The Cornell men’s soccer team released its full 2017 schedule on Wednesday, and the team faces some good competition ahead.
Cornell will look to improve upon an unfortunate 2016 season in which the team finished with a 1-14-2 record. However, the upcoming schedule reveals a challenging docket for the team’s second year under head coach John Smith. Over the course of the season, the Red will face four 2016 NCAA tournament qualifiers, including Colgate, Dartmouth, St. Francis College (Brooklyn) and Syracuse.
The Red will open its season by traveling to Dallas to take part in a tournament hosted by Southern Methodist University. The team will play two games in the tournament — facing Incarnate Word on Sept. 1 before taking on SMU on Sept. 3. Both games will mark the first time the Red has played either school in program history.
The team’s home opener will take place on Sept. 8 against Lehigh, and Cornell will spend much of the following few weeks at home as five of its next seven games take place at Berman Field.
The Red will play its first game against a tournament qualifier when it travels to Syracuse to face the Orange on Sept. 19. Heading into the NCAA tournament, Syracuse was seeded eighth before finishing its season ranked No. 11 with a 12-4-4 record. In the last meeting between the two teams during 2015, the Red fell to the Orange, 3-1.
The team will kick off Ivy League play in the same fashion as the 2016 season, traveling to Philadelphia to take on Penn on Sept. 30. The Red’s final nine games feature the same exact schedule as last season, with heavy inter-conference play.
Below is a full schedule of the Red’s 2017 season:
Sept. 1: vs. University of the Incarnate Word^
Sept. 3: at Southern Methodist University
Sept. 8: vs. Lehigh
Sept. 10: vs. Lafayette College
Sept. 16: vs. Canisius
Sept. 19: at Syracuse
Sept. 22: vs. St. Francis College (Brooklyn)
Sept. 30: at Penn*
Oct. 7: vs. Harvard*
Oct. 10: vs. Colgate
Oct. 14: at Yale*
Oct 17: at Hartwick College
Oct. 21: vs. Brown*
Oct. 28: at Princeton*
Nov. 4: at Dartmouth*
Nov. 11: vs. Columbia*
* – League game
Bold – Home game
^ – Neutral site