GAME #14: Cornell at No. 4 Princeton
GAME TIME: Friday, Oct. 30, at 6:00 p.m.
GAME SITE: Class of '52 Stadium (Princeton, N.J.)
SERIES RECORD: Princeton leads, 21-5-3
LAST MEETING: Princeton won, 4-0, Nov. 1, 2008 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2009 RECORDS: Cornell (9-4, 3-2); Princeton (12-2, 5-0)
LIVE STATS: http://www.goprincetontigers.com
LIVE VIDEO: http://www.goprincetontigers.com  



THE MATCH-UP: The Cornell field hockey team takes to the road for its final two games of the season, beginning this weekend as it travels to No. 4 Princeton for a rare Friday evening contest. Game time is set for 6 p.m. The Big Red is coming off a split last weekend, as it defeated Brown, 7-3, on Saturday, before falling to Bucknell in overtime, 1-0, on Sunday to move its record to 9-4 overall and 3-2 in the conference. The Tigers are currently riding a three-game winning streak and are coming off a season-high nine-goal output vs. Harvard last weekend as they improved to 12-2 overall and 5-0 in the conference.

THE SERIES WITH PRINCETON: The Tigers have dominated the series with Cornell from the get-go, winning the first five meetings, beginning with a 4-0 victory in 1978. The Big Red's best stretch in the series came from 1983-1990, as Cornell posted a 4-2-2 record, but a 2-1 overtime win by Princeton in 1991 began a 14-game unbeaten streak for the Tigers. The streak was snapped with a 4-3 Big Red victory at Princeton in 2007, but the Tigers hold the 21-5-3 advantage in the series.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS: The fourth-ranked Princeton field hockey team is having an outstanding season, with a 12-2 record overall and a mark of 5-0 in the Ivy League. Other than an early season 2-1 loss at Providence, the Tigers only other loss came at the hands of No. 1 Maryland, who earned the 3-2 victory in overtime. Princeton is outscoring its opponents by nearly three goals per game, and has a pair of 30-point scorers in Kathleen Sharkey (13 goals, eight assists) and Katie Reinprecht (11 goals, nine assists). In goal, Jennifer King has seen the majority of action for the Tigers, posting a .750 save percentage and a 1.19 goals-against average.

LAST TIME VS. PRINCETON: The Cornell University field hockey team dropped a 4-0 decision to No. 11 Princeton on Nov. 1, 2008 on Marsha Dodson Field. The loss was the only one in Ivy League play for the Big Red during the 2008 season, as the team fell to 10-5 overall and 5-1 in the conference. The Tigers improved to 13-2 overall and 6-0 in league and clinched the Ivy League title. The game was much closer than the final score indicated, with Princeton scoring two goals in the final 10 minutes to account for the four-goal victory. The Tigers held the slight 18-14 advantage in shots and 10-6 edge in penalty corners and put 13 shots on goal, while Cornell had nine shots on goal. Both teams' goalies were outstanding with Cornell's Melanie Jue making eight saves in the loss, while Jennifer King stopped nine in the victory.

THE BIG RED'S LAST GAME: The Big Red dropped a heartbreaking 1-0 decision to Bucknell in overtime on Sunday at Marsha Dodson field. The game was the final home contest for the Big Red's four seniors – Natalie Appleton, Mel Jue, Kelley Kantarian and Katie Kirnan. Cornell (9-4) held the slight edge in shots, 17-16, and penalty corners, 9-7, but couldn't get the ball past the Bisons' goalies, who combined to make nine saves. Bucknell (10-6) scored with just over three minutes remaining in the first overtime stanza when Christine Weiss sent a pass behind the Cornell defense to Kelly Bruvik, who found herself alone in front of the cage and beat Cornell goalie Mel Jue for the victory. Jue finishes the game with seven saves.

THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Donna Hornibrook is in her sixth season at Cornell (50-45, .526) ... Hornibrook became the sixth coach in Cornell field hockey history in January 2004 ... She has a 221-92-10 (.699) record as a head coach, including a 111-39-4 mark at Houghton and a 60-8-6 record at New Brunswick.

BEATING THE BEARS: Cornell's seven goals vs. Brown on Oct. 24 was the most ever scored by the Big Red vs. an Ivy League opponent. Prior to the 7-3 victory, the most goals scored by Cornell against an Ancient Eight foe was five, as it defeated Dartmouth, 5-2, in 2006 and Princeton, 5-0, in 1988.

SEASON MARKS: With her two-goal, three-assist performance vs. Brown on Oct. 24, De Stio jumped into the Cornell single-season top-10 in assists (t-8th – 8) and points (t-9th – 26) and needs just one more goal on the season to move into that ranking … Goalie Mel Jue is currently fifth all-time in goals-against average for a single season with a 1.27 GAA.

BACK-TO-BACK BLANKS: It's been more than three years since Cornell was held scoreless in two straight contests. Prior to its 3-0 loss to No. 3 Virginia and its 1-0 loss to Harvard on Oct. 10 and 17, respectively, the Big Red was last blanked in back-to-back games in 2006 when it fell to Princeton (0-6), Harvard (0-1) and Maine (0-1) from Sept. 30 to Oct. 9.

WHERE WE RANK: Senior goalie Mel Jue ranks third in the nation in save percentage (.841) and 10th in goals-against average (1.27). As a team, Cornell ranks second in save percentage (.820), ninth in GAA (1.17), 10th in penalty corners per game (9.0), 22nd in scoring margin (0.95), 39th in goals per game (2.2), 40th in scoring average (2.1), 40th in points per game (6.0) and 40th in assists per game (1.6).

IVY LEADER BOARD: Mel Jue leads the Ivy League in both save percentage (.841) and goals-against average (1.27), while Catie De Stio ranks fifth in the conference in goals per game (0.7), sixth in points per game (1.9) and eighth in assists per game (0.50).

A TALE OF TWO SEASONS: In non-conference play, senior goalie Mel Jue has seen action in all eight games, allowed just five goals (0.62 gpg), and averaged a mere 3.2 saves per contest. In four Ivy League games, Jue also allowed five goals, but was called on to make 6.8 saves per game.

THAT'S A FIRST: The Big Red got off to a 7-0 start on the season, the best start in program history.

ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END: With its 1-0 overtime loss to Yale on Oct. 3, the Big Red had an eight-game winning streak ended. The streak dated back to the final game of the 2008 season, a 3-2 victory over Dartmouth. The eight-game streak is a school record, snapping the old mark of six games, set twice previously (2002, 2008).

A SHOCKING SHUTOUT: When Yale held the Big Red without a goal on Oct. 3, it marked the first time that Cornell was shut out in a game since a 4-0 loss to Princeton on Nov. 1, 2008. During that time, the Big Red outscored its opponents, 23-9 (1.75 goals per game).

CIRCLE OF TRUST: So far this season, the Big Red defensive unit has allowed just 4.5 penalty corners per game, 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 6.5 penalty corners per game. That is significantly down from the 8.4 average prior to her arrival.

MOVING ON UP: With her hot start to the season, junior Catie De Stio has jumped into Cornell's top-10 in career goals (6th – 23), career points (5th – 63) and career assists (t-3rd – 17). Likewise, senior Natalie Appleton is now tied for eighth with 14 career assists, while junior Kate Thompson needs three more assists and 15 points to move into the top-10.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE (A NEW) HOME: The Big Red is 11-3 all-time on the newly constructed Marsha Dodson Field. Collectively, the team has outscored its opponents by an margin of 30-17 and has taken nearly three times as many shots (318-123) as its opponents. The defense is equally solid in the circle, allowing just 65 penalty corners (4.6 per game).

FREE FIELD HOCKEY: So far this season, the Big Red has played in five overtime games, the most since the 2001 season, when Cornell also played six overtime contests. The Big Red is 3-2 in OT games this season, while the 2001 squad went 2-4.

CLOSE CALLS: Cornell's 1-0 overtime loss to Bucknell on Oct. 25 continued the Big Red's trend of playing in one-goal games. Since the start of the 2006 season, the Big Red has lost 24 games, with 17 of those coming by a single goal, including nine in overtime. During that same span, Cornell has won 36 games, with 17 coming in one-goal games, including five in overtime.

KNOCK THREE TIMES: When the Big Red fell to Syracuse during the 2006 season, 4-3, in overtime, it marked the only 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 30-1 in games in which it scores at least three goals after a 7-3 victory over Brown on Oct. 24, 2009.

A VOTE OF CONFIDENCE: The Big Red earned 12 votes in Oct. 5 NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll. The 12 votes were the most earned by Cornell during Coach Hornibrook's tenure.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: The Big Red has had two Ivy League Player of the Week selections on the young season, with Kelley Kantarian taking the honors on Sept. 8 and Catie De Stio winning on Sept. 22. Kantarian helped the Big Red get off to a 2-0 start to the season, registering seven points in victories over Davidson and Georgetown. She opened the season with a two-goal effort in the 3-1 victory over the Wildcats and followed that up with one goal and one assist in the 5-1 win against the Hoyas. She registered her three goals on just six shots. De Stio provided all of the Big Red's offense Cornell picked up a pair of wins over Penn and Lehigh. Against the Quakers, De Stio scored all three goals, on just five total shots, including the game-winner, just 22 seconds into overtime to give Cornell the 3-2 victory. Against the Mountain Hawks, she led the Big Red to a 1-0 win with the lone goal of the game.

HATS OFF: After going three seasons without seeing a Cornell player score three goals in a single game, the Big Red has had four players register hat tricks since the start of the 2008 season – Catie De Stio (Penn, Sept. 18, 2009), Abbi Horn (Georgetown, Sept. 21, 2008), Kelley Kantarian (Colgate, Oct. 9, 2008) and Catie De Stio (Bryant, Oct. 11, 2008). The three hat tricks during the 2008 season was 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 the 2008 season, Cornell had never had three different players register hat tricks in the same season.

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 four-of-five seasons, with a high of 14 in 2005. So far this season, the Big Red has 11 different players in the point's column.

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 46-8 record in games in which they have scored first. Conversely, the team has won only four 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 Sept. 12, 2009 as Cornell defeated Lock Haven, 2-1, in overtime.

IVY OPENERS: Cornell opened its 31st season of play in the Ivy League with a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory against Penn on Sept. 19. The Big Red is 13-15-3 all-time in conference season openers, thanks mostly to a 10-3 record since 1997. Cornell has played only four of the seven Ivy League teams in its season openers through the years. Its best records in Ivy openers are 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 nine times in its conference opener, posting a 3-5-1 record against the Quakers. All but two of those games came prior to the 1989 season, with the 2002, 2008 and 2009 meetings providing the three Big Red victories.

WINS 3, SAVES 1: Senior goalkeeper Mel Jue earned three wins in the first four games of the season, despite the fact that she was called on to make just one save. Alex Botte, however, has had to work much harder for her win during that stretch, posting six saves on the season.

A GAME FOR THE AGES: In its game vs. Siena, the Big Red took 43 shots, forcing the Saints goalie to make 22 saves, while limiting the visitors to just one shot. The last time Cornell took that many shots in a game was when the Big Red took 49 vs. Yale on Oct. 3, 1987. The last time an opposing goalie made more than 22 saves also came against Siena, as the Saints' goalie stopped 25 shots on Sept. 16, 1994. The last opponent to only take one shot against Cornell was C.W. Post on Sept. 29, 1982.

FIRST ACTION: Several rookies saw their first collegiate action during the opening weekend of play, as Genevieve Collins, Kat DiPastina, Paige Mollineaux and Alex Robson all saw playing time. Collins made a pair of starts vs. Davidson and Georgetown, while DiPastina scored against the Wildcats. In the third game of the season vs. Seina, Cornell's other three rookies, Molly Casey, Lauren Neal and Katie Laventure, all saw action.

BOMBARDING BOTTE: Senior Mel Jue got the start in Cornell's first game of the season against Davidson but after not facing a shot on goal in the first half of play, gave way to sophomore Alex Botte following the intermission. Botte went on to make four saves and allow one goal in the final 35 minutes of action.

FIRST WIN: Alex Botte followed up her stellar play vs. Davidson by getting her first collegiate win as she made three saves and allowed one goal vs. Georgetown.

FOR OPENERS: With its victory over Davidson on Sept. 5, the Big Red improved to 22-12-4 (.636) all-time in season-openers … The loss to No. 19 Albany during the 2008 season was Coach Hornibrook's only defeat in season-openers during her time with Cornell (5-1).

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN: Seniors Natalie Appleton, Kelley Kantarian and Katie Kirnan have been named captains for the 2009 season.

RECAPPING 2008: The Big Red completed the 2008 season with an 11-5 record overall and 6-1 mark in the conference to finish in second place in the league rankings for the third straight year. Cornell also posted a winning conference record for the fourth straight year, marking the first time in program history that the Big Red has had four straight winning seasons in Ivy play. The team set the school mark for overall victories (11) and conference victories (6) in a season as well as setting the school record for goals (45), assists (38) and points (128) in a season.

UP NEXT: The Big Red is back in action next weekend as it travels to New Hampshire to close its season at Dartmouth on Saturday, Oct. 7 at noon.