ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell women's soccer team concludes its modest two-match Ivy League homestand on Saturday afternoon when it welcomes Dartmouth to Berman Field for a 1 p.m. first touch for its Mental Health Awareness match on Reunion Weekend.

MATCH NO. 11
Dartmouth at Cornell
SITE: Berman Field – Ithaca, N.Y. (natural surface)
RECORDS: Dartmouth (6-3-1, 0-1-0 Ivy League), Cornell (1-5-4, 0-1-0 Ivy League)
SERIES RECORD: Dartmouth leads, 28-10-5
SERIES STREAK: Dartmouth won 1
WEATHER FORECAST: 65°, partly cloudy, 10 percent chance of rain; Winds: NNW 5-10 mph
BROADCAST: ESPN+
Stats: CornellBigRed.com

LAST TIME OUT
ITHACA, N.Y. (SEPT. 28, 2024) — A trio of first-half goals aided Princeton to a 3-0 clean sheet over Cornell to open Ivy League play on Berman Field last Saturday afternoon.

Kate Toomey led Princeton behind her three-point performance, scoring one goal and adding an assist. Isabella Garces and Alexandra Barry also scored for the Tigers. Tyler McCamey registered her third clean sheet of the season, making one save during her 90 minutes in goal.

Senior forward Laken Gallman logged the lone shot on goal for the Big Red, as senior goalkeeper Erica Fox made three saves in the setback.

KNACK FOR THE NET
Cornell has scored at least one goal in 39 of its 57 matches played under head coach Rob Ferguson, dating back to the 2021 season.

The 68.4 percent of contests with a goal ranks as the highest clip in Cornell program history, surpassing Randy May, the program's first head coach, who saw his teams score in 67.7 percent of the 282 matches he coached during his 18-year tenure as head coach (191 games with a goal).

HIGHEST PERCENTAGE OF MATCHES WITH A GOAL
By Coach — Cornell Program History
1. Rob Ferguson (2020-Present) — 68.4 percent (39-of-57)
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 12 of its last 16 contests, 22 of its previous 27 matches, and 25 of its latest 32 fixtures, dating back to 2022.

Although Cornell has only been held without a goal in four of its last 15 contests, the Big Red has not scored in its previous three matches, a span of the last 287 minutes and 22 seconds of match action.

Should Dartmouth register a clean sheet on Saturday afternoon, it would be Cornell's first time going four consecutive contests without scoring since it was also held scoreless over a four-match span during the 2021 campaign, spanning Oct. 9 to Oct. 30 — all of which were Ivy League fixtures.

HOME, SWEET, GOALS
Cornell saw its program-record 14-match goal-scoring streak on Berman Field get halted last Saturday with its setback to Princeton. It was the first time the Big Red was 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.

CONSECUTIVE HOME MATCHES WITH A GOAL
Cornell Program History
1. 14 matches (Oct. 29, 2022 - Sept. 15, 2024) — 22 goals (1.57 goals per match)
2. 12 matches (Sept. 13, 2013 - Oct. 3, 2014) — 32 goals (2.67 goals per match)
3. 10 matches (Oct. 16, 1985 - Sept. 30, 1987) — 24 goals (2.40 goals per match)
4. 9 matches (Sept. 22, 1996 - Oct. 14, 1997) — 20 goals (2.22 goals per match)
5. 8 matches (Sept. 23, 2011 - Oct. 2, 2012) — 13 goals (1.63 goals per match)

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)
11. 5.5, Natalie Medugno (2022-Present)

NOBODY WINS
Prior to Wednesday's matches, Cornell's four draws were tied with 43 other programs for the 11th-most ties by a Division I program this season.

Ahead of the Big Red includes Abilene Christian (2-3-6), Louisiana (5-2-6), Towson (2-4-6), Eastern Illinois (2-5-5), Fairleigh Dickinson (3-4-5), Florida (3-3-5), Louisiana Tech (2-4-5), UC Santa Barbara (4-3-5), Wagner (2-4-5), and Western Michigan (5-1-5).

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.

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 — 1-5-4 record (.300 win percentage)

IVY LEAGUE LEADERS
Senior forward Laken Gallman and junior midfielder Tanum Nelson enter this weekend tied for the second-most shot attempts among Ivy League players this season with 25 shot attempts apiece. Ahead of the Big Red duo is Dartmouth's Daisy Granholm, who has 32 shot attempts in 10 appearances this season.

Gallman and Nelson are tied for the second-most shots per match average behind Granholm's 3.20 clip.

MOST SHOTS ATTEMPTS
This Season (as of 10/2/24)
1. Daisy Granholm (Dartmouth) — 32 shots (3.20 shots per match)
T2. Laken Gallman (Cornell) — 25 shots (2.50 shots per match)
T2. Tanum Nelson (Cornell) — 25 shots (2.50 shots per match)
4. Tanner Cahalan (Yale) — 22 shots (2.20 shots per match)

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 DARTMOUTH
Dartmouth enters Saturday afternoon's match with a 6-3-1 overall record and a 0-1-0 mark in Ivy League play after dropping last Saturday's Ancient Eight opener to Yale.

The Big Green are tied with James Madison, Santa Clara, and South Carolina for the 41st-highest scoring offense in the nation, averaging 2.20 goals per contest. Other offensive categories that Dartmouth is ranking within the top third in the nation include:

• Assists per match (2.30 — T-23rd)
• Points per match (6.70 — T-33rd)
• Shot accuracy (.517 — 36th)
• Shots on goal per match (7.40 — T-56th)
• Goal differential (plus-9 — T-80th)
• Shots per match (14.30 — 99th)

Daisy Granholm leads Dartmouth and the Ivy League in numerous offensive categories, including goals (7), points (15), and shot attempts (32).

Behind Granholm in scoring is Hailey Rorick (three), while Aleena Seales and Hannah Curtin have scored twice this season. Mary Lundregan is tied for the fourth-most assists in the Ivy League with three helpers. Emmanuella Frimpomaa also has three assists on the season but has only appeared in four matches, not meeting the Ivy League's matches played threshold to appear among the Ancient Eight leaders.

Ally Connors has started in all nine of her appearances for Dartmouth, logging a 5-3-1 record with a 1.36 goals-against average and a .778 save percentage. Connors also has two clean sheets to her credit, shutting out Marshall (Aug. 23) and Colgate (Sept. 12). Mary Katherine Daly (two appearances, one start, 1-0-0 record, 1.54 goals-against average, and .750 save percentage in 58:21 minutes) and Emily Hardy (one save in one relief appearance over 45:00 minutes) have also seen time in goal for the Big Green.

DARTMOUTH'S LAST TIME OUT
HANOVER, N.H. (SEPT. 28, 2024) — Ellie Rappole's goal in the 85th minute aided Yale to a 2-1 victory over Dartmouth at Burnham Field last Saturday night.

Daisy Granholm netted the lone marker for the Big Green in the 57th minute, tying the match at 1-all. Yale's Tanner Cahalan opened the scoring with a marker in the 38th minute.

Kyla Holmes made four saves in the victory for the Bulldogs, while Ally Connors made two saves in the setback for the Big Green.

41 YEARS, 299 MILES, 43 MEETINGS
Dartmouth has had the upper hand in the series, posting a 28-10-5 record over Cornell since the first meeting between the two Ivy League programs on Nov. 6, 1982.

Seven of the last nine and 10 of the previous 15 matches between Cornell and Dartmouth have been decided by one goal or less.

Cornell has fared well on Berman Field against Dartmouth as of late, winning three of the last four meetings on East Hill, posting victories of 1-0 (Nov. 8, 2014), 4-1 (Nov. 5, 2016), and 1-0 (Nov. 5, 2022). Dartmouth's lone triumph came on Nov. 3, 2018, when it edged Cornell, 2-1, in double overtime.

In the last meeting between the two programs on Sept. 30, 2023, Dartmouth posted a 1-0 victory over Cornell on Burnham Field behind a goal by Hailey Rorick in the 82nd minute. Emily Hardy logged the clean sheet for the Big Green, stopping the lone Cornell shot on goal that came from then-senior midfielder Reagan Pauwels.