ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell women's soccer team starts its 37th season Friday night at St. Bonaventure. Making its earliest start to the season in program history, the Big Red is entering its second season under the guidance of head coach Dwight Hornibrook.
 

GAME INFORMATION

Cornell at St. Bonaventure
DATE: Friday, Aug. 24, 2018
TIME: 7 p.m.
SITE: Marra Athletics Complex – Olean, N.Y. (artificial surface)
RECORDS: Cornell 0-0, St. Bonaventure 0-1-1
LIVE STATS: GoBonnies.sbu.edu
 

ABOUT THE BIG RED

• Cornell was 2-9-3 last year, with victories against Buffalo and Maine. The Big Red mustered just five goals throughout the season and just one over the final nine games.
• Senior midfielder Jessica Ritchie is Cornell's active scoring leader with three goals and three assists for nine points. Junior forward Kennedy Yearby also has three career goals, adding an assist for seven career points. Yearby's lone strike last year was a golden-goal winner in an early-season victory at Buffalo that also featured sophomore midfielder Shelby Wray's first collegiate strike.
• Senior Meghan Kennedy returns as the squad's primary goalkeeper for a third season after leading the Ivy League with 82 saves last year. She enters the year with a 1.29 career goals against average that ranks seventh on the program's all-time list and a .832 career save percentage that ranks eighth.
• For a full preview of the Big Red's 2018 season, go to https://cornellbigred.com/news/2018/8/23/outlook-more-goals-the-goal-for-womens-soccer.aspx.
 

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 32 games over the last six years and now has an overall record as a head coach of 184-124-33.
• 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.
 

QUICK STARTERS

• Cornell has had great success in the program's 36 season openers, picking up a 20-11-5 mark in the first game of the season.
• The Big Red has opened its season against St. Bonaventure twice, winning both games. The first was a 5-0 affair on Sept. 10, 1993 in Ithaca, and the second was a final of 2-0 on Sept. 2, 2005 in Olean.
• Cornell had gone undefeated in four straight season debuts until last year's loss at Syracuse.
 

A CALL TO ARMBANDS

• Seniors Meghan Kennedy and Jessica Ritchie will serve as the Big Red's co-captains this season. Both players figure to be 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 on its roster of 23 heading into the season.
 

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 ST. BONAVENTURE

• The Bonnies opened their season last weekend, scoring three unanswered goals in the final 31 minutes of Friday's opener to salvage a 3-3 draw against Binghamton. Bona then fell, 2-1, on Sunday during a visit to Kent State that was territorially dominated by the hosts. The Bonnies were 2-14-3 last season.
• Junior forward Sydney Cerza holds the early scoring lead with five points on two goals and an assist. Senior forward Jessica Scruggs has three points on a goal and an assist against the Bearcats.
• Junior goalkeeper Lauren Malcolm has already made 18 saves in just two games with a 2.25 goals against average and .783 save percentage. It's her third season as the Bonnies' starter.
 

THE SERIES WITH ST. BONAVENTURE

• The Big Red has a 10-4-1 lead in the all-time series with the Bonnies, including a 1-0 victory in the teams' last meeting on Sept. 13, 2015 in Ithaca. Senior Jessica Ritchie scored early in the second half, and the Big Red didn't concede a single shot on target in what proved to be its sixth of nine straight clean sheets to start the campaign.
• The Bonnies claimed a 3-2 victory the last time the teams met in Olean, on Oct. 13, 2014.
 

UP NEXT

• Cornell will have a full week before opening the home portion of its schedule at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 31 against Buffalo at Berman Field. The game will be broadcast on the Ivy League on ESPN.