GAME INFORMATION
GAME #15: Cornell vs. No. 11 Princeton
GAME TIME: Saturday, Nov. 1, at Noon
GAME SITE: Marsha Dodson Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Princeton leads, 22-5-3
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 4-3, on Sept. 29 in Princeton, N.J.
2008 RECORDS: Cornell (10-4, 5-0); Princeton (12-2, 5-0)
THE MATCHUP WITH PRINCETON: The Cornell University field hockey team will play host to No. 11 Princeton in a game that has significant Ivy League implications on Marsha Dodson Field on Saturday, Nov. 1 at noon. Both teams are a perfect 5-0 in the conference and the winner is guaranteed at least a share of the Ancient Eight title. For the Tigers, it would be their fourth straight championship and their 13th in the past 14 years. Meanwhile, the Big Red is seeking the second Ivy League championship in program history, with the first coming 17 years ago. Cornell, which is 10-4 overall and carrying a seven-game conference winning streak into the game, has been undefeated on Marsha Dodson Field since christening it earlier this season (5-0). Princeton is currently ranked 11th nationally and holds a 12-2 record, with its only losses coming to No. 5 UConn (LOT, 2-3) and No. 2 Maryland (L 0-5).
THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Donna Hornibrook is in her fifth season at Cornell (40-40, .500) ... Hornibrook became the sixth coach in Cornell field hockey history in January 2004 ... She has a 211-87-10 (.701) 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: Cornell defeated Brown, 4-2, on Saturday on Warner Roof in Providence, R.I. With the win, the Big Red tied the school record for overall wins and Ivy League wins, improving to 10-4 overall and 5-0 in the conference. Junior Kelley Kantarian led the Cornell offense with two goals, including the game-winner, and one assist. Sophomores Catie De Stio and Sara Sanders tallied one goal apiece, while classmate Mattie Prodanovic added an assist. The Big Red outshot Brown, 20-11, but the Bears held the slight 6-5 edge in penalty corners. Cornell goalie Melanie Jue needed to make just one save to earn the win, while Caroline Washburn kept the Bears in the game with 11 saves.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS: No. 11 Princeton improved to 12-2 overall and 5-0 in the Ivy League when it defeated Harvard, 5-0, on Saturday. The Tigers, who rank third in the nation in scoring average (4.13), goals per game (4.21) and scoring margin (2.59), are led offensively by a pair of freshmen – midfielder Katie Reinprecht and attacker Kathleen Sharkey. Reinprecht ranks ninth in the nation in points per game (2.58), 13th in the country in assists per game (0.75) and 15th overall in goals per game (0.92), while Sharkey is 21st in the country in goals per game (0.83) and 25th in points per game (1.92). Junior goalkeeper Cynthia Wray has seen the majority of time inbetween the pipes for the Tigers, playing in 10 games with nine starts. She has posted a 2.15 goals-against average and a .615 save percentage, while sophomore Jennifer King has started five of six games on the year and has earned a 0.40 GAA and an .875 save percentage.
LAST TIME VS. PRINCETON: Cornell erased a 2-0 halftime deficit and got a late goal in the waning seconds of the game by Abbi Horn to upset perennial Ivy League power, Princeton, 4-3, on Sept. 29, 2007 at the Class of '52 Stadium. The victory snapped the Tigers' 16-game unbeaten streak vs. the Big Red. Princeton tallied two goals off deflections late in the first half, one off the stick of Tina Bortz, with the other coming from Holly McGarvie, to take a 2-0 lead into the intermission. After the break, Cornell wasted little time as senior defender Katie Bradshaw scored her first goal of the season at the 36:49 mark. Just over 10 minutes later, the Big Red tied the game at 2-2 as Mandy Malzberg redirected a shot from Kate Thompson into the back of the net. Alyssa DePaola gave Cornell its first lead, scoring off a pass from Catie De Stio in the 55th minute. With just over five minutes left to play, Paige Schmidt put a shot on cage that was saved by Cornell goalie Shannon Prescott, but McGarvie lifted the ball over Prescott and into the goal to make it a 3-3 game and set up Horn's heroics. The goal by Horn came off a penalty corner and was also her first goal of the season. The Big Red got an outstanding game from Prescott, who made eight saves, including seven in the decisive second half, to notch the victory, while Cynthia Wray stopped three. Princeton out shot Cornell, 22-13, and held a decisive 11-4 edge in penalty corners.
THE TIGERS' LAST GAME: Senior Kraftin Schreyer and freshman Kathleen Sharkey each scored twice as the 12th-ranked Princeton field hockey team shut out Harvard, 5-0, on Saturday afternoon at Class of '52 Stadium. Senior Katie Kinzer completed the scoring for the Tigers with her fourth tally of the season as she scored off a pass from senior Holly McGarvie. Princeton outshot Harvard 24-2 and had eight corners to Harvard's none. Princeton sophomore goalkeeper Jennifer King made one save, while Kylie Stone made 14 for Harvard.
A WIN AGAINST PRINCETON WOULD:
- set the school record for both overall wins (11) and conference wins (6).
- guarantee the Big Red at least a share of the Ivy League title.
- be the eighth straight Ivy League victory by Cornell, dating back to a 3-2 loss in overtime to Harvard on Oct. 7, 2007.
- make the Big Red 13-2 in its last 15 Ivy League games, going back to the final two games of the 2006 season.
- give the class of 2009 a victory against each Ivy League opponent at both home and on the road.
GETTING VOTES: In the latest addition of the STX/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll, the Big Red made an appearance in the “others receiving votes” section. The seven votes earned is the most by Cornell during Coach Hornibrook's tenure.
RECORD WINS: With the victory over Brown last weekend, the Big Red tied the school record for overall wins (10) and conference wins (5) in a season. In total, Cornell has had 10 three times in the history of the program (2005, 2007, 2008) all of which came during Coach Hornibrook's tenure. Cornell has earned five Ivy League wins twice before (1997, 2007), including last season.
AND THAT'S EVERYBODY: The Big Red's class of 2009 has defeated every team in the Ivy League at least once. The last team to fall was Princeton, which Cornell defeated last year, 4-3, in Princeton, N.J. If the Big Red were to defeat the Tigers on Marsha Dodson Field, the senior class will have defeated each Ancient Eight opponent both at home and on the road in their career.
SEASONED SCORER: Catie De Stio is having a solid sophomore season and with two games to play she needs just two more goals and three more total points to move into the Cornell top-10 for goals and points in a single-season. She currently leads the team with eight goals and 21 points on the season. De Stio has scored at least one goal in five of the Big Red's last six games.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Three Cornell players have earned Ivy League Player of the Week honors so far this season – Kelley Kantarian, Catie De Stio and Abbi Horn. Kantarian was named the Player of the Week on Oct. 28 after scoring two goals, including the game-winner, and adding an assist as Cornell defeated Brown, 4-2. 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.
SENIOR CLASS: With two 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 37 wins overall and 18 victories in the Ivy League. Previously, the members of the class of 1998 were the winningest in program history with 33 victories overall and 14 wins in the Ivy League.
IVY WIN STREAK: The Big Red has opened the Ivy League portion of its schedule with five straight victories to extend its conference winning streak to seven games, the longest conference winning streak in program history. Previously, Cornell's longest winning steak against Ancient Eight foes was four games, 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.
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.
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.
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 1-1 vs. teams that were ranked in the NFHCA rankings, defeating No. 19 Syracuse after losing to No. 15 Albany. Cornell also defeated Princeton, which ended its season ranked No. 17 in the nation.
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 24-1 in games in which it scores at least three goals after a 4-2 victory over Brown on Oct 25.
DOUBLED UP: Cornell is taking nearly twice as many shots as its opponents (17.1 spg.– 9.2 spg.), and is averaging more than twice as many goals as its opponents (3.00 gpg. – 1.36 gpg.).
FIRST HALF FIREWORKS: For the season, the Big Red has taken 118 shots in the first half of play and 119 shots in the second half of play, while its opponents have taken exactly 64 shots in each half of play. Despite the even distribution of the shots over the two halves, Cornell has outscored opponents, 23-5, in the first half, but only 18-13 in the second half.
TOP 20 TEAM: As a team, the Big Red ranks in the top 20 in the nation in several categories, including save percentage (.779 – seventh), shutouts per game (0.36 – eighth), penalty corners per game (8.36 – 12th), assists per game (2.43 – 13th), points per game (8.43 – 15th), scoring average (2.97 – 14th), scoring margin (1.63 – 15th), goals per game (3.00 – 15th), goals-against average (1.34 – 16th) and winning percentage (.714 – 18th).
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.
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 3.00 goal per game and needs just three tallies in the final two contests to eclipse the school mark of 44 goals, set in the 2005 season. Cornell is also just three 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 4.9 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.
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 (.763 – 15th) and goals-against average (1.44 – 21st). 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. Abbi Horn is eighth in points per game (1.36), goals (7), goals per game (0.50) and assists (5), and she is ninth in points (19) and assists per game (0.36). Catie De Stio leads the league in game-winning goals (4), ranks sixth in points (21), points per game (1.50), goals (8) and goals per game (0.57), and is eighth in assists (5) and ninth in assists per game (0.36). Kelley Kantarian is eighth in goals (7) and goals per game (0.50), while Kate Thompson is seventh in assists (6) and assists per game (0.43) and Natlie Appleton is eighth in assists (5) and assists per game. (0.36). Goalie Melanie Jue is second in shutouts (3) and goals-against average (1.44), third in save percentage (.763) and sixth in saves (58) and saves per game (4.46).
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.
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 37-8 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.
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.
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 will close the regular season on Marsha Dodson Field as it plays host to Dartmouth in its Ivy League finale on Sunday, Nov. 9 at noon.
