ITHACA, N.Y. — Coming off a two-match road trip last week, the Cornell women's soccer team returns to Berman Field this afternoon for an Ivy League contest against Yale. First touch between the Big Red and Bulldogs is scheduled for 1 p.m.

MATCH NO. 14
Yale at Cornell
SITE: Berman Field – Ithaca, N.Y. (natural surface)
RECORDS: Yale (8-4-1, 2-1-1 Ivy League), Cornell (2-7-4, 1-3-0 Ivy League)
SERIES RECORD: Yale leads, 21-17-3
SERIES STREAK: Tied 1
WEATHER FORECAST: 63°, sunny, 0 percent chance of rain; Winds: Light and variable
BROADCASTS: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com

LAST TIME OUT
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (OCT. 13, 2024) — A first-half salvo by Harvard aided the host Crimson to a 5-0 clean sheet over the Cornell women's soccer team at Jordan Field last Sunday afternoon.

Áslaug Gunnlaugsdóttir, Josefine Hasbo, and Audrey Francois potted first-half goals for Harvard over a span of four-plus minutes while Nicola Golen and Írena Héðinsdóttir Gonzalez tacked on insurance markers in the second half for the Crimson. Rhiannon Stewart made three saves en route to her fifth clean sheet of the season and her first since Sept. 5 against Boston University.

Gunnlaugsdóttir registered a five-point day for Harvard, scoring one goal and adding a trio of assists. Hasbo had a three-point day on the power of a goal and an assist, and Jade Rose assisted on a pair of Harvard goals.

Cornell had 12 shot attempts in the contest, four of which were on goal coming off the boots of senior defender Lily Ellingson, junior midfielder Mariana Kessinger, senior midfielder Reinna Gabriel, and sophomore forward Sydney Allen. Junior goalkeeper Natalie Medugno made her first start since Sept. 22 against Pepperdine, making five saves on the day.

KNACK FOR THE NET
Cornell has scored at least one goal in 41 of its 60 matches played under head coach Rob Ferguson, dating back to the first season played under Ferguson in 2021.

The 68.3 percent of contests with a goal ranks as the highest clip in Cornell program history, surpassing Randy May, the program's first head coach. May saw his teams score in 67.7 percent of the 282 matches he coached (191 matches with a goal) during his 18-year tenure as head coach between 1982 and 1999.

HIGHEST PERCENTAGE OF MATCHES WITH A GOAL
By Coach — Cornell Program History
1. Rob Ferguson (2020-Present) — 68.3 percent (41-of-60)
2. Randy May (1982-99) — 67.7 percent (191-of-282)
3. Berhane Anderberhan (2000-05) — 66.0 percent (64-of-97)
4. Patrick Farmer (2012-16) — 62.2 percent (51-of-82)
5. Gretchen Zigante (2006) — 58.8 percent (10-of-17)
6. Danielle LaRoche (2007-11) — 48.1 percent (37-of-77)
7. Dwight Hornibrook (2017-19) — 38.6 percent (17-of-44)

As of late, the Big Red has displayed its scoring prowess, scoring a goal in 14 of its last 19 contests, 24 of its previous 30 matches, and 27 of its latest 35 fixtures, dating back to 2022.

HOME, SWEET, GOALS
Cornell saw its program-record 14-match goal-scoring streak on Berman Field get halted against Princeton in its 3-0 loss on Sept. 28. It was the Big Red's first time being held scoreless on its home pitch since playing to a scoreless draw with Yale on Oct. 15, 2022.

The Big Red's 14-match streak of home contests with a goal was the third instance in Cornell program history that it scored in at least 10 consecutive home fixtures, joining a 12-match streak during the 2013 and 2014 campaigns and a 10-match stretch that spanned the 1985 and 1987 seasons.

Dating back to the final two home matches of the 2022 season, Cornell has scored in 15 of its last 16 contests played at Berman Field.

THE MATCH IS ON HER FOOT
Sophomore forward Sydney Allen has recorded both of Cornell's game-winning goals this season, which came against Syracuse (Sept. 1) and Dartmouth (Oct. 5).

Allen is Cornell's first player to register multiple game-winning goals in a season since Reagan Pauwels tallied game-winning goals against Princeton (Oct. 29, 2022) and Dartmouth (Nov. 5, 2022), the program's final two matches of the season.

Should Allen register another game-winning goal this season, she would enter a tie for the seventh-most game-winning goals by a Big Red player, and be the first player with three game-winning goals in a season since Maneesha Chitanvis in 2010.

MOST GAME-WINNING GOALS
Cornell Program History
1. 5, Laurie Collier (1987)
T2. 4, Meagan McMahan (1983, 1984)
T2. 4, Amy Finkelstein (1990)
T2. 4, Jen Tidsbury (1992)
T2. 4, Amy Duesing (1993)
T7. 3, 13 times by 11 players, Last: Maneesha Chitanvis (2010)

CLEAN SHEET CLUB
With her clean sheet against Lehigh on Sept. 8, junior goalkeeper Natalie Medugno increased her career total for clean sheets to 5.5.

Medugno is one-half of a clean sheet away from tying Meghan Cauzillo (1997-00) and Meghan Kennedy (2015-18) for the 10th-most shutouts in Big Red program history.

Should Medugno record a full clean sheet on Saturday afternoon, it would be her second clean sheet of the season, surpassing Cauzillo and Kennedy and match Katrina Matlin (2003-06) for the ninth-most clean sheets by a Cornell goalkeeper.

CAREER CLEAN SHEETS
Cornell Program History
1. 22, Melissa Gambrell (1986-89)
2. 21.5, Kelsey Tierney (2013-16)
3. 20, Sue DeLong (1990-91, 93-94)
4. 16, Sherrie Chocola (1984-86)
5. 13, Katie Thomas (2001-04)
6. 10, Marybeth Bell (1995-96)
7. 9, Kate Thompson (1983-84)
8. 7, Kate Alexander (1992-93)
9. 6.5, Katrina Matlin (2003-06)
T10. 6, Meghan Cauzillo (1997-00)
T10. 6, Meghan Kennedy (2015-18)
12. 5.5, Natalie Medugno (2022-Present)

NOBODY WINS
Cornell's four draws are tied for the third-most in a single season, matching the outputs by the squads from 2002 and 2015. Its next draw would match the 2022 squad for the second-most in program history. Only last year's team, which concluded the year with a 4-5-6 mark, had more draws in a single season.

The Big Red's four ties are tied with Penn (1-7-4) for the second most draws by an Ivy League program this season. Only Harvard (4-2-5) has played more matches that have resulted in ties.

MOST DRAWS IN A SINGLE SEASON
Cornell Program History
1. 2023 — 4-5-6 record (.467 win percentage)
2. 2022 — 4-7-5 record (.406 win percentage)
T3. 2002 — 8-5-4 record (.588 win percentage)
T3. 2015 — 9-4-4 record (.647 win percentage)
T3. 2024 — 2-7-4 record (.308 win percentage)

IVY PRESEASON POLL
Cornell was picked to finish eighth in this year's Ivy League women's soccer preseason poll, the conference office announced on Aug. 19.

After claiming last year's inaugural Ivy League Women's Soccer Tournament title, Harvard was tabbed the preseason favorite upon receiving 10 of the 16 first-place votes. The Crimson concluded with a point total of 120, 12 points ahead of Brown (108), which received four first-place votes. Behind Brown was Princeton, which finished with 103 points and the other two first-place votes.

Rounding out the eight-team poll ahead of Cornell's 22 points was Columbia (77 points) in fourth, Dartmouth (57 points) in fifth, Yale (48 points) in sixth, and Penn (41 points) in seventh.

SCOUTING YALE
Yale enters this afternoon's match with an 8-4-1 overall record and a 2-1-1 mark in Ivy League action. The Bulldogs' seven points is tied with Brown (2-1-1) for third in the Ancient Eight table.

Yale's eight wins is the program's most since compiling 11 victories during its 11-4-1 season in 2019.

Ellie Rappole paces Yale's offense behind her 12 points on four goals and four assists, all of which are the top figures on the Bulldogs this season. Alanna Butcher, Tanner Cahalan, Marz Akins, and Tina Teik have all scored two goals this season. Butcher, Vienna Lundstedt, and Meredith Phillips are behind Rappole with three assists apiece.

Kyla Holmes has been Yale's go-to goalkeeper, starting 10 of the Bulldogs' 13 matches this season. Holmes has a 6-2-1 record with a 0.88 goals-against average and .805 save percentage. She has been a part of all five Bulldogs' clean sheets this season, four of which have been complete clean sheets.

Entering Wednesday's contests, Holmes ranks third in the Ivy League in save percentage and clean sheets, trailing Princeton's Tyler McCamey (.860 save percentage, 5 clean sheets) and Harvard's Rhiannon Stewart (.833 save percentage, 5 clean sheets).

YALE'S LAST TIME OUT
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (OCT. 13, 2024) — A pair of first-half goals by Alanna Butcher aided Yale to a 2-1 victory over Princeton at Reese Stadium last Saturday afternoon, handing the Tigers their first Ivy League loss of the season.

Butcher's goal in the 18th minute snapped the Tigers' shutout streak at 388:49 while the marker in the 23rd minute signified Princeton's first time this season conceding multiple goals in a match.

Ellie Rappole and Tanner Cahalan assisted on the Butcher's first goal and Vienna Lundstedt and Andie Miller aided on Butcher's latter tally.

Anna Shamgochian made her fifth appearance and third start in goal for Yale, stopping a pair of Princeton shots en route to her second win of the season.

42 YEARS, 256 MILES, 41 MEETINGS
Yale owns a 21-17-3 advantage in the series against Cornell since the first meeting between the two programs in 1982. The Bulldogs are unbeaten over its last six matches (4-0-2) against the Big Red.

Each of the last 14 meetings between the two Ivy League rivals have been decided by one goal or less. The last time a contest featured Cornell and Yale was determined by at least two goals was when the Bulldogs prevailed, 3-1, on Oct. 18, 2008. Cornell has not won by multiple goals over Yale since winning 3-1 on Oct. 14, 2006.

Cornell is seeking its first victory over Yale since posting a 2-1 win over the Bulldogs at Berman Field on Oct. 15, 2016.