ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell women's soccer team plays its penultimate regular-season home match when the Big Red hosts Empire State rival UAlbany in the program's final non-conference matchup of the 2023 campaign on Tuesday evening.

MATCH INFORMATION
UAlbany at Cornell
SITE: Berman Field – Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: UAlbany (4-7-2, 1-3-2 America East), Cornell (3-3-6, 0-3-2 Ivy League)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 3-2-3
BROADCAST: ESPN+
Stats: CornellBigRed.com

LAST TIME OUT

Senior forward Mia Gonzalez scored a third-minute goal for Cornell and the Big Red led for the next 86:46 before Yale's Tanner Cahalan netted the game-tying goal with 42 seconds left in regulation, leading to a 1-1 draw at Reese Stadium last Saturday evening in New Haven, Conn.

Gonzalez's goal at the 2:52 mark was the quickest goal by the Big Red this season, besting the previous season-high, also accomplished by Gonzalez, against Villanova on Sept. 17 (4:44). It was the fastest game-opening goal by the Big Red since Evanthia Spyredes at 2:29 of a Sept. 18, 2019 match against Binghamton.

Junior goalkeeper Erica Fox stopped a game-high four shots, increasing her save total in Ivy League contests to 22, while Yale's Kyla Holmes stopped a trio of Cornell shots.

STUCK IN THE MIDDLE

After setting the single-season record for ties last season (4-7-5), Cornell established a brand-new program record on Saturday evening following its 1-1 draw with Yale.

The Big Red's six draws are the most by any Ivy League program this season and are currently tied for the 28th-most among Division I programs following Sunday's contests.

Cornell's six ties this season are tied with Columbia (2014) and Penn (2015) for the second-most by an Ancient Eight program in a single season.

Should the Big Red record another tie this season, it would match Penn's squad from last year for the most ties by an Ivy League program, dating back to the first official Ancient Eight season in 1982.

WHAT DOES FOX SAY?

Junior goalkeeper Erica Fox has been stellar in goal for Cornell this season, posting a 1-2-3 record with a 1.18 goals-against average and a .806 save percentage during her six appearances.

In each of Fox's last four matches — all of which have been Ivy League contests — the native of San Marcos, Calif., has made at least four saves.

Over Fox's last five matches, dating back to her shared clean sheet with sophomore Natalie Medugno against Colgate on Sept. 26, Fox has a 1.21 goals-against average and a .806 save percentage.

Of Fox's 29 saves — the sixth-most by an Ivy League keeper — 22 have come in conference play.

THANKS FOR THE HELP!

Thanks to her assist in a 1-1 draw on Oct. 4 against Columbia, senior midfielder Reagan Pauwels registered her team-leading fifth assist.

With her helper against the Lions, Pauwels became the 18th player (20th occurrence) in Cornell program history to have at least five assists in a single season.

Pauwels also became the sixth Cornell player this century to log five-plus assists in a season. She became the first Big Red player to do so since Caroline Growney also had five helpers in 2015.

Should Pauwels log another helper this season, she would officially enter the Big Red's top 10 for the most assists in a season, matching Donna Eberhardt (1988), Amy Snow (1991, 1992), Rebecca D'Aleo (1993), Lori Penny (1993), and Dempsey Banks (2013) for the fifth-most assists in a season.

Two more assists would enable Pauwels to share Cornell's single-season assist record, accomplished previously by Laurie Collier in 1986, Jennifer Smith in 1987, and Jennifer Daly and Amy Finkelstein in 1994.

TRIPLE THE FUN!

Cornell currently has two players with at least three assists, as senior midfielder Reagan Pauwels has a team-leading five helpers, and senior forward Laken Gallman recorded her third assist of the season on Mia Gonzalez's third-minute goal on Saturday against Yale.

No Cornell team has had multiple players with three-plus assists in the same season since Caroline Growney (five) and Claire MacManus (three) accomplished the feat during the 2014 campaign.

Should Gallman log another assist this season, it would be the first time Cornell has had multiple players with four-plus assists in the same campaign since Dempsey Banks (six), Elizabeth Crowell (five), and Rachel Nichols (four) all did so in 2013.

TEAM EFFORT

Thanks to Sydney Malaga's game-winning goal against Colgate on Sept. 26, Cornell has five players with at least two goals scored this season. It is the most multi-goal scorers for the Big Red in a season since 2013, when it also had five players with two-plus goals.

Should another Cornell player register a second goal this season, it would be the first time the Big Red has had six multi-goal scorers since 1999 (6).

There have been eight prior instances of Cornell registering at least six players with multiple goals: 1986, 1988, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, and 1999.

ANCIENT EIGHT'S SUCCESS

Through matches completed on Sunday, the Ivy League has excelled on the pitch, registering a combined 52-23-28 record, leading to a cumulative .641 win percentage, pacing all 31 Division I conferences sponsoring women's soccer.

The Ivy League boasts a 21-point advantage over the SEC (103-54-47 — .620) and a 31-point lead over the Big Ten (110-62-46 — .610).

Entering this weekend's Ivy League slate, seven Ancient Eight members have at least a .500 win percentage, while five programs boast win percentages of at least .650.

SCOUTING UALBANY

UAlbany enters Tuesday evening's contest with a 4-7-2 overall record and a 1-3-2 mark in America East action.

Selma Elverum paces the Great Danes' offense with 11 points (five goals, one assist), nine of which have come over her last four contests.

Megan Hart has been UAlbany's go-to goalkeeper, starting in all 10 of her appearances this season. Hart has a 2.11 goals-against average and a .718 save percentage. Gabriella Terranova has been the starting goalkeeper in UAlbany's last two contests, conceding two goals and making seven saves during the span.

UALBANY'S LAST TIME OUT

UAlbany snapped a six-match winless streak with a 4-0 victory over UMBC in America East action at Bob Ford Field at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium last Thursday evening.

Selma Elverum scored what proved to be the game-winning goal for the Great Danes with her 14th-minute marker. She tacked on another goal in the 47th minute before earning the primary assist on Iola Cotter's goal in the 73rd minute, which concluded the scoring. Brooke Pickett also found the back of the net for UAlbany, scoring in the 32nd minute.

Gabriella Terranova stopped all four UMBC shots she faced during her 90 minutes between the pipes for UAlbany, earning her first clean sheet of the season.

17 YEARS, 160 MILES, 8 MEETINGS

Tuesday's Rcontest will be the ninth all-time meeting between the Empire State programs. Cornell has a slight edge in the previous eight contests, posting a 3-2-3 record over UAlbany.

Each of the last five meetings has been decided by one goal or less, which includes three of the previous four concluding in draws.

Cornell is unbeaten at Berman Field against the Great Danes, logging a 2-0-2 record on its home turf. Despite not losing to UAlbany at home, the Big Red will be looking for its first home win over its Empire State rival since registering a 5-4 win on Sept. 15, 2013.