ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell women's soccer team concludes its 2023 schedule on Saturday afternoon when it travels to Penn Park in Philadelphia to take on Ivy League rival Penn.

MATCH INFORMATION
Cornell at Penn
SITE: Penn Park – Philadelphia, Pa.
RECORDS: Cornell (4-4-6, 0-4-2 Ivy League), Penn (5-7-3, 0-4-2 Ivy League)
SERIES RECORD: Penn leads, 20-7-4
BROADCAST: ESPN+
Stats: StatBroadcast.com

LAST TIME OUT

Brittany Raphino factored in both Brown goals to aid the No. 15-ranked Bears to a 2-1 victory and secure its fourth consecutive Ivy League women's soccer title over Cornell at a blustery Berman Field last Saturday.

Raphino, the two-time reigning Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year, scored the match's first goal in the sixth minute before assisting on the eventual game-winning goal scored by Audrey Lam in the 55th minute.

Cornell senior forward Ava Laden trimmed Brown's lead in half after netting her third goal of the season in the 67th minute. Fellow senior Reagan Pauwels recorded her sixth assist of the season on Laden's goal.

The Big Red made a valiant attempt to draw the contest level, including a shot from sophomore midfielder Tanum Nelson in the final seconds of the match, which was stopped by Brown's goalkeeper, Clare Gagne, who concluded the match with four saves for the Bears.

Junior goalkeeper Erica Fox also made four saves for the Big Red, all of which came in the opening 45 minutes.

THANKS FOR THE HELP!

Following her assist on Ava Laden's second-half goal in last Saturday's 2-1 setback against No. 15-ranked Brown, senior midfielder Reagan Pauwels increased her team lead in assists to six.

Pauwels' assist total is currently tied with Donna Eberhardt (1988), Amy Snow (1991 and 1992), Rebecca D'Aleo (1993), Lori Penny (1993), and Dempsey Banks (2013) for the fifth-most assists by a Big Red player in a single season.

Should Pauwels register her seventh assist on Saturday, she would become the fifth player in program history to reach the seven-assist plateau while matching Cornell's single-season assist record.

With an assist, Pauwels would become the first Big Red player to reach the program benchmark for helpers in a season since 1994, when Jennifer Daly and Amy Finkelstein both accomplished the feat.

Laurie Collier established the program record in 1986 before Jennifer Smith matched the mark the following year.

KNACK FOR SCORING

After scoring in last Saturday's loss to No. 15-ranked Brown, Cornell has scored 20 goals this season, which is the most by the program since 2014 (22).

Cornell's 20 goals over its 14 matches compute to 1.43 goals per match, ranking as the program's highest per-match average since 2005 (23 goals in 15 matches — 1.53).

Regardless of Saturday's scoring output, the Big Red are guaranteed to finish with its first goal-per-game average since 2014 (22 goals in 17 matches — 1.29).

The Big Red has scored in 13 of its 14 matches this season, the most contests with at least one goal since going 13-of-17 in 2014. Cornell has yet to record at least 14 matches with a goal in a single season since 2003 (14-of-16).

Cornell has never had a season where it scored in every match, but the Big Red enters Saturday afternoon's match having been shut out just once this season (Sept. 30 at Dartmouth).

A goal in Saturday's match would ensure Cornell finishes with the lowest amount of matches being shut out in a season. Should the Big Red be held scoreless, it would tie the program record for the fewest clean sheets in a season with two, previously done in 1986 and 2003.

DOUBLE THE FUN!

Thanks to senior forward Laken Gallman's first goal in her two-goal effort on Oct. 17 against Empire State rival UAlbany, Cornell has six players with at least two goals this season.

It is the first season since 1999 in which the Big Red has had at least six multi-goal scorers and the ninth instance in program history in which at least six players have posted multiple goals in a single season: 1986, 1988, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2023.

No Cornell team has had seven players with multiple goals in the same season since 1995 (7).

WHAT DOES FOX SAY?

Junior goalkeeper Erica Fox has been stellar in goal for Cornell this season despite having a 1-3-3 record. Fox has posted a 1.30 goals-against average and a .786 save percentage during her seven appearances.

In each of Fox's last five 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 six matches, dating back to her shared clean sheet with sophomore Natalie Medugno against Colgate on Sept. 26, Fox has a 1.35 goals-against average and a .784 save percentage.

Despite not meeting the criteria to rank among the Ivy League's statistical leaders, Fox's 33 saves rank as the sixth-most by an Ivy League keeper. This year, Fox has made 29 saves in Ancient Eight contests, trailing Dartmouth's Emily Hardy (34) and Penn's Laurence Gladu (30) for the conference lead in saves. Hardy and Gladu have played all of their team's minutes in goal.

STUCK IN THE MIDDLE

After setting the single-season record for ties last season (4-7-5), Cornell established a new program record on Oct. 14 with 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.

ANCIENT EIGHT'S SUCCESS

Through matches completed on Wednesday, the Ivy League has excelled on the pitch, registering a combined 57-28-29 record, leading to a cumulative .627 win percentage, pacing all 31 Division I conferences sponsoring women's soccer.

The Ivy League boasts a 22-point advantage over the SEC (114-65-53 — .606) and a 30-point lead over the Big Ten (123-75-48 — .598).

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.

IVY LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL

Cornell was picked to finish sixth in the 2023 Ivy League women's soccer preseason poll, the conference office announced on Aug. 24.

Brown received 12 of the 16 possible first-place votes, finishing with an Ivy League-best 123 points. Harvard earned three first-place votes, placing second with 113 points. Yale registered the final last-place vote, garnering 88 points to assume third place.

Princeton (78 points) and Columbia (74 points) were picked fourth and fifth, respectively, while Cornell (35 points), Dartmouth (33 points), and Penn (32 points) rounded out the poll.

SCOUTING PENN

Penn enters Saturday's contest with a 5-7-3 overall record and a 0-4-2 mark in Ivy League play and is seeking to snap its 15-match winless streak (0-11-4) in Ancient Eight play, dating back to its last Ivy League win over Yale just over two years ago (Oct. 23, 2021).s

Playing at Penn Park has been an advantage for the Quakers this season, as Penn has a 4-1-3 mark on its home pitch. The lone setback came on Oct. 4, when Princeton recorded a 1-0 victory.

Mallory Lucas paces Penn's offense with her team-leading six points (two goals, two assists). Abbey Cook, Megan Lusher, and Lauren Teuschl are all tied with Lucas for the team lead in goals with two apiece.

Senior goalkeeper Laurence Gladu has played all 1350 minutes in goal for the Quakers this season, posting a 0.80 goals-against average and a .829 save percentage.

PENN'S LAST TIME OUT

Penn dropped a 1-0 contest to Harvard at Jordan Field in Cambridge, Mass., last Saturday, as Josefine Hasbo broke a scoreless tie with her eventual game-winning goal in the 77th minute.

The Crimson outshot the Quakers by a 19-1 margin while posting a 6-0 advantage in shots on goal. Abbey Cook had the lone shot attempt for Penn, who had a five-save performance from Laurence Gladu. Anna Karpenko earned the clean sheet for the Crimson.

31 YEARS, 229 MILES, 31 MEETINGS

Cornell and Penn will be meeting for the 32nd time on Saturday. The Quakers own the series lead 20-7-4 and are 20-1-4 mark over the Big Red in the last 25 contests.

The Big Red's last victory over Penn was on Oct. 3, 2014, in a 3-2 triumph on Berman Field. Cornell has not won on the Quakers' home turf since Sept. 16, 1995, when it beat the Quakers by a 2-1 score.

Last season, Cornell and Penn played to a 1-1 draw on Berman Field. Laken Gallman recorded the game-tying marker for the Big Red early in the second half after Isobel Glass opened the scoring in the eighth minute. Laurence Gladu made seven saves, while Erica Fox made one save.