ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell women's soccer team concludes its season-high stretch of three consecutive road games when it visits Iona for the first time in program history at 1 p.m. Sunday at Mazzella Field in New Rochelle.
Game Information:
Cornell at Iona
SITE: Mazzella Field — New Rochelle, N.Y. (artificial surface)
RECORDS: Cornell 1-2-2, 0-0 Ivy League;
Iona 2-3, 0-0 MAAC
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 1-0
BROADCAST:
ESPN3
STATS:
ICgaels.com
•
Cornell game notes (PDF)
How To Watch:
• The game against the Gaels is scheduled to be broadcast on
ESPN3. It is one of at least 13 games on the Big Red's 16-game schedule to be broadcast under the ESPN umbrella, with the other 12 slated for the ESPN+ platform.
The Long Road Behind:
• Cornell arrives in greater New York on the heels of two commendable efforts on the road, though no goals or victories to show for it. A 2-0 loss to then-undefeated Villanova last Sunday was followed by a physical scoreless draw Thursday at Syracuse.
• Senior tri-captain
Miranda Iannone made four saves against the Orange to record her first collegiate shutout in a game that featured 25 fouls. It was the Big Red's third tie against nine losses in 12 all-time meetings against the ACC's lone Empire State school.
• Both goals against Villanova came off set pieces, meaning Cornell's tactical defense has not been broken down to the point of concession in open play over its last 200 minutes against teams that enter this weekend with a combined record of 9-2-1.
The Big Red Rewind:
• Win, lose and draw — that's how the Big Red returned to intercollegiate competition for the first time in 657 days and kicked off the NCAA head-coaching career of
Rob Ferguson.
• A home stand-ending 5-2 loss to Niagara on Sept. 2 was Cornell's first negative result of the season. The Big Red conceded five goals inside of 67 minutes before freshman
Peyton Nichols and sophomore
Ava Laden both scored for a second straight game.
• Cornell's return to competition from the COVID-19 pandemic — which also marked the athletic department's first on-campus intercollegiate competition since March 8, 2020 — was celebrated in style with a 2-0 victory over Canisius on Friday, Aug. 27.
• Less than 48 hours later, it took fewer than 30 minutes for Cornell to score twice more against UAlbany. Nichols struck again to negate an early Great Danes goal, then Laden gave the Big Red the lead before UAlbany ultimately found an equalizer in the 71st minute.
Jump Right In:
• For the first time since 2005, Cornell scored multiple goals in each of its first three games — and it was largely newcomers providing the new infusion of offense. Fourteen of the team's 17 points to date have come from underclassmen with no previous intercollegiate experience, since the Big Red's 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Sophomore
Ava Laden leads Cornell in scoring with seven points. With two goals and three assists, Laden has directly factored into five of the team's six goals to date.
• All of Laden's assists have come on goals from freshman
Peyton Nichols, whose three goals have been evenly distributed over her first three collegiate games. Already with more goals than anyone on the team in 2019, Nichols' six points to date rank second on the squad.
Welcome Aboard:
• For a second straight season, a freshman is proving to play a major role in the Big Red's goalkeeping equation. Junior
Nicole Shulman played the part in 2019, but injuries have kept her sidelined so far this year. That's led to a window of opportunity for freshman
Erica Fox (1-2, 1.89 goals against average, .737 save percentage, SHO), who has shared time between the pipes with senior
Miranda Iannone (0-1-2, 1.43, .692, SHO).
• On Aug. 27 against Canisius, Fox made a pair of saves to become the first freshman to record a shutout in a Cornell season debut since Katie Thomas '05 did it on Sept. 9, 2001.
• Perhaps more notably, Cornell's new-look defense has hit the ground running with even less experience among its headliners. Four different players started among the team's three central defenders over the first two games, and between them they had zero starts in intercollegiate competition entering the season.
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 has scored multiple goals in three straight games.
•
Rob Ferguson was hired as the Big Red's head coach in February 2020. Entering Sunday's game at 1-2-2 at the helm, Ferguson served as an assistant coach for the Big Red during the 2019 season.
• 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.
About Iona:
• While Cornell had a dearth of goals in its last game, Iona is coming off a wild shootout at Seton Hall that ended in a 6-3 loss on Thursday. Sophomore Graceann Murphy scored her first two collegiate goals inside the first seven minutes for the Gaels.
• Murphy's two goals combine with three assists to give her the team scoring lead with seven points. Emily Drake, Kedarjah Lewis and Faith Preziosi have two goals apiece.
• Now standing at 2-3, Iona has conceded 20 goals in its first five games. Senior Emma Havrilla (2-3, 3.46, .581) has started all five games in goal.
• Iona was 1-4-1 in a MAAC-only 2020-21 season held over the spring.
• Todd Plourde is in his third season as the head coach of the Gaels after serving as an assistant coach at Yale for the last 12 years.
The Series vs. Iona:
• Cornell and Iona met for the first time on Aug. 30, 2019, with the Big Red surging to a 3-1 victory at Berman Field. Junior
Ashley Durik scored the final two goals for Cornell in her first collegiate game.
• The Big Red enters Sunday's game with an all-time record of 17-9-2 against teams currently competing in the MAAC after splitting two earlier this season. Cornell opened its season with a 2-0 win over Canisius, then lost to Niagara on Sept. 2, 5-2.
A Call To Armbands:
• Just as it had when it last competed, the Big Red will deploy tri-captains this season.
• 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 will be 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.
Up Next:
• The Big Red returns home for a game against regional rival Binghamton at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Berman Field.
• Cornell's final test before the start of Ivy League play then comes Friday, Sept. 17 at defending America East champion Stony Brook.
