Penn State men's soccer gets set to take on Cornell

After a much-deserved one week off from competition, the Penn State men’s soccer squad returns back to Jeffrey Field Monday night to take on the Cornell Big Red.

Cornell enters this game at 1-0-1 after tying the Georgetown Hoyas 2-2 in Washington, DC Friday night. Georgetown was ranked No. 14 in the country entering that contest, making them a tough team to play.

In 2023, Cornell was a very good team finishing the 2023 season with an 8-4-3 overall record. Along with that, they beat one of the best teams in the country last season, Syracuse, 2-1 at home.

To put that into perspective, a couple of weeks before Cornell beat the Orange, the Nittany Lions ended up tying Syracuse at home 1-1.

A player to watch for the Big Red in this matchup is the sophomore from Vancouver, Canada; Alex Harris. In just two games this season for Cornell he has two goals and an assist already, including a goal and assist against Georgetown.

The 5-foot-11 forward earned unanimous 2023 Ivy League Rookie of the Year honors while setting the school record as a freshman for goals and points, with 28 total points and 12 goals.

Before arriving in upper New York, Harris played for the Washington Timbers in the ECNL, where he was the conference goal-scoring leader. He also was selected to the ECNL National Selection Game two times.

With Cornell’s high-powering offense, the Nittany Lions will have to respond in their own way offensively in this one. And one player on the Nittany Lions has taken over in the offensive department in a big way over the past two games.

Christian Dionne, who has now started in two of the first four games, now leads the team in total points with six, with a team-leading two assists and two goals on the season.

Dionne transferred in this season after playing for the Huskies the last two seasons. Last year at UConn he only started three games with just two total assists on the season.

It’s safe to say he broke out in a major way under Jeff Cook in Happy Valley.

With the impact Dionne has had so far this season on the Nittany Lions, Penn State is hoping to ride the momentum they sustained after their 4-0 win against the St. Bonaventure Bonnies.

Now at 2-2 overall on the season after splitting the Labor Day weekend series, Penn State takes on the Cornell Big Red on a Monday Night at Jeffrey Field starting at 7 p.m.

After taking on Cornell on Monday, Penn State will travel on the road to Ann Arbor, MI as they open up Big Ten play against the Michigan Wolverines.

Following that matchup, Ohio State and Michigan State roll into Happy Valley, on Tuesday and Friday, respectively, to give the Nittany Lions a full week of Big Ten opponents to open conference play.

Giustino Racchini is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him you can email him at gar5448@psu.edu.