ITHACA, N.Y. — The women's soccer team wraps up a demanding stretch of four games in 10 days on Sunday afternoon, when it visits Binghamton for a non-league game at Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal. The game will be broadcast on ESPN Plus.
 

GAME INFORMATION

Cornell at Binghamton
DATE: Sunday, Sept. 9, 2018
TIME: 1 p.m.
SITE: Bearcats Sports Complex – Vestal, N.Y. (artificial surface)
RECORDS: Cornell 1-3, Binghamton 2-3-2
VIDEO: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: BUBearcats.com
 

ABOUT THE BIG RED

• Cornell enters the match against Binghamton on a three-game losing streak, most recently suffering a 1-0 loss to Le Moyne at home on Wednesday night. The Big Red held a dominating 18-6 advantage in shots, but the Dolphins scored the only goal in the 48th minute on a perfectly-placed shot over the wall on a free kick.
• The Big Red started the week with a 2-1 Monday matinee loss at Siena. The Saints scored twice in the opening 40 minutes before Aidan Julia Reineman scored her first collegiate goal early in the second half for Cornell. A fellow freshman, Evanthia Spyredes, earned the assist on the play for her first collegiate point.
• The Big Red split two Friday matches to open its season, first rallying for a 2-1 overtime victory Aug. 24 at St. Bonaventure before a 2-0 setback against Buffalo on Aug. 31.
• Cornell started up its 37th varsity season in dramatic fashion, with junior center back Kaili Gregory's golden goal on a free kick from 22 yards in the 100th minute against the Bonnies.
• Gregory also set up the Big Red's first goal of the season, making a long pass that led to sophomore midfielder Naomi Jaffe's goal from a near impossible angle in the 65th minute to tie the game.
 

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 185-127-33.
• 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.
 

BY THE NUMBERS

• 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. Junior defender Kaili Gregory also has two career goals, both on restarts – the first a penalty kick, and the second on a free kick just outside the box.
• 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 game against Le Moyne with a 1.33 career goals against average that ranks seventh on the program's all-time list and a .820 career save percentage that ranks 10th.
 

A CALL TO ARMBANDS

• Seniors Meghan Kennedy and Jessica Ritchie are serving 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 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 BINGHAMTON

• The Bearcats are winless in their last three games, capped by a 1-1 draw on Thursdays at Manhattan. Kala Saager scored her team-leading fourth goal of the season in the 25th minute before the Jaspers equalized later in the half.
• With the deadlock, Binghamton remained winless on the road (0-3-2) – but the Bearcats are 2-0 at home with 1-0 victories against Marist on Aug. 19 and Iona on Aug. 26.
• Kayla Saager leads the team in scoring with 10 points on four goals and two assists. Ryan Reilly has a goal and an assist for three points, and Dora Hayes and Genna Michitti have scored Binghamton's other two goals this season.
• Haylee Poltorak has started all seven games at goalkeeper with a 0-1-1 record, 0.96 goals against average and .833 save percentage. Mackenzie Hanna (2-1-1, 2.25, .615) has come on to tend goal after halftime in four games.
• Neel Bhattacharjee is back for his third season as head coach, having led the Bearcats to an 11-4-4 record and share of the America East regular season championship last year.
 

THE SERIES WITH BINGHAMTON

• The Big Red holds a 6-3-2 advantage over the Bearcats, though Binghamton won last year's meeting, 2-0, on Sept. 10, 2017 at Berman Field.
• Cornell won the last meeting between the squads at Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal. Junior forward Kennedy Yearby scored her first collegiate goal in the 76^th minute, swooping in to convert a rebound of a shot that bounced off the post on Sept. 18, 2016.
 

UP NEXT

• Cornell remains idle for a week before its final two games prior to the start of Ivy League play. The Big Red visits St. Joseph's at 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 16 before returning home to take on Albany at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 18.