GAME INFORMATION
GAME #1: Cornell vs. Davidson
GAME TIME: Saturday, Sept. 5, at 2 p.m.
GAME SITE: Jacobs Recreational Complex at American University (Washington, D.C.)
SERIES RECORD: First Meeting
LAST MEETING: First Meeting
2008 RECORDS: Cornell (0-0); Davidson (1-1)
LIVE VIDEO: None
GAME #2: Cornell vs. Georgetown
GAME TIME: Sunday, Sept. 6, at 2 p.m.
GAME SITE: Jacobs Recreational Complex at American University (Washington, D.C.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 3-0
LAST MEETING: Cornell won 4-0 on Sept. 21, 2008 on Marsha Dodson Field
2008 RECORDS: Cornell (0-0); Georgetown (0-2)
LIVE VIDEO: None
OPENING UP: The Cornell field hockey team opens the 2009 season on the road as it takes on Davidson on Saturday, Sept. 5 and Georgetown on Sunday, Sept. 6. Both games will be played at American University, which is serving as the Hoyas' home field for the 2009 season. Davidson (1-1) and Georgetown (0-2) will face each other on Friday.
THE SERIES WITH DAVIDSON: Saturday's game will mark Cornell's first-ever contest vs. Davidson in field hockey.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS: Davidson is 1-1 entering its game vs. Georgetown on Friday night. The Wildcats fell to Ball State, 2-1, in its season opener, before defeating Sacred Heart, 1-0. The team has gotten one goal each by Finley Amato and Ellie Szykowny. In goal, Christa Goeke has played every minute for Davidson and she has made five saves and allowed two goals for a .714 save percentage and a 1.00 goals-against average.
THE SERIES WITH GEORGETOWN: Cornell holds a 3-0 lead in the series with the Hoyas. The teams first met in the 2003 season when the Big Red escaped with the 2-1 victory. Since then, Cornell has blanked Georgetown, winning 3-0 in 2005 and 4-0 in 2008.
SCOUTING THE HOYAS: Georgetown is 0-2 entering its game vs. Davidson on Friday night. The Hoyas have dropped two tough contests to Longwood, 1-0, and Lock Haven, 4-3. Senior forward Kristen Volpe has accounted for all three of Georgetown's goals this season, while Sophia Pifer has both of the team's assists. In goal, Clodagh Coghlan and Briana Pereira have each played one full game with Coghlan making five saves and allowing one goal vs. Longwood before Pereira made seven games and allowed four goals vs. Lock Haven.
LAST TIME VS. GEORGETOWN:
Abbi Horn registered a career-high three goals as the Big Red defeated Georgetown, 4-0, on Sept. 21 at Marsha Dodson Field. Horn's three goals was the best single-game performance by a Cornell player since Gina Testa tallied four scores at Rutgers on Oct. 31, 2004. Also scoring for Cornell was
Katie Kirnan, while
Eva Olesky and
Kate Thompson registered one assist apiece. In goal,
Melanie Jue stopped three shots in 57:13 before
Alex Botte came on in relief to earn her first collegiate minutes. Georgetown's Deirdre Crovo registered nine saves in the loss. Cornell held the 26-5 advantage in shots and held a 12-4 edge in penalty corners.
THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach
Donna Hornibrook is in her sixth season at Cornell (41-41, .500) ... Hornibrook became the sixth coach in Cornell field hockey history in January 2004 ... She has a 212-88-10 (.700) record as a head coach, including a 111-39-4 mark at Houghton and a 60-8-6 record at New Brunswick.
FOR OPENERS: The Big Red is 21-12-4 (.636) all-time in season-openers … The loss vs. No. 19 Albany last season was Coach Hornibrook's first in season-openers during her time with Cornell (4-1).
THE BIG RED'S LAST GAME: The Big Red closed the 2008 season with a victory as it defeated Dartmouth, 3-2, on Nov. 9 at Marsha Dodson Field. The win was a historic one as it established a new school record for wins (11) and conference wins in a season (6). By beating the Big Green, Cornell also earned a second place finish in the Ivy League, behind only undefeated Princeton.
Catie De Stio had a hand in each of the Big Red's goals, assisting on a score by Kelly Kantarian, before scoring the final two goals of the contest.
Stephanie Brownstein was the lone senior to register a point on Senior Day, assisting on De Stio's game-winning goal.
MOVING ON UP: Several Big Red players are on the verge of moving into the Cornell career records lists. Junior
Catie De Stio needs just two more goals, three more assists and 12 more points to move into the top-10. 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 19 points to move into the top-10.
RECORD WINS: The 2008 squad set the school mark for overall victories (11) and conference victories (6) in a season.
RECORDS FALL: The 2008 team set the school record for goals (45), assists (38) and points (128) in a single season.
SEASONED SCORER:
Catie De Stio had a solid sophomore season, finishing the year ranked 10th in both goals (10) and points (26) in a single season. She has also proven to be a consistent threat, as she closed the season scoring at least one goal in six of the Big Red's last eight games.
EVERYBODY'S ALL-AMERICAN: Following the 2008 season,
Catie De Stio was named to the Longstreth/NFHCA Division I Mideast Region All-America first-team.
ALL-IVY ACCOLADES: Cornell had five players named to the respective All-Ivy teams in 2008, including three players that return for the 2009 season. Returning are a pair of first-teamers,
Catie De Stio, a unanimous selection, and goalkeeper
Melanie Jue, as well as honorable mention selection
Kate Thompson.
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 25-1 in games in which it scores at least three goals after a 3-2 victory over Dartmouth on Nov. 11, 2008.
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE (A NEW) HOME: The Big Red was 6-1 last season on the newly constructed Marsha Dodson Field. Collectively, the team outscored its opponents by an impressive margin of 23-12 and took nearly three times as many shots (142-55) as its opponents. The defense was equally solid in the circle, allowing just 35 penalty corners (5.0 per game), including giving up just one penalty corner in back-to-back games against Yale and Lehigh.
CIRCLE OF TRUST: In 2008, the Big Red defensive unit allowed just 5.4 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 6.8 penalty corners per game. That is significantly down from the 8.4 average prior to her arrival. On the weekend of Oct. 4-5, 2008, the Big Red held Yale and Lehigh to just one penalty corner each. That was 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.
STRONG STOPPER: In her first full year with the Big Red field hockey team, goalkeeper
Melanie Jue was solid, ranking among the best in the nation. A two-sport athlete at Cornell, she spent much of the season ranked in the top-20 in the nation in both save percentage and goals-against average before finishing 24th overall with a .742 save percentage and 29th in the country with a 1.66 GAA.
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. 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.
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 38-8 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.
SMARTY PANTS: The 2008 season marked the fifth-straight year that the Big Red placed at least three players on the NFHCA National Academic Squad. Last season's honorees were
Alex Botte,
Stephanie Brownstein '09 and
Katie Kirnan.
HATS OFF: After going three seasons without seeing a Cornell player score three goals in a single game, the Big Red had three players register hat tricks during the 2008 season –
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 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.
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 will welcome Siena to Marsha Dodson Field for its home opener on Wednesday, Sept. 9 at 4 p.m.
