ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell women's soccer team turns its attention to non-league play for the final time this season when it hosts regional rival Colgate at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Berman Field.

Game Information:

Colgate at Cornell
SITE: Berman Field — Ithaca, N.Y. (natural surface)
RECORDS: Cornell 2-6-2, 1-1 Ivy League;
                    Colgate 6-4-1, 2-1-1 Patriot League
SERIES RECORD: Colgate leads, 22-15-4
BROADCAST: ESPN+
STATS: CornellBigRed.com
•  Cornell game notes

How To Watch:

•  As is the case for the rest of the season, the Big Red's game against the Raiders is scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN+.
•  ESPN+ is available to fans in the U.S. for $4.99/event, $6.99/month or $69.99/year. (https://plus.espn.com/). A similar international platform at the same price point is available for fans outside of the U.S., featuring both live and archived games.

About The Big Red:

•  Cornell was blanked for the first time in four games on Saturday, when its last contest ended in a 2-0 loss at Penn. The Quakers scored once on either side of halftime to run their perfect home record to 6-0 while moving the Big Red to 2-6-2 overall and 1-1 in the Ivy League.
•  The Big Red will be returning to the pristine grass on Berman Field for the first time since a 1-0 victory over Columbia on Sept. 25 snapped a 21-game winless skid (0-19-2) in Ivy League play dating back to Nov. 5, 2016.
•  Senior Evanthia Spyredes scored the deciding goal on a header off free-kick service from junior Kendall Patten in the 83rd minute, and senior goalkeeper Miranda Iannone made four saves for her second collegiate shutout.
•  The breakthrough victory's stage was set at least in part by the Big Red's most recent prior result — a 4-3 setback on the road against two-time defending America East champion Stony Brook on Sept. 17.
•  Cornell scored a season-high three goals and carried a lead into 87th minute against the Seawolves, but the hosts rallied to force overtime and eventually scored a golden goal 1:23 into overtime — a result Cornell would learn from and apply to holding a late lead against Columbia.

No Sophomore Slump Here:

•  Ava Laden ranks third in points per game among Ivy League competitors after the first six weeks of the season, entering Tuesday's contest with 13 points on five goals and three assists for an average of 1.44 points per game.
•  Laden was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week on Sept. 20 after scoring three goals in the Big Red's games against Binghamton and Stony Brook. Though a sophomore, by rule Laden is eligible to claim league rookie awards since all Ivy intercollegiate competition for women's soccer was canceled during her freshman season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
•  Laden's brace against the Seawolves was the Big Red's first since junior Ashley Durik opened the 2019 season with a pair of goals against Iona. With at least six games remaining on the schedule, Laden's 13 points are already the most for the Big Red since Elizabeth Crowell '17 (14) and Caroline Growney '16 (13) in the 2014 season.

By The Numbers:

•  While Laden has headlined the team's offense of late, it was freshman Peyton Nichols who started the season with three goals in her first three games. Her six points rank second on the team, with senior Evanthia Spyredes ranking third on the strength of four points on goals in two of the Big Red's last three games.
•  Nichols and Laden give Cornell multiple players with three goals in the same season for the first time since 2015, when Elizabeth Crowell '17 and Paige DeLoach '18 had four apiece.
•  Fifth year Naomi Jaffe is the Big Red's other goal-scorer this season, having netted the final strike of the team's 2-0 victory over Canisius on Aug. 27.
•  After playing in a part-time role early in the season, senior Miranda Iannone (1-3-2, 1.51, .694, 2 SHO) has been the starting goalkeeper for the Big Red in each of the last six games. The win over Columbia was the first of her collegiate career.
•  Freshman Erica Fox (1-3, 2.53 goals against average, .636 save percentage, SHO) became the program's first newcomer to record a clean sheet in the team's season opener Katie Thomas '05 did it on Sept. 9, 2001. Fox made two saves to blank Canisius.

Head Coach Rob Ferguson:

•  Rob Ferguson was hired as the Big Red's head coach in February 2020. Entering Tuesday's game at 2-6-2 at the helm, Ferguson served as an assistant coach for the Big Red during the 2019 season.
•  With the Sept. 25 win over Columbia, Ferguson became just the second of seven Cornell women's soccer coaches to win his first Ivy League game at the helm. (Berhane Andeberhan was the other in 2000).
•  Ferguson played an integral role get the Big Red's impact then-freshman class acclimated to collegiate competition, leading to the group's strength as juniors this year.
•  Ferguson is flanked by assistant coaches also making their respective debuts behind the Big Red bench. Jackie Firenze is in her second year with the program after four years as an assistant at Binghamton, and Dani Britt comes aboard for her first season at Cornell after most recently coaching at Hartford.

A Call To Armbands:

•  Just as it had when it last competed in 2019, the Big Red is deploying tri-captains in 2021.
•  Fifth year Naomi Jaffe dons the armband once again after serving as one of the program's leadership group in 2019. That marked the first time a non-senior was among the captains for Cornell since Claire MacManus '15 during the 2013 season.
•  Fifth year Maddie Hoitink and senior Miranda Iannone are serving as Big Red captains for the first time.

National Appeal:

•  The Big Red has 14 different states represented on the team roster of 30 women.
•  For a fourth straight season, the most represented state on the Big Red's roster is California – which is called home by six players.
•  The other states with multiple representatives are Florida (four), Connecticut (three), Illinois (three), Colorado (two), New Jersey (two), New York (two) and Virginia (two), plus there is one each from Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
•  Though there are no British among the players, head coach Rob Ferguson is native to Manchester, England.

Quick Starters:

•  Cornell continued its trend of fast starts to seasons after a 2-0 victory over Canisius on Aug. 27 and a 2-2 draw with UAlbany on Aug. 29. It marked the first Cornell has tallied multiple goals in each of its season's first two games since 2005.
•  By topping the Golden Griffins, the Big Red improved to 6-1-1 in its last eight season openers and 23-11-5 in the first game of its season over the program's 40-year history at the varsity level.
•  For the first time since the early stages of the 2015 season, the Big Red scored multiple goals in three straight games.

About Colgate:

•  The Raiders are 6-4-1 and 2-1-1 in Patriot League play after a 1-1 draw with Navy on Saturday. Sophomore Ally Giovino scored host Colgate's goal in the 60th minute.
•  The result against the Mids was identical to that of the 2020-21 Patriot League championship, where Navy would eventually go on to win the title in penalty kicks.
•  Senior Hannah Pinkus — a first-team all-conference pick last season — leads the team in scoring with 13 points on five goals and three assists. She was also named the Patriot League's Preseason Defender of the Year.
•  Senior Ruby Diodati ranks second in team scoring with three goals and a team-high four assists for 10 points. Giovino ranks second in goals (four) and third in points (eight).
•  After splitting time with sophomore Emma Hickey (3-1, 1.09, .684, 2 SHO) early in the season, senior Grace Poncsak (3-2-1, 0.69, .840, 3 SHO) has started the last four games in goal for the Raiders.

The Series vs. Colgate:

•  The Raiders are on a nine-match unbeaten streak against the Big Red to take a 22-15-4 lead in the all-time series between the regional rivals.
•  Colgate has won the last four games by a cumulative score of 5-0, despite a total of 49 shot attempts from Cornell in those contests.
•  The Raiders currently own a shutout streak of 547 minutes, 29 seconds against the Big Red, dating back to a goal by Elizabeth Crowell '16 on Oct. 6, 2014.
•  The game in 2014 also marked the last time that Cornell and Colgate have met during the first week of October. The five games between the squads from 2015-19 were all in the second week of the month.
•  Cornell's last victories against Colgate came in 2009 and 2010, both by final scores of 2-0.

Up Next:

•  The rest of the Big Red's regular-season schedule lies entire within Ivy League play, starting with a visit from nationally-ranked Harvard at 1 p.m. Saturday at Berman Field.