ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell women's soccer team opens its 2022 season this weekend with a pair of contests against opponents from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).
Game Information
Cornell at Canisius
SITE: Demske Sports Complex – Buffalo, N.Y. (artificial surface)
RECORDS: Cornell (0-0, 0-0 Ivy League), Canisius (0-0-1, 0-0 MAAC)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 5-1
BROADCAST: ESPN+
Stats: GoGriffs.com
Marist at Cornell
SITE: Berman Field – Ithaca, N.Y. (natural surface)
RECORDS: Marist (0-1-1, 0-0 MAAC), Cornell (0-0, 0-0 Ivy League)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 2-1-1
BROADCAST: ESPN+
STATS: CornellBigRed.com
About the Big Red
• Cornell is coming off a 3-11-2 season in 2021, which featured a 1-6 mark in Ivy League play in the first year of competition under head coach
Rob Ferguson.
• In its first season under Ferguson as head coach, the Big Red scored 14 goals, the most by a Big Red squad since 2015 (16). Over the last two years of competition with Ferguson on the coaching staff, Cornell has won seven games, nearly matching the accumulated win total from 2016 to 2018 (8).
• The Big Red return 22 players from last year's squad, including 10 of its 14 goals (one was an own goal).
Ava Laden and
Peyton Nichols are Cornell's top returning goal scorers from last year, with six and three goals, respectively. Laden, who is scheduled to miss the 2022 year due to injury, scored six goals — the most by a Big Red player since Elizabeth Crowell also netted six in 2014.
Starting Strong
• Cornell, in its previous 39 season openers, have a 23-11-5 record to open a season. The Big Red have won its last three season-opening matches and are unbeaten in seven of its last eight.
• The Big Red are opening against Canisius for a second consecutive season. Cornell defeated the Golden Griffins, 2-0, on Berman Field last year on Aug. 27.
Peyton Nichols and
Naomi Jaffe scored second-half goals for Cornell, while
Erica Fox made two saves en route to earning a clean sheet in her collegiate debut.
• Cornell is opening consecutive seasons against the same opponent for the first time since 2014 and 2015, when the Big Red opened both years with matches against fellow Empire State rival Siena.
Ready for MAACtion
• The pair of matches against MAAC opponents this weekend are the first of three straight contests against MAAC foes. Cornell will conclude its string of games against MAAC schools when it returns to Western New York to play Niagara on Sept. 1.
• This year is the second consecutive year Cornell is playing a trio of MAAC schools. Last year, the Big Red played Canisius, Iona and Niagara. In each of the last three seasons of competition, the Big Red have played multiple MAAC schools in non-conference play (2019 — 2, 2021 — 3, 2022 — 3).
• Cornell is 11-9-2 all-time against MAAC schools since the conference began sponsoring the sport in 1992. The Big Red are 6-3-1 in its last 10 matches against MAAC opposition.
Ivy League Preseason Poll
• Cornell was picked to finish in a tie for seventh in the 2022 Ivy League Women's Soccer Preseason Poll, the conference office announced Wednesday afternoon.
• Brown received 11 of the 16 possible first-place votes, finishing with an Ivy League-best 123 points. Harvard recorded three first-place votes, placing second with 108 points. Princeton was the only other school receiving first-place votes, logging the remaining two and concluding with 104 points.
• Columbia (72 points), Penn (62 points) and Dartmouth (50 points) were picked fourth through sixth, respectively, while the Big Red and Yale each ended with 29 points, tying for the final two positions.
• The 2022 season marks Ferguson's third year as the Cornell women's soccer head coach. It is just his second year of competition as the 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• With a victory Friday against Canisius, Ferguson would become the first Cornell head coach in program history to open their Big Red head coaching career with consecutive season-opening wins.
• Last year's defeat of Canisius at Berman Field was the second time a Cornell head coach won in their Cornell head coacing debut. Ferguson joined Gretchen Zigante, who won the 2006 season opener in her lone year as the Big Red's head coach.
Cornell's 2022 Leadership Team
• Cornell will deploy a seven-person leadership team for the 2022 season, rotating captains on a game-by-game basis.
• The players named to the leadership team for the season include a trio of seniors (
Sydney Waiters,
Emily St. John, and
Isabella DeLew), along with a pair of juniors (
Ava Laden and
Jackie Lasseter) and two sophomores (
Cecily Pokigo and
Maddie Leroy).
Across the Nation
• Cornell does not have a geographical recruiting base as the Big Red have 16 different states represented on this year's roster.
• California is the most represented state with seven players from the Golden State. New York has the second-highest total with five players. Connecticut and Illinois have three players apiece, while Colorado, New Jersey and Vermont each have two representatives.
• Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Washington are represented once.
About Canisius
• Canisius returns to action Friday following an eight-day break after its season-opening 1-1 draw to St. Francis Brooklyn last Thursday.
• Tiani Fonoti scored the Golden Griffins' lone goal in the 80th minute of the overtime-less draw, while sophomore goalkeeper Jordan Spencer made four saves for Canisius, who opened its second consecutive season with a draw.
Series vs. Canisius
• Cornell holds a 5-1 record over Canisius in a series that dates back to 1987. Friday will be the first time the Big Red are playing on Canisius' home turf, as the only meeting not held at Berman Field was in 2006 at the Niagara Soccer Classic.
• Cornell's offense has shined against Canisius, having scored a goal in all six meetings and netting two-plus tallies in all five victories over the Golden Griffins.
About Marist
• The Red Foxes are winless in the first two games of its three-game homestand. Marist concludes its homestand Thursday against Binghamton.
• In its season-opening 2-2 draw to St. Bonaventure, Marist outshot the Bonnies, 27-5. All four of the game's goals came in a 22-minute window during the second half. Nicole Colantuono and Samantha Caldarelli scored for the Red Foxes.
• Annalena O'Reilly scored twice for Drexel in the Dragons' 2-0 win over Marist on Sunday. Marist goalkeeper Natalie Kelchner stopped four shots in the losing effort for the Red Foxes.
Series vs. Marist
• Sunday will be the fifth meeting between Cornell and Marist and will be the first match between the two schools since 2014.
• Cornell has won the previous two matches over the Red Foxes, claiming a 2-1 overtime victory on Sept. 13, 2013 at Berman Field and a 1-0 win the following year in Poughkeepsie.
Up Next
• Cornell will continue its string of contests against MAAC opponents next Thursday when the Big Red return to Western New York to face Niagara. First touch from Niagara Field is slated for 7 p.m.
