ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell men's soccer team returns to Berman Field for its Ivy League-opening match against its Ancient Eight rival, Harvard, on Saturday afternoon.

Game Information

SITE: Berman Field – Ithaca, N.Y. (natural surface)
TIME: Saturday, Oct. 1 – 4 p.m.
RECORDS: Harvard (4-3-1, 0-0 Ivy League), Cornell (6-1-0, 0-0 Ivy League)
SERIES RECORD: Harvard leads, 35-21-13
BROADCAST: ESPN+
STATS: CornellBigRed.com

Last Time Out

• Junior defender Kisa Kiingi's 70th-minute goal guided the Cornell men's soccer team to a 1-0 victory over Marist at Tenney Stadium last Saturday night in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
 
• Freshman goalkeeper Ryan Friedberg recorded his third solo clean sheet of the season, making three saves for the Big Red in the victory.

September Success

• Cornell concluded September with a 6-1-0 record, good for an .857 win percentage. It is the Big Red's best record in a month, with a minimum of five matches played, since going 8-0-0 in September of the 2012 campaign.
 
• The six wins in a calendar month are the most by a Cornell squad since going 6-2-0 in September of 2018.

About the Big Red

• Sophomore forward Alioune Ka has a team-leading 10 points (four goals, two assists), while senior midfielder Brandon Morales is right behind with nine points (four goals, one assist). Junior defender Kisa Kiingi has eight points (three goals, two assists), while fifth-year forward Emeka Eneli and senior defender Connor Drought both have seven points (one goal, five assists).
 
• Freshman goalkeeper Ryan Friedberg has been Cornell's go-to goalkeeper this season. He has started all of the Big Red's seven matches so far this season, posting a 6-1-0 record to go along with a 0.58 goals-against average and a .778 save percentage.

Ivy League Openers

• Cornell is seeking its second consecutive victory to open Ivy League play this afternoon against Harvard. Last year, the Big Red won 3-0 in its first Ivy League contest over Penn on Oct. 2 at Rhodes Field in Philadelphia. The Big Red have not won consecutive league openers since the 2011 (1-0) and 2012 (3-2) seasons, when Cornell beat Penn in both instances.
 
• After last year's shutout, the Big Red have never posted consecutive shutouts to open Ivy League play in program history.
 
• The Big Red is 4-5-1 over its last 10 Ivy League-opening matches. Despite the losing record, Cornell is unbeaten in three of its last four Ivy League openers (2-1-1).
 
• Saturday's match snaps Cornell's streak of opening Ivy League play against Penn. The Big Red and Quakers opened league play in each of the last 13 years of competition, dating back to 2008.
 
• It is the first time Cornell and Harvard are opening Ivy League play against each other since 2007, and for just the fourth time over the last 52 years of competition. The Big Red are 2-7-1 all-time against Harvard in Ivy League openers, dating back to 1955.

What's at Stake

• A victory on Saturday would be the Big Red's best eight-game start to a season since 2013, when Cornell opened the year on an eight-game unbeaten streak (6-0-2) before ending with an 8-5-4 mark.
 
• With a win Saturday, Cornell would have seven victories in its first eight matches for the first time since 2012, when the Big Red opened play with 12 consecutive wins. Cornell posted a 15-1 regular season record before falling to Syracuse in the NCAA Tournament.
 
• Cornell would have a 6-1-1 record through its first eight games for a second consecutive season with a draw on Saturday. Last year's squad was 6-1-1 after its first eight games before ending the year with a 11-3-2 mark.

Friedberg's Strong Start

• Freshman goalkeeper Ryan Friedberg is one victory away from matching Stephen Bott (1983) and Quinn O'Sullivan's freshman record for wins in a season.
 
• Last Saturday's clean sheet against Marist marked the fourth time Friedberg has been a part of a Cornell shutout this season. He has the third-most shutouts by a Cornell freshman goalkeeper, trailing Bott (7 in 1983) and O'Sullivan (4.5 in 1992).
 
• Through games played on Sept. 27, Friedberg's 0.58 goals-against average was the best by any Ivy League goalkeeper, and ranked 15th nationally. Penn's Nick Christoffersen has the second-highest average of any Ivy League keeper (0.72).
 
• Friedberg has the lowest goals-against average by a freshman goalkeeper in Division I. To be eligible, the player must play at have played at least 50 percent of their team's minutes. Friedberg is ahead of Old Dominion's Michael Statham (0.63).

Berman Field Advantage

• After Vermont snapped Cornell's 15-game unbeaten streak at Berman Field on Sept. 13, Cornell bounced back with an 8-0 victory over Canisius on Sept. 20.
 
• Since the beginning of the 2019 season, the Big Red is unbeaten in 16 of its last 17 matches at Berman Field, posting a 13-1-3 record and a .853 win percentage, which ranks ninth in the nation.
 
• Georgetown (.890), Missouri State (.889), Pittsburgh (.879), New Hampshire and Yale (.875), Campbell (.864), Kentucky (.863), and Washington (.861) are ahead of Cornell in the top 10.
 
• Cornell is one of two Division I teams with just one home loss over the last three-plus seasons, with at least 15 home matches played (Yale).

Scouting the Crimson

• Harvard enters Saturday's contest with a 4-3-1 record. The Crimson had its three-game unbeaten streak snapped on Tuesday with its 2-1 loss to New Hampshire.
 
• In its victory last Saturday over Fairfield, six different Crimson players scored in Harvard's 6-0 victory over the Stags. It was the most goals scored by Harvard in a game since Nov. 14, 2015, when also scoring six goals in a 6-0 victory over Penn.
 
• Harvard scored four of its six goals in the first half, recording its first four-goal half since last year on Oct. 9, when Harvard tried to avenge a 5-0 halftime deficit to Cornell, but the Big Red prevailed, 5-4, at Berman Field.
 
• Martin Vician, the reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Week, has a Harvard-leading 11 points through the Crimson's first eight games (five goals, one assist). Willem Ebbinge (three goals), Nik White, Ale Gutierrez and Alessandro Arlotti (two goals each) have scored multiple goals for Harvard this year.
 
• Oskar Nilsson has started seven of Harvard's eight matches this season, posting a 3-2-1 record along with a 1.48 goals-against average and a .706 save percentage.

Series vs. Harvard

• Saturday will be the 70th meeting between Cornell and Harvard on the pitch since 1948. Harvard leads the series, 35-21-13, despite the Big Red being on a four-game win streak over the Crimson.
 
• Cornell has outscored Harvard during its four-game win streak, 16-6, which includes registering at least four goals in each of the last three matches.
 
• The match will mark the third consecutive time Cornell is hosting Harvard, not having played in Cambridge since the 2018 season. It is the first time that a team has played three consecutive home matches in the series since Harvard hosted Cornell between 1984-86.

Looking Ahead

• Cornell will head north on Interstate 81 on Tuesday when the Big Red will play No. 7 Syracuse. First touch from SU Soccer Stadium is scheduled for 7 p.m. Game action will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.