ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cornell men's soccer team heads back to the Midwest on Saturday, Sept. 28 for a 7 p.m. match against reigning national runner-up, Akron. Akron is the second 2018 College Cup participant Cornell has faced this season, as the Big Red defeated then No. 16-ranked Michigan State on Sept. 8. A perennial powerhouse, Akron hasn't posted a season below .500 since 1992 and have posted a winning record in each of the last 18 seasons. In those seasons, Akron advanced to 16 NCAA Tournaments, four College Cups, and three NCAA Finals, winning a national championship in 2010.
 

Game Information

Cornell vs. Akron
SITE: FirstEnergy Stadium
TIME: 7 p.m.
RECORDS: Cornell 4-2, 0-0 Ivy League;
                    Akron 0-6, 0-0 Mid-American Conference
SERIES RECORD: Cornell, 1-0-0
STREAMING: ESPN+
STATS: StatBroadcast

LAST TIME OUT
Playing in just its second home match of the season, the Cornell men's soccer team defeated Siena, 1-0, on Tuesday, Sept. 24. Junior midfielder Harry Fuller continued to have the hot foot, scoring on a penalty kick in the 12th minute to improve Cornell's home record to 2-0. Cornell (4-2) dominated on the ball, possessing it for 62 percent of the match. Siena (3-5) was limited to just two shots on goal by a stout Big Red defense that rarely let the Saints move past midfield. Cornell possessed the ball in Siena's half of the field for 69 percent of its total possession by comparison. The Big Red out-shot Siena by a drastic 29-2 margin, but had only five shots fall on goal.

STARTING STRONG AT HOME
Following a season in which the Big Red finished just 2-5 at home, Cornell is off to its best home start since 2014. Cornell is 2-0 in Ithaca for the first time since the program started the season 6-0
at home in 2014. In 2019, Cornell owns wins over Fairleigh Dickinson (1-0) and Siena (1-0) from the confines of Berman Field.

ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell owns a 4-2 overall record in 2019 following wins over then No. 16-ranked Michigan State (2-1, OT), Fairleigh Dickinson (1-0), Canisius (2-0) and Siena (1-0). The Big Red is 2-0 at home and 2-2 when facing teams on the road.

Junior Harry Fuller is the team leader in points (9) and goals (4), while also chipping in with one assist. First year Brandon Morales is the team-leader in assists with two through his first five collegiate matches. Cornell has distributed the goal scoring this season with five different goal scorers. Senior George Pedlow, senior Ryan Bayne, sophomore Emeka Eneli, Fuller and first year Will Citron have done the scoring for the Big Red.

In goal, senior Ryan Shellow has started each of the last five matches and possesses a 4-1 record to show for it. Shellow has a 0.78 goals against average and owns a .765 save percentage, saving 13 of the 17 shots on goal he has faced in 2019. With Shellow in net, the Big Red have shut out three opponents this season.

HARRY FULLER NAMED IVY LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
After a 1-1 week that featured a road victory over Canisius, junior midfielder Harry Fuller was named the Ivy League Player of the Week for Sept. 23.
 
Fuller has been a force to be reckoned with in 2019, leading the team in goals (4) and points (9) through six matches. On Saturday, Sept. 21, Fuller tallied both goals in a 2-0 win over the Golden Griffins of Canisius. All four of Fuller's shots were placed on goal that day as he narrowly missed a hat trick. Fuller kept his hot stretch going against Siena on Sept. 24, scoring the team's lone goal via penalty kick in a 1-0 victory.

SERIES HISTORY AGAINST AKRON
Saturday marks the first time the two programs have met in 29 years. Cornell was victorious in the first ever meeting, defeating Akron in overtime by a final score of 3-2 on Oct. 5, 1980.

ABOUT THE ZIPS
Akron is off to a tough start in 2019 with an 0-6 record, but the Zips will be fired up on Saturday, playing in its first home match since Sept. 2. In 2018, Akron was 5-3-1 in home games, but have historically been dominant in FirstEnergy Stadium, amassing a 100-10-11 record at home over the last decade. Head coach Jared Embrick is 94-36-13 in his seventh season at the helm and previously served as an assistant coach at Akron under current Columbus Crew head coach Caleb Porter.

David Egbo led the program in scoring last season with 13 goals and five assists, but has found the back of the net just once thus far in 2019. Akron lost a number of strong performers from 2018 in Marcel Zajac, Ezana Kahsay, Morgan Hackworth, Marco Micaletto, Abdi Mohamed and Ben Lundt. Five different Zips have recorded assists in 2019.

Tor Saunders has taken over the goalkeeping duties from Lundt and owns a 1.67 goals against average alongside a .655 save percentage.

UP NEXT
Ivy League action gets started on Saturday, Oct. 5 in Philadelphia, Pa. as the Big Red will travel to face Penn. Penn is currently 3-2-1 with wins over Monmouth, Marist and Temple. The Quakers own a 1-0 loss to then No. 19-ranked St. John's and tied a ranked Rutgers squad, 1-1. Penn will face West Virginia on Saturday, Sept. 28 in advance of its contest against Cornell. Big Red forward Charles Touche has a twin brother than plays on defense for Penn, Alex Touche.