GAME #10: Cornell at No. 3 Virginia
GAME TIME: Saturday, Oct. 10, at 1:00 p.m.
GAME SITE: University Hall Turf Field (Charlottesville, Va.)
SERIES RECORD: Series tied, 1-1
LAST MEETING: Virginia won, 4-0, Oct. 14, 2003 (Charlottesville, Va.)
2009 RECORDS: Cornell (8-1); Virginia (11-1)
LIVE STATS: www.VirginiaSports.com
LIVE VIDEO: None 



THE MATCH-UP: The Cornell field hockey team will face its toughest test of the season this weekend as it travels to Charlottesville, Va., to take on ACC power Virginia on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 1 p.m. The No. 3 Cavaliers boast an 11-1 record, with their lone loss coming to top-ranked Maryland, who defeated Virginia, 3-1, last weekend. The Big Red has had a short-week to prepare, as it played on Tuesday afternoon, a 2-1 victory over in-state rival Colgate on Marsha Dodson Field.

THE SERIES WITH VIRGINIA: The Big Red and Virginia have met twice on the field hockey pitch, with each team earning a victory. Cornell earned the victory in the first meeting, defeating the Cavaliers, 2-1, in double overtime during the 2002 season. Virginia came back the next season and defeated the Big Red, 4-0.

SCOUTING THE CAVALIERS: Virginia, the third-ranked team in the nation, owns an 11-1 record, with its only blemish coming against No. 1 Maryland last weekend. The team is outscoring its opponents, 40-10, and ranks eighth in the country in scoring margin (2.50). Paige Selenski leads the team, and ranks 18th in the country with 13 goals (1.08 gpg.), while Tara Puffenberger has added eight. In goal, Kim Kastuk has started all 12 games and ranks 13th in the nation with a .788 save percentage and is fifth overall with an impressive 0.65 goals-against average.

VS. THE ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE: The Big Red is 1-5 all-time vs. the current members of the ACC. Cornell is tied with Virginia (1-1), but holds a losing record against Boston College (0-4). The Big Red has never faced Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, or Wake Forest … Cornell is 0-0 vs. the ACC during Coach Hornibrook's tenure.

LAST TIME VS. VIRGINIA: After trailing by a single goal for the majority of the contest, the Cornell field hockey team allowed three late tallies in a 4-0 loss at Virginia on Oct. 14, 2003. Cornell was able to set up solid scoring opportunities early on with numbers in its favor, but could not solve Virginia goaltender Logan Carr. Senior Carissa Mirasol had a point-blank shot from 10 yards out sail wide and Carr sprawled out to make a terrific stop on a shot from junior Gina Testa. Virginia set up a breakaway in the eighth minute and earned a penalty stroke on a Cornell foul. Katie Nicholson converted the stroke at 8:26 to give the Cavaliers a 1-0 lead. Virginia had numerous good looks at the goal during the remainder of the half, but Cornell goalkeeper Kaitlin Tierney was up to the task, making eight first-half saves. The Cornell attack was effective at times in the second half, earning four penalty corners, but could not find an equalizer. Virginia's offense came through, quickly raising its lead with three goals in a 10-minute span late in the second half. Tierney made a season-high 12 saves in goal for the Big Red, which held a 6-5 advantage in penalty corners. Carr made five stops for the Cavaliers before Katherine Blair came in to make one save in the final six minutes of regulation. Virginia outshot the Big Red by a 22-14 margin.

THE BIG RED'S LAST GAME: Mattie Prodanovic scored off a penalty corner in the 61st minute of action to give the Big Red a 2-1 victory over Colgate on Marsha Dodson Field on Tuesday. With the win, Cornell improved to 8-1 on the season. Prodanovic's goal, her second of the season, was assisted by Catie De Stio and Natalie Appleton. Freshman Kat DiPastina scored her second goal of the season when she got the Big Red on the board in the 19th minute of play. Colgate's equalizer came at the end of the first half when Peyton Hawkins scored on a penalty corner. Cornell dominated the play throughout the game, outshooting the Raiders, 27-6, and holding the 6-4 edge in penalty corners. Colgate (1-11) was kept in the game by the play of Pedersen, who stopped 12 shots in the loss, while the Big Red's Mel Jue made three saves.

THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Donna Hornibrook is in her sixth season at Cornell (49-42, .538) ... Hornibrook became the sixth coach in Cornell field hockey history in January 2004 ... She has a 220-89-10 (.705) record as a head coach, including a 111-39-4 mark at Houghton and a 60-8-6 record at New Brunswick.

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).

A TALE OF TWO SEASONS: In non-conference play, senior goalie Mel Jue has seen action in all six games, allowed one goal, and averaged just 1.6 saves per contest. In three Ivy League games, Jue has allowed four goals, but has been called on to make 7.3 saves per game.

WHERE WE RANK: As of the national rankings on Monday, Oct. 5, senior goalie Mel Jue ranks second in the nation in save percentage (.879) and fourth in goals-against average (0.62). Catie De Stio ranks 29th in goals per game (0.88). As a team, Cornell ranks fourth in save percentage (.833), fifth in GAA (0.83), fifth in penalty corners per game (10.13), 17th in scoring margin (1.53), 29th in goals per game (2.5), 34th in scoring average (2.36), 37th points per game (6.63) and 39th in assists per game (1.63).

FREE FIELD HOCKEY: So far this season, the Big Red has played in four overtime games, the most since the beginning of the 2007 season, when Cornell also played four overtime contests. The Big Red is 3-1 in OT games this season, while the 2007 squad went 1-3 in its overtime games.

CIRCLE OF TRUST: So far this season, the Big Red defensive unit has allowed just 4.00 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 (7th – 21), career points (7th – 56) and career assists (t-8th – 14). Likewise, senior Natalie Appleton is now tied for ninth with 13 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 10-1 all-time on the newly constructed Marsha Dodson Field. Collectively, the team has outscored its opponents by an impressive margin of 23-15 and has taken more than three times as many shots (257-84) as its opponents. The defense is equally solid in the circle, allowing just 48 penalty corners (4.4 per game).

CLOSE CALLS: Cornell's 2-1 victory over Colgate on Oct. 6 continued the Big Red's trend of playing in one-goal games. Since the start of the 2006 season, the Big Red has lost 22 games, with 15 of those coming by a single goal, including eight 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 29-1 in games in which it scores at least three goals after a 3-2 victory over Penn on Sept.19, 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 points 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 45-8 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 welcomes Harvard to Marsha Dodson Field on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 2 p.m.