming in a 1-0 loss Sept. 16 at Saint Joseph's.
 

HEAD COACH DWIGHT HORNIBROOK

• After serving as an assistant coach for five seasons, Dwight Hornibrook was named the program's sixth head coach in advance of the 2017 season.
• Hornibrook had 17 years of head coaching experience with the men's soccer programs at Houghton and SUNY Cortland before joining the Cornell women's soccer team. He has helped the Big Red win 33 games over the last six-plus years and now has an overall record as a head coach of 185-131-34.
• Two-time Cornell captain goalkeeper Tori Christ '14 returns for her second season as an assistant coach, and Eva Francavilla has joined the staff as an assistant coach.
 

BY THE NUMBERS

• Jessica Ritchie (three goals, five assists) is Cornell's active scoring leader with 11 points, followed closely by Kennedy Yearby's 10 (four goals, two assists) and Kaili Gregory's seven (three goals, one assist).
• Meghan Kennedy leads the Ivy League with 55 saves despite playing in fewer games than the starters of each other league team. She also led the league with 82 saves in 2017. Her 1.41 career goals against average that ranks eighth on the program's all-time list and a .825 career save percentage that ranks ninth.
• As of Monday, Kennedy ranked sixth in the country with an average of 7.86 saves per game.
• Cornell has the fifth-fewest fouls per game in country with an average of 5.44.
 

THE REGGAE GIRL

• Freshman Jadyn Matthews recently returned from a tour of duty with the Jamaica women's national soccer team, which is nicknamed the 'Reggae Girlz'.
• Matthews appeared twice as a reserve in CONCACAF Women's Caribbean Zone final round games against Antigua and Barbuda on Aug. 25 and Cuba on Sept. 2. The final round starts Friday.
• Matthews has become the second Cornell women's soccer to play for her senior national team, joining Rachel Nichols '14 after her tenure with The Philippines.
 

A CALL TO ARMBANDS

• Seniors Meghan Kennedy and Jessica Ritchie are serving as the Big Red's co-captains this season. Both players are among the team's leading contributors this season, with both wearing the armband for the first time in their collegiate careers. Cornell carries just three seniors and has 14 underclasswomen on its roster of 23.
 

NATIONAL APPEAL

• The Big Red has 12 different states and the District of Columbia represented on the team roster of 23.
• The most represented state on the Big Red is California, which is called home by six players. Four hail from New Jersey, three from Florida, and one each from Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.
• Though there are no Canadians among the players, head coach Dwight Hornibrook is native to the New Brunswick capital of Fredericton.
 

ABOUT HARVARD

• The Crimson climbed back to .500 at 4-4-1 (1-0-1 Ivy League) after a 1-0 home victory over Yale on Saturday. Freshman Jillian Wachira dribbled through defenders and drilled a left-footed shot from 15 yards inside the far post for the game's lone goal in the 29th minute.
• Goalkeeper Danielle Etzel made three saves for her fourth shutout in seven starts this season. With a 4-2-1 record, she leads the Ivy League in goals against average (0.30) and save percentage (.913) – though it's noteworthy that Harvard has made just 30 saves in nine games.
• Senior Leah Mohammadi leads the team in scoring with eight points on four goals, which is tied for third-most in the Ivy League.
• Of the seven players on the Crimson with points this season, five are freshmen. Sophie Hirst leads that group with three goals and an assist for seven points.
• Sophomore midfielder Murphy Agnew is the reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Year, having also been placed on the All-Ivy League second team. Her three assists are tied for sixth-most in the league.
• Chris Hamblin is in his third season as the head coach at Harvard after serving as an assistant for five years.
 

THE SERIES WITH HARVARD

• Harvard holds a commanding 24-3-9 lead in the all-time series with Cornell, including a 3-1 victory in the last meeting on Oct. 7, 2017 at Berman Field.
• The teams played to a scoreless draw in their last meeting in Cambridge, with Cornell becoming one of just two teams to not lose to Harvard in Ivy League play during the 2016 season. Meghan Kennedy made six saves for the clean sheet.
• Cornell's last victory against the Crimson came in 1993.
 

UP NEXT

• Cornell stays on the road for its non-league finale when it visits regional rival Colgate at 4 p.m. Tuesday.