Coming out of the program’s first west coast trip since 2004, California was not so sunny on the scoreboard for the men’s soccer team over the weekend. The Red is winless in its young 2008 campaign after losing Friday night to then-No. 11 Cal and yesterday afternoon to Stanford, 5-0 and 2-0, respectively.

The Cornell squad was expecting a challenge from Pac-10 foes Stanford (1-3-1) and especially Cal (3-0-1), which went on to tie No. 7 Southern Methodist University yesterday afternoon and is now ranked No. 5 in the nation.

“We had our work cut out for us when we came out here,” said head coach Bryan Scales. “We could have played some cupcakes and gotten some wins under our belt. … We feel that the experience for our guys has been critical.”

With the lines and delays that accompany airline travel these days, a 6 a.m. cross-country flight from New York to California would stress anyone out. Nevertheless, that’s just what the men’s soccer team did yesterday morning — going west for the first time since 2004 to open the Red’s season with the Cal Legacy Classic.

Cornell will take on host No. 11 Cal tonight in Berkeley, Calif., and then catch a red-eye flight home Sunday night after an afternoon match with Stanford in Palo Alto. The Go­lden Bears and the Cardinal finished Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, in the Pac-10 last year.

Harvard will come to Ithaca Saturday night as the No. 8 ranked team in the nation and will look to secure this rank with another win at Berman Field. Cornell (5-3), however, aims to challenge the Crimson (7-1-1) squad and prove that it can play with the elite teams in the country.

Harvard, the winner of the Ivy League title last year, has come back even stronger in this season. So far in 2007, the Crimson has scored 20 goals and allowed only nine. The Red, on the other hand, has recorded 13 goals and given up 10. The two teams have winning percentages of .875 and .625 respectively and are currently ranked No. 1 and No. 4 in the Ivy League.

BINGHAMTON — The men’s soccer team came up short against Binghamton on Saturday, losing to the Bearcats, 3-0. Binghamton (7-2) came into the match ranked No. 8 in the NSCAA Northeast Region, two spots above Cornell (5-2), and made the most of its opportunities.

Sophomore forward Cameron Keith scored three goals for Binghamton, and four different players had assists in the rout.

The Bearcats struck first after 20 minutes of play, and Cornell couldn’t capitalize on its opportunities. The goal was scored by Keith, his first of the season.

With conference play just under a month away, Ancient Eight soccer was in full force this weekend with all sixteen Ivy League men’s and women’s soccer teams in action. With most teams having played only three or four matches, the Brown and Harvard men remain the only two teams yet to taste defeat.

Men’s Soccer

Harvard 1, Maine 0

Harvard 2, Providence 1

Harvard came into the weekend ranked No. 13 in the nation and remained undefeated by beating Maine and Providence, 1-0, and 2-1, respectively. Harvard moved to 3-0 with strong play between the pipes from senior co-captain Adam Hahn and a pair of goals off the foot of junior Michael Fucito against Providence.

Brown 2, Santa Clara 1

Brown 3, Fordham 1

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The men’s soccer program had hit rock bottom. Coming off of a 2004 season in which it accumulated an overall record of 1-14-1, the team failed to win a single game in the Ivy League — finishing its conference schedule with a 0-6-1 mark. Furthermore, the team had not been able to amass a winning record in the Ivy League since the 1999 season, when it finished 11-6-0 (5-2 Ivy) en route to tying for second place in the conference.