NEW YORK – Columbia will be looking to end the season with their sixth straight win when they face off against Cornell in the final home game on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. on ESPN+.

LAST TIME OUT
Two goals from Dylan Mott helped Columbia to a 2-1 victory at Harvard and kept the Lions within reach of a desired Ivy League title. Mott got the first of his two goals early on in the fifth minute when Sebastian Gunbeyi was able to gather the ball near the end line off a Blake Willis throw-in. Gunbeyi sent in a left-footed cross which Mott met with a shot just underneath the crossbar to score.
 
The Crimson answered back in the 33rd minute with a penalty kick score from Cesar Farias. The Lions would take back the lead early into the second half when Mott scored a header off a Willis corner in the 51st minute. Despite Harvard's pressure late on, Columbia kept the lead and picked up a valuable win.

SEASON AT A GLANCE
With wins in the past five matches, the Lions enter the weekend as one of the hottest teams in the country. Over that stretch, Columbia has out-scored opponents by a total of 11-3, which began by an overtime game-winner off the foot of Gunbeyi on Oct. 19 over Dartmouth.

Columbia sits at 10-4-1 overall and 5-1 in the Ancient Eight. Last Saturday's win over Harvard makes it four straight seasons with at least 10 victories.

ABOUT CORNELL
The Big Red were once tied for second with Columbia and seen as serious challengers for the conference title, having started the season at 9-3 overall with a ranking as high as No. 22. After a three-game losing streak, which included costly losses to Princeton and Dartmouth, Cornell is out of contention for an Ivy League title.
 
Despite their current form, Cornell still boasts one of the best attacks in the Ivy League behind a conference high 28 goals scored. Sophomore Charles Touche and freshman Emeka Eneli lead the Ancient Eight with seven goals each. Touche and Eneli have both provided two assists and their assist leader, sophomore Harry Fuller, will be looking to add to his current total of four. Junior goalkeeper, Ryan Shellow, has seen the most action in 15 starts with 20 goals against.

SERIES HISTORY
Columbia leads Cornel in terms of overall record with a 35-23-11 advantage and haven't lost to the Big Red since 2014. The Lions will be looking to build upon last year's 2-0 away win which saw them score two goals in a matter of three minutes to take the match.

IVY STANDINGS
With a single match remaining for the league crown, the group is looking up at Princeton with 16 points and a match at Yale this weekend. Columbia is one point behind going into this final weekend of play, and will look to secure a win over Cornell then will have to wait and see the outcome of the Princeton/Yale match.
 

Team	Points	Conf. W-L-D	Overall W-L-D
Princeton	16	5-0-1	10-4-2
Columbia	15	5-1-0	10-4-1
Dartmouth	11	3-1-2	6-5-5
Cornell	9	3-3-0	10-6-0
Brown	6	2-4-0	8-7-1
Yale	5	1-3-2	6-6-3
Penn	4	1-4-1	4-5-6
Harvard	3	1-5-0	3-12-0

IVY SCHEDULE
Cornell at Columbia - 1:00 p.m.
Princeton at Yale - 4:00 p.m.
Brown at Dartmouth - 5:00 p.m.
Harvard at Penn - 5:00 p.m.
 
A WIN (AND A TIGER LOSS) AND YOU'RE IN
For Columbia to earn its second Ivy League title in three years, the Lions will have to upend Cornell on Saturday, and have Yale either draw or defeat Princeton during the 4:00 p.m. match. If the Lions were to tie with Cornell and have Yale beat Princeton, the Tigers would go to the NCAA Tournament as the Co-Ivy League Champions with Columbia.
 
NCAA ANNOUNCEMENT
The field of 48 teams that advance to the 2018 NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament will be announced on Monday, November 12 at 1:00 p.m. on ncaa.com. This year's College Cup is slated to be played on the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara at Harder Stadium.
 
RPI WATCH
With just one regular season match remaining for most teams in the NCAA, late season points in the RPI are hard to come by, but not unheard-of.
 
Currently, Dartmouth is the highest ranked team in the Ivy League according to the RPI at No. 46, trailed by Princeton at No. 47 and Columbia at 55, with Cornell a bit behind at No. 72. Last year when Columbia earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, the Lions were at No. 29 at the end of the year. The highest ranked team to get in during the 2017 tournament was NC State at No. 45.
 
CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
Of the 21 conferences that determine its champion based upon a conference tournament, five will be decided on Saturday, and the other 16 have finals on Sunday. Along with the Ivy League, the Pac-12 and West Coast Conference both determine who gets the NCAA Tournament based on conference standings.

RECORD WATCH
As he closes in on his last two regular season matches, Dylan Castanheira has a chance to break two Ivy League records. At the moment, the senior has 25 career shutouts, one away from the Ancient Eight record of 26. As long as he does not give up an abundance of goals to Cornell, Castanheira will break the conference record for goals against average of 0.75, as he currently sits at 0.47 for his career.
 
SENIOR FAREWELL
Prior to the start of Saturday's contest, the men's soccer team will say so long to eight seniors who are playing their final match at Rocco B. Commisso Soccer Stadium. The group includes Francisco Agrest, Nike Azuma, Dylan Castanheira, Brendan Dennis, Ridley Eastland-Fruit, Dylan Mott, Pierce Pomykal, and Kynan Rocks.