GAME INFORMATION
GAME #5: Cornell at Penn
GAME TIME: Friday, Sept. 18, at 5 p.m.
GAME SITE: Franklin Field (Philadelphia, Pa.)
SERIES RECORD: Penn leads, 21-10-2
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 3-1 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2009 RECORDS: Cornell (4-0); Penn (2-3)
LIVE STATS: www.PennAthletics.com
LIVE VIDEO: None

GAME #6: Cornell at Lehigh
GAME TIME: Sunday, Sept. 20, at 1 p.m.
GAME SITE: Ronald J. Ulrich Field (Bethlehem, Pa.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 16-1-1
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 2-0 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2009 RECORDS: Cornell (4-0); Lehigh (2-3)
LIVE STATS: None
LIVE VIDEO: www.LehighSports.com 



THE MATCH-UPS: The Cornell field hockey team opens the Ivy League portion of the 2009 season at Penn (2-3), before traveling to Bethlehem, Pa., to take on Patriot League foe Lehigh (2-3). The game with the Quakers is slated for Friday, Sept. 18 at 5 p.m., while the Big Red will face the Mountainhawks on Sunday, Sept. 20 at 1 p.m.

THE SERIES WITH PENN: The Big Red and the Quakers have squared off 33 times since first meeting in 1976 and Penn holds a 21-10-2 advantage in the all-time series. Cornell has won three of the last four meetings, however, with the Quakers earning the 3-2 victory at Franklin Field in 2007.

SCOUTING THE QUAKERS: Penn has won two of its last three games to improve to 2-3 on the season. Of the Quakers three losses, two have come by a single goal. Kristin Snyder (two goals, one assist) and Sarah Warner (one goal, three assists) both have five points apiece, while Annie Matthews has chipped in two goals for four points. In goal, Kieran Sweeney has seen every minute of action, making 25 saves and allowing 10 goals for a .714 save percentage and a 1.99 goals-against average.

LAST TIME VS. PENN: The Big Red christened Marsha Dodson Field with a 3-1 victory over Penn in the Ivy League opener for both teams. Senior Belen Martinez tallied one goal and one assist to move into 10th place all time in both career goals and career points, while Abbi Horn registered an assist to move into 10th place all time in career assists. Kate Thompson and Catie De Stio also added one goal apiece. Netminder Melanie Jue made four saves in goal to register the win, while Alanna Butera stopped 10 in the loss. Cornell outshot the Quakers, 14-9, but the teams were an even 6-6 on penalty corners.

THE SERIES WITH LEHIGH: The series with Lehigh began in 1991, and Cornell is 16-1-1 all-time against the Mountain Hawks, with its lone loss coming during the 1993 campaign.

SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINHAWKS: Lehigh improved to 2-3 on the year after defeating Saint Francis, 3-1, on Wednesday evening. Rookie Kimberly Eng leads the Mountainhawks in goals (5), assists (3) and points (13), while Morgan Christopher (two goals) and Lindsey Smith (one goal, two assists) have four points apiece. Jessica Miller started the first four games in goal for Lehigh, but an injury sidelined her for the Saint Francis game, giving junior Lilia Stefaniwsky the start. Stefaniwsky, who has seen action in three games, has made 10 saves and allowed two goals on the season for a .833 save percentage and a 1.22 goals-against average. Miller, on the other hand, has made just 15 saves and allowed 17 goals for a .469 save percentage and a 5.05 GAA.

LAST TIME VS. LEHIGH: For the second game in a row, the Big Red offensively dominated its opponent, but struggled to put the ball in the net, as it needed two late goals to defeat Lehigh, 2-0. Cornell outshot the Mountain Hawks, 20-3 and held a 10-1 advantage in penalty corners, but couldn't get on the board until the 43rd minute when Catie De Stio scored off a pass from Natalie Appleton. Senior Abbi Horn added a late insurance goal when she tipped a shot by Kate Thompson into the net. Lehigh's Lilia Stefaniwsky stopped 10 shots in the loss, and defender Taryn Hartzell added a defensive save late in the first half to keep the Mountain Hawks in the game. Cornell goalie Melanie Jue needed to make just one save for the win, but it was an impressive one as she stopped a shot at point-blank range to preserve the shut out.

VS. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE: The Big Red is 49-49-6 all-time vs. the current members of the Patriot League. Cornell has a winning record against Lehigh (16-1-1), but holds a losing record against Lafayette (5-12-2), Colgate (16-18-3), American (0-1), Bucknell (9-12), and Holy Cross (3-5) … Cornell is 11-8 vs. the Patriot League during Coach Hornibrook's tenure.

THE BIG RED'S LAST GAME: Kelley Kantarian registered the game-winning goal just 1:35 into overtime to lift the Big Red to a 2-1 victory over Lock Haven on Marsha Dodson Field. Kantarian's heroics were preceded by Kate Thompson's spectacular goal with just 37 seconds remaining in regulation, which sent the game into the extra session. Cornell dominated the game, outshooting the Eagles, 18-5, and taking nearly three times as many penalty corners (8-3). In addition to the goals by Thompson and Kantarian, the Big Red got assists from Catie De Stio, Natalie Appleton and Mattie Prodanovic. In goal, Alex Botte made one save and allowed the Eagles' lone goal in the first half, before Mel Jue came on in relief. Jue did not register a save, but did breakup a Lock Haven rush late in the second half to keep the Big Red in the game. Junior Sarah Sanders also registered a defensive save for Cornell. Lock Haven (3-2) used a stifling defense and outstanding goaltending by Erin Terreson, who finished with nine saves, to hold the Big Red off the scoreboard until the final minute of the contest.

THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Donna Hornibrook is in her sixth season at Cornell (45-41, .523) ... Hornibrook became the sixth coach in Cornell field hockey history in January 2004 ... She has a 216-88-10 (.704) record as a head coach, including a 111-39-4 mark at Houghton and a 60-8-6 record at New Brunswick.

HANG FIVE: If the Big Red is able to defeat Penn on Friday evening, Cornell will improve to 5-0 on the season for the first time in program history.

IVY OPENERS: Cornell opens its 31st season of play in the Ivy League this weekend. The Big Red is 12-15-3 all-time in conference season openers, thanks mostly to a 9-3 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 eight times in its conference opener, posting a 2-5-1 record against the Quakers. All but one of those games came prior to the 1989 season, with the 2002 and 2008 meetings providing the two Big Red victories.

A VOTE OF CONFIDENCE: The Big Red earned seven votes in Sept. 15 NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll. The seven votes are the most earned by Cornell during Coach Hornibrook's tenure, matching the amount earned by the Big Red in the Oct. 27, 2008 poll.

WINS 3, SAVES 1: Senior goalkeeper Mel Jue has earned three wins this season, despite the fact that she's been called on to make just one save. Alex Botte, however, has had to work much harder for her single win, posting six saves on the season. The sophomore netminder has seen action in all four of Cornell's games, but has been the goalie of record in just one contest.

A GAME FOR THE AGES: In its game on Wednesday 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.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Kelley Kantarian was named the Ivy League Player of the Week on Sept. 8, as she helped the Big Red get off to a 2-0 start to the season. Kantarian registered 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.

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.

MOVING ON UP: With her hot start to the season, junior Catie De Stio has jumped into Cornell's top-10 in career goals (t-8th – 16), career assists (t-9th – 13) and career points (9th – 45). Likewise, senior Natalie Appleton's next assist will rank her 10th all-time on the career list, while junior Kate Thompson needs four more assists and 17 points to move into the top-10.

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 28-1 in games in which it scores at least three goals after a 4-0 victory over Siena on Sept. 9, 2009.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE (A NEW) HOME: The Big Red is 8-1 all-time on the newly constructed Marsha Dodson Field. Collectively, the team has outscored its opponents by an impressive margin of 29-13 and has taken more than three times as many shots (203-61) as its opponents. The defense is equally solid in the circle, allowing just 38 penalty corners (4.2 per game).

CIRCLE OF TRUST: So far this season, the Big Red defensive unit has allowed just 2.25 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 6.2 penalty corners per game. That is significantly down from the 8.4 average prior to her arrival.

CLOSE CALLS: Cornell's 2-1 overtime victory over Lock Haven on Sept. 12 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 13 one-goal games. During the 2008 season, four of Cornell's five losses came 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 four-of-five seasons, with a high of 14 in 2005. Just four games into the 2009 season, the Big Red already has nine different players in the scoring 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 41-8 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.

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 returns to Ithaca to take on Ivy League foe Columbia on Marsha Dodson Field on Friday, Sept. 26 at noon.