With a win this weekend over Columbia, the men’s soccer team will finish the regular season at .500 or better for the first time since 2001.

“What’s at stake is the .500 record that our team has been looking for for a few years,” said senior forward Matt Bouraee. “We’re one game below .500, and I would like to get the win in front of our home fans.”

The Red (5-6-5, 0-3-3 Ivy) will host the Lions (4-11-1, 2-4 Ivy) at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Berman Field. Just looking at the two team’s records, it might look like the Ivy consolation game.

Tied with Yale for sixth in the Ancient Eight, Columbia has lost six of the squad’s last seven games. Last weekend’s loss, however, was a nail-biter against league leader Harvard, the No. 11 team in the country — the Lions took the Crimson to overtime before falling, 2-1.

The rising: Men’s soccer has turned their fate since last season, hoping to finish the season with their best record since 2001. The team will face Columbia at home.

Columbia’s other Ivy win was at then No. 15 Dartmouth, 2-0. Cornell did not fare so well in Hanover, N.H., last weekend, losing by the same score to the Green. But the Red insist that a high level of play has been evident this season — both on the team and throughout the league.

“I thought we’ve done a good job with the ball in spurts [and] a good job on set pieces, but I think the key is doing it for 90 minutes,” said senior forward J.J. Bain. “We have all the pieces in place.”

The Ancient Eight has a strong presence on the national soccer scene this year, with three or four teams probably going to the NCAA tournament, according to head coach Jaro Zawislan.

“[Columbia] played a very good schedule this year,” Zawislan said. “The Ivy League is one of the premier men’s soccer conferences in the country. Anybody can beat anybody on any given day.”

Last year, this was not the case, at least for the hapless Red. Finishing with one win overall and none in the conference, Cornell closed out its season at Columbia, falling 2-0. Bayo Adafin opened scoring in the 19th minute, and Lions goalkeeper Alexander Aurrichio stopped all four shots that he faced for the shutout.

Junior forward Adafin leads the Lions in scoring this year with six goals, while Aurrichio’s 1.31 goals-against average and .762 save percentage group him in the top half of the league, statistically.

“They’ve had a lot of close games against a lot of good teams,” Bain said. “And it’s their last game as much as ours.”

With the matchup in honor of seniors Bouraee, Bain and defender Matt Devitt, the Red will be looking to repeat the team’s success the last time Columbia came to Berman Field.

On Senior Night in 2007, the Red wrangled a 3-2 overtime win from the visiting team. Bouraee scored the Red’s second goal that night, and he emphasized the advantages of playing in front of the crowd at Berman.

“Being at home, you’re more relaxed,” Bouraee. “We received some harsh comments from the fans at Dartmouth [last week]. It will be nice to have some positive comments [from our fans].”

“Of course you want to finish your regular season on a positive note [and] continue the momentum we have generated this season,” Zawislan said, also commenting on the maturity of the Red’s seniors. “Going into the senior season and having a new head coach come into the place, it’s a transition time. It’s not necessarily the best situation for a senior season. But [Cornell’s seniors have] reacted very well. Each tone in their own individual way has been a leader on and off the field for this program.”

An added feature of this weekend’s home matchup is that the Red will be raffling off a LA Galaxy jersey at halftime signed by everyone on the team, including international superstar David Beckham. The jersey came to Cornell thanks to Dave Sarachan ’76, former player and coach for the men’s soccer team.

“He’s currently an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Galaxy,” Bouraee said, “so when he came for Alumni Weekend … he realized he could contribute to the team by donating this jersey signed by the whole team … and it would attract fans.”

Tickets are being sold at Bartels Hall and at Kraftees in Collegetown, and all proceeds go to the United Way of Tompkins County.