ITHACA, N.Y. -- Ask John Smith what his team is building toward in 2026, and he doesn't start with a formation or a depth chart. He starts with an identity

"I think it's always been built on humility, work ethic, relentlessness, and a pretty good deal of selflessness," Smith said. "I always say to the players, it should be a case of a new supporter should be able to watch us, and then after the game, you should be able to go ask them, 'Hey, have you any idea based on watching us play what our identity is?' And they should be able to reference the relentlessness. It's been a theme of ours. It makes us, I think, difficult to play against."

Smith described the culture in stark terms — an approach built on pushing past discomfort rather than avoiding it.

"You've got to have a culture where your players are capable of breathing underwater, and that's been our culture," he said. "As long as the culture's right, then I think we'll probably have results that reflect the talent level."

That identity will be tested early. Cornell enters its 10th season under Smith having won 89 games — two shy of Jack Writer's program record of 91, set from 1976-88 — and riding seven consecutive winning seasons, the program's longest streak since an eight-year run from 1970-77.

FILLING SKILL - AND PERSONALITY
Cornell's 2025 season ended with a 4-0 win over Lafayette in the NCAA Tournament's first round before a 3-1 loss at No. 13 UConn in the second — a game the Big Red played without injured first-team All-Ivy defender Andrew Johnson. Johnson has since signed with Charlotte FC, joining fellow departures Ryan Friedberg, the program's all-time leader in shutouts and wins, and forwards Westin Carnevale and Giorgos Diakos.

The turnover runs even deeper. Three of Cornell's four team captains from 2025 — Johnson, forward Sam Latona and midfielder Daniel Samways — have exhausted their eligibility, along with defensive regular Campbell Reece, who started 11 games in the back line a year ago. Only Connor Miller returns from last year's captaincy group.

Smith said the roster questions created by those departures were largely answered during the spring. What remains unresolved is something harder to replace.

"One of the bigger questions for us right now is not necessarily who's going to fill the skill level that left. It's who's going to fill the personality," Smith said. "Particularly in Andrew Johnson's case, he was an absolute ferocious competitor, and he was loud. That level of noise, particularly as it applies to defending — it might take two or three people to replace that. It wasn't just noise. It was filled with confidence and swagger and attitude, and it made us more challenging to play against. From a skill-set standpoint, we'll be okay , but it's one thing to have that; it's another thing to have the guys that have got the attitude and the mentality. That's going to be the more interesting conundrum."

Smith pointed to a handful of players who began to emerge behind Cornell's veterans this spring.

"There are a number of them that didn't quite factor in, and it was just they were behind somebody that was really quite dominant. We saw evidence of it in the spring where players were just starting to come into their own," he said, adding that Cornell's incoming freshmen have also already made an impression. "College sports can be quite scarring at times. You don't have that with freshmen — they come in, they just are absolutely flying and going for it. That's why we've been one of those teams that quite often you've seen some freshmen come in and immediately contribute, because they know no better."

The result, Smith said, is the deepest roster he's had at Cornell.

MIDFIELDERS
The most recognizable name returning is senior Connor Miller, a two-time All-American who finished 2025 with 14 points (four goals, six assists). His 18 career assists rank second all-time in program history, trailing only Richard Stimpson '01 (25).

"He's the best central midfielder in the country, in my opinion. He has been for quite some time — one of the best college soccer players around," Smith said. "He can change the game in the build, he can change the game in the final third, and he can physically cover ground."

Smith said Miller has grown into a finisher as much as a distributor.

"It's one thing to have a good soccer IQ, and it's another thing to be able to execute. He's turned himself into a points-getter, which I always wanted him to be," Smith said. "The way he shapes his finishes is clever — he offsets defenders, he offsets keepers. He's become an all-round handful. He just has to stay healthy."

Miller won't do it alone. Smith singled out junior Dominik Kolbl as an unheralded complement in central midfield.

"He does a lot of the dirty work, which sounds unattractive, but those guys in world football now are getting hundred-odd-million-dollar contracts because it's not easy to find people who are willing to do all of that kind of work," Smith said.

Cornell also returns juniors Aidan Martin and Justin Melly, both entering their third seasons after helping the program to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances.

GOALKEEPERS AND DEFENDERS
Replacing Friedberg's production falls to a competition between transfer Filip Versterre, freshman Reuben Clarson and senior Isaac Delgado.

Where Friedberg built his game around shot-stopping, Smith described Cornell's new options as a different kind of goalkeeper.

""Ryan did an incredible job here — he was less confident bringing the ball up the field. He was more of a shot stopper, and that ability helped us win a lot of games," Smith said. "These guys, they could be a third central defender on the ball. They've got really good feet. I think that will help us in possession."

That possession-first identity comes with a caveat.

"When we talk about our identity, I don't ever want to be boring," Smith said. "I don't want us to out-possess a team and have that possession not be reflected in how many shots we've had. I always tell the guys, don't be boring. We can't be boring here. I want it to be fun, entertaining, possess with purpose — and we've got keepers that will help us do that."

On the back line, Smith pointed to sophomore Griffin Eck as a player who could see significantly more minutes in 2026 after stepping in against UConn in last year's NCAA Tournament when Johnson couldn't go.

"He hadn't played many minutes. I thought he did great," Smith said. "He never stopped pushing, and he never stopped believing in himself. He's athlete — he's quick, strong, tough in the air, a good one-v-one defender."

Cornell returns a good portion of its back four alongside him, including junior Colin Johnson, who started 10 games last season.

FORWARDS
Cornell won't have a single dominant scorer to lean on the way it did with Alex Harris a few seasons ago, and Smith says that's by design as much as necessity.

"The goals are going to get spread around," Smith said. "We bring back a number of attacking players who accounted for four or five goals each, and the hope is that they kick on a little bit more."

Sergio Zapata (six goals, five assists, 17 points in 2025) and senior Adam Schaban (four goals, three assists, 11 points) headline that returning group in an attack that produced 42 goals a season ago. Sophomore Blake Donahue posted five goals in a reserve role a year ago, and junior Kasper Wollstein added four more almost exclusively off the bench — depth Cornell will lean on as it replaces Carnevale and Diakos up top.

SCHEDULE OUTLOOK
Cornell again built one of the more demanding non-conference schedules in the Ivy League, with road trips to No. 12 Akron, Pittsburgh and Western Michigan before Ivy play begins. Smith said the slate is by design — part necessity, part curiosity.

Smith said facing Akron, Pitt and Western Michigan gives his team a preview of the styles it could see in the postseason.

"When you play postseason, you're going to play teams like that," Smith said. "That's a good test for us." 

The approach traces back to Smith's first years on campus, arriving from a national championship at Stanford to a program without recent national relevance.0

"My biggest concern was to try to become nationally relevant — it wasn't necessarily winning the Ivy League," Smith said. "In order to do that, you have to go out and play all these other teams, because they weren't going to come here."

The willingness to travel and play anyone, Smith said, has become part of the program's identity as much as a recruiting tool.

"We've always had a tough time convincing people to come here and play us, so we have to be a team that's capable of winning on the road," he said. "If we weren't putting ourselves in situations where our non-conference schedule was as aggressive as what it is, I don't think we would have made the three at-large bids in the last four years."

LOOKING AHEAD
Cornell opens the season Saturday at Marist before an 11-game non-conference stretch gives way to Ivy League play on Sept. 26 against Harvard. The Big Red enter the year picked second in the Ivy League preseason poll behind defending champion Princeton, the same spot they were picked in 2025 before advancing to the conference championship game.

Smith said this year's team is being built around a theme of shared risk. "I think in high-performing environments, risk is unavoidable, and you're more likely to endure hardship if you're going through it with other people, if you're sharing it," Smith said. "That's the concept of the team this year — trust and honesty."

"The group is a talented group. They're hungry," Smith said. "I think they're now at the point where they're just eager to get to play against a proper opponent.