GAME INFORMATION
GAME #14: Cornell at Brown
GAMETIME: Saturday, Oct. 25, at Noon
GAME SITE: Warner Roof (Providence, R.I.)
SERIES RECORD: Brown leads, 15-12-3
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 2-1, on Oct. 21 in Ithaca, N.Y.
2008 RECORDS: Cornell (9-4, 4-0); Brown (3-10, 0-4)
THE MATCHUP WITH BROWN: The Big Red is carrying a five-game winning streak into this weekend's contest as it tries to remain undefeated in the Ivy League against Brown on Saturday, Oct. 25, at Warner Roof in Providence, R.I., at noon. The Bears are coming off a 6-2 loss to Providence on Wednesday afternoon to fall to 3-10 overall. Brown holds the all-time series advantage, 15-12-3, but Cornell has won the last two meetings.
THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Donna Hornibrook is in her fifth season at Cornell (39-40, .494) ... Hornibrook became the sixth coach in Cornell field hockey history in January 2004 ... She has a 210-87-10 (.700) record as a head coach, including a 111-39-4 mark at Houghton and a 60-8-6 record at New Brunswick.
THE BIG RED'S LAST GAME: Katie Kirnan picked a great time to score the first game-winning goal of her career, converting in the 51st minute to keep the Big Red perfect in Ivy League play with a 4-0 record, as it defeated Harvard, 1-0. Kirnan's goal came at 50:56 when she redirected a free hit by Belen Martinez into the goal for her fourth tally of the season. With the assist, Martinez moved into 10th place in Cornell history with 13 career assists and moved up to ninth overall with 47 career assists. Cornell goalie Melanie Jue, fresh off playing in the Cornell women's ice hockey season-opening exhibition game on Friday night, stopped four shots to pick up the win with her third shutout of the season. Harvard's Kylie Stone stopped seven shots in the loss. The Big Red held the edge in shots, 12-5, and penalty corners, 4-1.
SCOUTING THE BEARS: Brown fell to 3-10 on the season when it lost to Providence, 6-2, on Wednesday. The Bears are led on offense by Abigail Taft with seven goals for 14 points, while Leslie Springmeyer has added four goals and one assist for nine points. Katie Hyland has registered a team-high in assists with four. Lauren Kessler has started 11 games between the pipes for the Bears, posting a 3.27 goals-against average while stopping .736 percent of the shots she has faced. Caroline Washburn has played in six games, starting two, and has a 2.91 GAA and a .703 save percentage.
LAST TIME VS. BROWN:Abbi Horn scored the game-winning goal with 46 seconds remaining in regulation as the Big Red defeated Brown, 2-1, on Oct. 21, 2007 at Schoellkopf Field. With time running down and the score deadlocked a 1-1, Mattie Prodanovic registered her first collegiate point when she came up with the ball and streaked down the right sideline before centering it to Horn, who slotted the it past Brown goalie Lauren Kessler to give Cornell the 2-1 lead at the 69:14 mark. After going into the intermission tied, 0-0, Cornell wasted little time before breaking the stalemate off a penalty corner. Belen Martinez received the ball, cut away from the onrushing Brown defenders, and fired a hard shot into the far corner of the goal to put Cornell up, 1-0, in the 37th minute. Brown, which took only three shots in the second half, scored when Jackie Connard centered the ball to Andrea Posa, who one-timed the ball past Cornell goalie Shannon Prescott to make it 1-1 at 48:45. Prescott made four saves, including two in the final six minutes of the opening half, one of which was a spectacular glove save on a high shot, to register the win. Kessler stopped five in the loss. For the game, Cornell held the lead in shots, 15-5, and penalty corners, 9-4.
THE BEARS' LAST GAME: Brown senior Victoria Sacco scored just 1:35 into the contest, but Providence scored four times in a span of 2:24, en route to a 6-2 victory over the Bears on Wednesday afternoon at Warner Roof. PC's four-goal outburst proved to be the difference in the game, as the Bears were never able to recover from being down, 4-1, and then eventually, 5-1, despite playing a relatively even game against the Friars. Nora Malgieri set up the Bears second goal of the day, sending the ball into the circle to the left post where Leslie Springmeyer was stationed. Springmeyer calmly tipped the ball to the far corner past the Friars' goalkeeper to make it a 5-2 game. Providence earned its final goal at the 56:05 mark to account for the 6-2 final. For the game, Providence held a 15-10 advantage in shots, while Brown earned four penalty corners to PC's two. Sophomore Lauren Kessler made one save in 20:32, allowing four PC goals, while freshman Caroline Washburn had one save in 49:28, allowing two goals.
HEY NOW, YOU'RE AN ALL-STAR: Belen Martinez has been named to the 2008 NFHCA Division I Senior All-Star team. Martinez is just one of two Ivy League players named to the 38 player squad. The 2008 NFHCA Division I Senior All-Star game will be played on Saturday, Nov. 22 at the University of Louisville at 7:30 p.m.
SENIOR CLASS: With three games left in the 2008 season, the class of 2009 is already the winningest class in program history. Coach Hornibrook's first recruiting class has piled up 36 wins overall and 17 victories in the Ivy League. Previously, the members of the class of 1998 was the winningest in program history with 33 victories overall and 14 wins in the Ivy League.
FOUR AND O: The Big Red has opened the Ivy League portion of its schedule with four straight victories for the first time in program history. Cornell has won four consecutive conference games only once before, coming in 1997 when the Big Red defeated Harvard (3-0), Dartmouth (3-1), Brown (1-0) and Yale (2-1) to close out the season. In 2005, Cornell opened its conference slate with a 3-0 record before falling to Princeton, 2-1.
THE FOUR SEASONS: With its 1-0 victory over Harvard on Oct. 18, Cornell assured itself of a winning record in the Ivy League for the fourth season in a row. The stretch, which includes records of 5-2 in 2007, and 4-3 in both 2005 and 2006, is the longest in program history.
TOP 20 TEAM: As a team, the Big Red ranks in the top 20 in the nation in several categories, including save percentage (.795 – fifth), shutouts per game (0.38 – seventh), penalty corners per game (8.62 – 10th), assists per game (2.62 – 12th), points per game (8.46 – 13th), scoring average (2.89 – 13th), scoring margin (1.60 – 14th), goals per game (2.92 – 16th), goals against average (1.29 – 19th) and winning percentage (.692 – 20th).
HATS OFF: After going three seasons without seeing a Cornell player score three goals in a single game, the Big Red has had three players register hat tricks so far this year – Abbi Horn (Georgetown, Sept. 21), Kelley Kantarian (Colgate, Oct. 9) and Catie De Stio (Bryant, Oct. 11). Horn's hat trick against the Hoyas was the best single-game performance by a Cornell player since Gina Testa tallied four scores at Rutgers on Oct. 31, 2004. The three hat tricks in a single season is the most by the Big Red since having four during the 1995 season. That year, Cari Hills scored three goals vs. Colgate and four goals against Holy Cross, while Emily Robb tallied three against both Lehigh and Brown. Until this year, Cornell had never had three different players register hat tricks in the same season.
OFFENSIVE ONSLAUGHT: The Big Red defeated Colgate, 6-4, and Bryant, 9-0 on Oct. 9 and Oct. 11, respectively. The combined 15 goals is the largest offensive output in back-to-back games by Cornell since the Big Red defeated St. Lawrence, 6-2, and Rochester, 7-0, in the first two games of the 1974 season.
RECORD WATCH: Cornell is on pace to set the school record for goals in a single season. The Big Red is currently averaging 2.92 goal per game and needs just seven tallies in the final three contests to eclipse the school mark of 44 goals, set in the 2005 season. Cornell is also just five assists away from beating the school record of 36, set in the 2000 season.
MATCHING THE MARK: The Big Red tied the school record for goals in a single game when it defeated Bryant, 9-0, on Oct. 11. That performance came on the heels of a 6-4 victory over Colgate on Oct. 9. Under Coach Hornibrook, the team has scored at least six goals in a game on four occasions.
CIRCLE OF TRUST: Cornell's defense has been extremely calm in the circle this season, allowing just 4.8 penalty corners per game. That is the best school average since the stat began to be recorded in 1998. Since taking over the program, Coach Hornibrook's teams have allowed just 6.8 penalty corners per game. That is significantly down from the 8.4 average prior to her arrival. On the weekend of Oct. 4-5, the Big Red held Yale and Lehigh to just one penalty corner each. That is the best performance in back-to-back games since Cornell held Lafayette and Columbia to one and three penalty corners, respectively, in back-to-back contests in 2006.
QUICK HITS: Abbi Horn scored just 37 seconds into the game against Yale on Oct. 4. The goal was the quickest registered by a Cornell player since Carissa Mirasol scored at the 15-second mark against American on Oct. 28, 2001.
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE (A NEW) HOME: The Big Red is 5-0 on the newly constructed Marsha Dodson Field. Collectively, the team has outscored its opponents by an impressive margin of 20-2 and has taken nearly four times as many shots (107-29) as its opponents. The defense has been equally solid in the circle, allowing just 16 penalty corners (3.2 per game), including giving up just one penalty corner in back-to-back games against Yale and Lehigh.
MOVING ON UP: The weekend of Sept. 20-21 proved to be a successful one for Belen Martinez and Abbi Horn as both moved into the top 10 of several career categories at Cornell. Currently, Martinez ranks seventh in career goals (17), ninth in career points (45) and ninth in career assists (12). Meanwhile, Horn sits in fifth place in career assists (15) and in seventh place in both career goals (17) and career points (49).
STRONG STOPPER: In her first year with the Big Red field hockey team, junior goalkeeper Melanie Jue has been solid, ranking among the best in the nation in save percentage (.781 – 13th) and goals-against average (1.40 – 18th).She has also posted the third-highest number of saves in the nation in a single game with her 19-save performance vs. Albany on Sept. 6, third only to Deitre Corvo (Georgetown), who made 23 saves vs. Syracuse on Oct. 10, and Susie Rowe (Maryland), who made 20 saves against Northwestern on Sept. 7.
WHERE WE RANK: Several Cornell players rank among the best in the conference in several categories. Belen Martinez ranks eighth in goals (6), points (17), assists (5) and points per game (1.31) and is ninth in assists per game (0.38) and10th in goals per game (0.46). Abbi Horn and Catie De Stio are tied with each other in several categories, including ranking fifth in points (19),fifth in goals (7), sixth in points per game (1.46), sixth in goals per game (0.54), eighth in assists (5), and ninth in assists per game (0.38). Natalie Appleton is eighth in assists (5) and assists per game (0.42), while Kate Thompson is fourth in assists (6) and sixth in assists per game (0.46). Goalie Melanie Jue is second in goals-against average (1.40), third in save percentage (.781), sixth in saves (57) and seventh in saves per game (4.75).
CLOSE CALLS: Cornell's 1-0 victory over Harvard on Oct. 18 continued the Big Red's trend of playing in one-goal games. Since the start of the 2006 season, the Big Red has lost 20 games, with 14 of those coming by a single goal, including seven in overtime. During that same span, Cornell has won 12 one-goal games. So far this season, all four of Cornell's losses have come in one-goal contests, including one in overtime.
COMING AT YOU FROM ALL SIDES: Since taking over the Cornell program in 2004, Coach Hornibrook has had a dozen or more players register at least one point in three-of-four seasons, with a high of 14 in 2005. So far this season, 13 different Big Red players have registered at least on point.
KNOCK THREE TIMES: When the Big Red fell to Syracuse during the 2006 season, 4-3, in overtime, it marked the first time in Coach Hornibrook's career with Cornell that the team scored three goals and lost the contest. Under Coach Hornibrook, the Big Red improved to 23-1 in games in which it scores at least three goals after a 9-0 victory over Bryant on Oct 11.
FAST STARTS: Scoring first has been a big part of the Big Red's success in recent years. Since Coach Hornibrook has taken over the program, Cornell has posted an impressive 36-8 record in games in which they have scored first. Conversely, the team has won only three games in which they have had to come back from an early deficit to win. The first was Coach Hornibrook's very first victory with the team, a 6-3 win over Lehigh in 2004, with the latest coming on Oct. 9, 2008 as Cornell defeated Colgate, 6-4.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Two Cornell players have earned Ivy League Player of the Week honors so far this season – Catie De Stio and Abbi Horn. De Stio was given the award on Oct. 7 after a stellar weekend in which she registered both game-winning goals as the Big Red defeated Yale, 2-1, in overtime and Lehigh, 2-0. She also assisted on Cornell's first goal against Yale for a five-point weekend. Horn was named the Ivy League Player of the Week on Sept. 23, following an outstanding weekend against Penn and Georgetown. Horn assisted on the final goal in Cornell's 3-1 victory over the Quakers, but that paled in comparison to her performance on Sunday in which she registered a hat trick against the Hoyas.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Melanie Jue was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week on Sept. 9 after helping the Big Red open the season with a 1-1 record. In her first collegiate start, Jue made 19 saves against No. 19 Albany before dropping a 1-0 decision to the Great Danes on Sept. 6. The following day, Jue was not called upon to make a single save as she recorded her first career shutout. Jue, who is a junior at Cornell, is considered a rookie because she has not played field hockey at the collegiate level prior to this season.
THAT'S A START: Cornell goalie Alex Botte got her first collegiate start against Fairfield on Sept. 28. The freshman netminder stopped six shots in a 1-0 loss.
IVY OPENERS: Cornell opened its 30th season of play in the Ivy League on Sept. 20 with a 3-1 victory over Penn. With the win, the Big Red improved to 12-15-3 all-time in conference season openers, thanks mostly to an 9-3 record since 1997. Cornell has played only four of the seven Ivy League teams in its season openers through the years. Cornell has had its best outings in Ivy League openers against Yale (1-0) and Columbia (6-1). The Big Red has played Princeton more than any other team in conference openers (14), posting a 3-9-2 record, but the two teams have not met in the season opener since 1999. Cornell has met Penn eight times in its conference opener, posting a 2-5-1 record against the Quakers. All but two of those games came prior to the 1989 season, with the 2002 and 2008 meetings proving to be Big Red victories.
A RUDE WELCOME: After a two-year hiatus from field hockey, junior Melanie Jue saw action in her first collegiate game, getting the start in goal vs. No. 19 Albany on Sept. 6. The two-sport athlete was called on to make 19 saves during the contest, the most since Kaitlin Tierney stopped 20 shots vs. Princeton on Oct. 21, 2000.
RANKED OPPONENTS: Cornell is 0-1 this season against ranked opponents after losing in the first weekend of play to No. 19 Albany. Last year, the Big Red was 2-1 vs. teams that were ranked in the NFHCA rankings, with its only loss coming to No. 15 Albany.
FOR OPENERS: After the loss to No. 19 Albany, the Big Red is 21-12-4 (.636) all-time in season-openers … The loss vs. the Great Danes was Coach Hornibrook's first in season-openers during her time with Cornell (4-1).
THE 200: Coach Hornibrook secured her 200th career win last season as the Big Red defeated Siena, 4-2, on Oct. 28, 2007.
UP NEXT: The Big Red returns to Marsha Dodson Field for a pivotal Ivy League match up against No. 12 Princeton on Saturday, Nov. 1 at noon.
