ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell women's soccer team travels to the Big Apple for its final tune-up before the start of Ivy League play, taking on St. John's at 3 p.m. Saturday in Queens.
The game will be streamed on ESPN3.
Game Information
Cornell at St. John's
SITE: Belson Stadium — Queens, N.Y. (artificial surface)
RECORDS: Cornell 4-1-1, 0-0 Ivy League;
St. John's 2-6, 0-0 Big East
SERIES RECORD: St. John's leads, 2-0
STREAMING:
ESPN3
STATS:
RedStormsSports.com
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Cornell game notes
Red Redux:
• Cornell remained unbeaten at home this year after a 1-1 draw with Binghamton on Wednesday. Sophomore forward
Evanthia Spyredes scored the Big Red's goal in the third minute, and senior goaltender
Chrissy Mayer made four saves in her second start.
• It was the Big Red's second straight game against an America East opponent, coming on the heels of a 1-0 loss Sunday at UAlbany.
• The Great Danes' goal broke a shutout streak of 414 minutes, 51 seconds for the Big Red, which covered three consecutive 1-0 victories against Bucknell, Siena and St. Bonaventure. It was the program's longest shutout streak since the record mark of 1,054:19 set at the start of the 2015 campaign.
About the Big Red
• Cornell has already quadrupled its win total from last year, entering the game against St. John's at 4-1-1. The Big Red is 3-0-1 at home to start the season for the first time since 2007.
• Sophomore forward
Jadyn Matthews and freshman
Ashley Durik share the team scoring lead with four points on two goals apiece. Both of Durik's goals came in her collegiate debut on Aug. 30 against Iona. Matthews tallied the other goal against Iona before later netting the winner at Bucknell.
• Senior forward
Kennedy Yearby remains Cornell's active scoring leader with four goals and four assists for 12 points.
• Just six games into the season, all three of Cornell's goalkeepers have already started games. Freshman
Nicole Shulman has played the most, boasting a 3-1 record with a 0.62 goals against average, .833 save percentage and one shutout.
•
Dwight Hornibrook is in his third season as the program's sixth head coach after serving as an assistant coach for five years.
• 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 37 games over the last eight years and now has an overall record as a head coach of 189-138-35.
•
Rob Ferguson and
Kelsey Ferguson join the Big Red as assistant coaches after successful stints building WNY Flash Academy, and Vanessa Romero has come on board as a volunteer assistant coach after a decorated playing career at SUNY Cortland.
National Duty
• Sophomore
Jadyn Matthews has international experience, having helped the Jamaica women's national soccer team qualify for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. She appeared twice as a reserve in CONCACAF Women's Caribbean Zone final round games in 2018, though was not ultimately included on the World Cup roster.
• 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.
• Freshman goalkeeper
Nicole Shulman also has experience competing with the U17 and U19 Israeli national teams. Starting with Saturday's game against St. John's, Shulman is expected to miss five Cornell games while competing with Israel at the UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship.
A Call To Armbands
• Seniors
Karli Berry and
Chrissy Mayer, and junior
Naomi Jaffe are serving as the Big Red's tri-captains this season. It is the first time any of the trio has donned an armband in their collegiate careers.
• Jaffe is the first non-senior to serve as a captain for Cornell since
Claire MacManus '15 during the 2013 season.
• Cornell, which has six seniors, has more underclassmen on its roster than upperclassmen for a third straight year.
National Appeal
• The Big Red has 14 different states and the District of Columbia represented on the team roster of 28.
• For a third straight year, the most represented state on the Big Red is California – which is called home by five players. The other states with multiple representatives are New Jersey (four), Florida (four), New York (two), Connecticut (two) and Virginia (two), plus there is one each from Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.
About St. John's
• The Red Storm fell to 2-6 after a 2-1 double overtime loss to Drexel on Sunday. The Dragons scored the equalizer with 13 seconds left in the second half, then produced a winner in the 107th minute. It was the fourth overtime game of the season for St. John's.
• St. John's has scored just twice in its last five games. Junior forward Alex Madden scored in the first half against Drexel, and redshirt senior midfielder Samantha Masur's early goal proved to be all the scoring in a 1-0 victory over Syracuse on Sept. 12.
• Redshirt junior forward Zsani Kajan leads the team in scoring with four points on two goals, and she also leads the squad with 15 shots. Junior midfielder Maia Cabrera has a team-high two assists.
• Redshirt freshman Naya Lipkens has started all eight games in goal, posting a 2-6 record, 1.34 goals against average and .807 save percentage.
The Series vs. St. John's
• The Big Red is 0-2 in previous meetings with St. John's, though the most recent was a 4-0 loss back on Sept. 2, 2007.
• The first meeting between the squads came in the now-defunct ECAC Championships, with the Red Storm winning 2-1 on the strength of penalty kicks in the title game on Nov. 17, 2002.
• Cornell is 5-7-2 against teams currently in the Big East. Its last game against a Big East opponent was Sept. 15, 2016 against Seton Hall.
• Ian Stone is in his 25th season as the head coach of St. John's.
Up Next
• The Big Red starts Ivy League play at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, when it hosts in-state rival Columbia at Berman Field in Ithaca. Cornell then hits the road for its next league test, taking on defending champion Penn on Saturday, Oct. 5.
