GAME INFORMATION
GAME #14: Cornell vs. Brown
GAME TIME: Saturday, Oct. 22, at Noon
GAME SITE: Marsha Dodson Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Series Tied, 15-15-2
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 2-1 (OT) on Oct. 23, 2010 (Providence, R.I.)
2011 RECORDS: Cornell (6-7, 0-4); Brown (3-10, 0-4)
LIVE STATS: http://livestats.internetconsult.com/cornell/fhockey/
LIVE VIDEO: None

GAME #15: Cornell vs. Rutgers
GAME TIME: Sunday, Oct. 23, at 1:00 p.m.
GAME SITE: Marsha Dodson Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Series Tied, 3-3
LAST MEETING: Rutgers won, 1-0 (OT) on Sept. 16, 2007 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2011 RECORDS: Cornell (6-7); Rutgers (4-10) *
LIVE STATS: http://livestats.internetconsult.com/cornell/fhockey/
LIVE VIDEO: None

* Records prior to Saturday, Oct. 22

THE MATCH UP: The Big Red field hockey team returns to action this weekend as it welcomes Brown and Rutgers to Marsha Dodson Field. Cornell will take on the Bears on Saturday, Oct. 22 at noon, before facing the Scarlet Knights on Sunday, Oct. 23 at 1 p.m. Live stats will be available for both contests at www.CornellBigRed.com.

THE SERIES WITH BROWN: The series with the Bears is tied at 15-15-2 after the Big Red extended its current winning streak to five games against Brown with its 2-1 victory in overtime last season ... Coach Hornibrook is 5-2 vs. the Bears.

SCOUTING THE BEARS: Brown dropped a pair of games last week to Princeton and Providence to slip to 3-10 overall and 0-4 in the Ivy League. Leslie Springmeyer leads the offense with 11 points, while Meghan O'Donnell has a team-high five goals and Avery Burns has a team-best seven assists. Defensively, Shannon McSweeney has played every minute in goal and ranks first in the Ivy League in saves per game (9.53), but ranks seventh overall in save percentage (.7252) and ninth in the conference in goals-against average (3.54).

LAST TIME VS. BROWN: The Big Red won its third straight overtime game and extended its winning streak over Brown to a series-high five games as it defeated the Bears, 2-1, on Oct. 23, 2010 on Warner Roof in Providence, R.I. Cornell scored just 4:33 into the overtime period when Hannah Balleza tipped a penalty corner shot by Mattie Prodanovic into the net. It was Prodanovic that also registered the game-tying goal late in the second half to bring the Big Red back from an early 1-0 deficit. After an incredibly slow start in which it took just four shots and put only one on goal, Cornell bounced back to hold the significant 18-5 advantage in shots and the 12-1 edge in shots on goal on the game. The Big Red also took 15 penalty corners to Brown's five. Brown got an early lead and then held on thanks to the play of goalie Lauren Kessler, who needed to make seven saves in the second half and finished with eight saves on the day. Back-up goalie Alexi Aurigemma and midfielder Katie Hyland also registered one save apiece for the Bears. Brown got on the board with the first shot taken by either team when Katie Hyland scored off a penalty corner at the 10:38 mark. Assists were credited to Laura Iacovetti and Leslie Springmeyer.

THE SERIES WITH RUTGERS: Cornell and Rutgers have played six games since first meeting in 1996. The Big Red won the first meeting before dropping back-to-back games in 1997 and 1998. Cornell would go on to win two in a row again in 2004 and 2006, but lost the last outing, 1-0 in overtime during the 2007 season to see the series record even at 3-3.

SCOUTING THE SCARLET KNIGHTS: Rutgers enters Saturday's contest vs. Maine with a 4-10 record overall. The team is led by Gia Nappi with five goals and five assists for 15 points, while Carlie Rough has registered five goals and four assists for 14 points.  In-betweeen the pipes, Sarah Stuby has seen all but one half of action for the Scarlet Knights and has posted a 2.44 goals-against average and a .656 save percentage.

LAST TIME VS. RUTGERS: For the second time in a span of 24 hours, the Big Red dropped a game in overtime, as Cornell fell to Rutgers, 1-0, on Sept. 16, 2007. Amy Lewis' goal in the 82nd minute of play broke the stalemate and handed the Big Red its second loss of the season. The game was closely contested with the Scarlet Knights holding the slight edge in shots, 14-13, and penalty corners, 7-5. Rutgers' goalie Rosalyn Wentko made eight saves to pick up the win, while Lizzie Goldblatt stopped five shots.  Both teams had solid opportunities to score throughout the game, but a series of near misses, and outstanding play by the goalies and their defenders, kept the game scoreless throughout the regulation. Less than 10 minutes into the game, Rutgers was awarded the lone penalty corner of the half, for either team, and Lewis sent a hard shot towards the corner of the Cornell goal, where it was stopped by sophomore defender Natalie Appleton. Just over four minutes later, Appleton made a second spectacular defensive save, again stopping a shot by Lewis.

VS. THE BIG EAST: Cornell is 12-32-1 all-time against the current members of the Big East, due mostly to the Big Red's 2-25-1 record vs. Syracuse. Cornell holds a winning record vs. Georgetown (5-0), and has played to an even record vs. Rutgers (3-3) and Villanova (2-2), while holding losing records against Connecticut (0-2), Providence (0-1). The Big Red has never played Louisville in field hockey … Coach Hornibrook is 8-8 vs. the Big East.

LAST TIME OUT: The Big Red scored four goals in the first half and held on for the 4-2 victory over Georgetown in a non-conference game on Sunday, Oct. 23 on Marsha Dodson Field. Olivia Boyd had a breakout game for the Big Red with two goals, while Brittany Thompson registered a goal and an assist. Kat DiPastina, seeing her first significant playing time since returning from injury, rounded out the scoring, while her younger sister Ann DiPastina and Genevieve Collins both tallied an assist. Both Cornell goalies – senior Alex Botte and sophomore Carolyn Horner – saw one half of action and surrendered one goal each. Botte earned the victory with four saves in the first half, while Horner made five saves in the second half. Sophomore defender Mallory Bannon also registered one defensive save for the Big Red. Georgetown held the advantage in shots (18-13) and shots on goal (12-6), but Cornell held the edge in penalty corners (10-6). The Hoyas were led by Catherine Shugrue with one goal and one assist, while Annie Wilson tallied a goal and Charlotte Tierney added an assist. In-between the pipes, Briana Pereira played the first 16:14 of the contest and allowed three goals without making a save before Kelly Mosser came on in relief and finished the game with one save and one goal allowed. Hoyas' defender Ali Nishino also registered a defensive save.

SENIOR DAY: The Big Red honors its senior captains – Alex Botte and Olivia Boyd – this weekend in their final appearances on Marsha Dodson Field.

Alex Botte (Goalie; Carlsbad, Cali.)
Senior Alex Botte will go down as one of the top goalkeepers in Cornell history. Prior to the contest vs. Brown, Botte has played in just 37 career games, but ranks third all-time in Big Red history for career victories (18) and needs just one more wins to tie the school record. She already owns the school record for wins in a single season (11 in 2010) and ranks eighth all-time in career shutouts (4) and 15th overall in career goals-against average (2.07).  A senior captain, Botte was a first-team All-Ivy selection, as well as an Academic All-Ivy selection a season ago and she is a three-time member of the FHCA National Academic Squad.

Olivia Boyd (Forward; Needham, Mass.)
An incredibly hard worker and a consummate team player, Olivia Boyd has seen significant action over the past three years, playing in 45 career games prior to the Brown contest. During her time with the Big Red she has proven to be a clutch player, with three of her seven career goals proving to be game winners, including an overtime goal against Delaware in 2010 and a double-overtime goal vs. Columbia in 2009. Boyd also served as team captain this season.

STICK IT TO CANCER: The Big Red Field will be looking to Stick It To Cancer on Saturday, Oct. 22 when it takes on Brown. Cornell will have donation stations in the bleachers during the game and a raffle table set up as well with all proceeds going to benefit the National Foundation for Cancer Research. The raffle prizes are Cornell Field Hockey items, and the raffle can be entered with a donation of any size.

THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Donna Hornibrook is in her seventh season at Cornell (68-58, .540) ... Hornibrook became the sixth coach in Cornell field hockey history in January 2004 ... She has a 238-105-10 (.688) record as a head coach, including a 111-39-4 mark at Houghton and a 60-8-6 record at New Brunswick.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE (A NEW) HOME: The Big Red is 19-10 all-time on the newly constructed Marsha Dodson Field. Collectively, the team has outscored its opponents by a margin of 66-46 and has taken more than twice as many shots (568-290) as its opponents. The defense has been equally solid in the circle, allowing just 168 penalty corners (5.8 per game).

CLOSE CALLS: Cornell's 4-3 victory over Lehigh on Oct. 9, 2011 continued the Big Red's trend of playing in one-goal games. Since the start of the 2006 season, the Big Red has lost 36 games, with 22 of those coming by a single goal, including nine in overtime. During that same span, Cornell has won 55 games, with 27 coming in one-goal games, including eight in overtime

GOALS GALORE: Despite being just a sophomore, Hannah Balleza has already moved into Cornell's top 10 for career goals. She currently sits at 10th overall with 16 career goals and needs just 12 more to move into the top five.

MOVING ON UP: Senior goalie Alex Botte is steadily making her way up the Cornell career wins records lists. She is currently ranked third in career victories (18) and needs just two more to become the outright winningest goalie in Big Red history. She also ranks eighth overall for shutouts in a career (4) and needs just one more to move up to fifth overall.

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 41-1 in games in which it scores at least three goals after a 4-2 victory against Georgetown on Oct. 16, 2011.

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 59-8 record in games in which they have scored first. Conversely, the team has won only eight 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. 4, 2011 as Cornell defeated Lock Haven, 3-2, in Ithaca, N.Y.

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-six seasons, with a high of 14 in 2005. Last season, the Big Red fell just short with 11 players reaching the points' column. So far this season, Cornell has seen 10 different players reach the points' column.

ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM: Sophomores Carolyn Horner and Hannah Balleza were named to the Catamount Invitational All-Tournament Team.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Carolyn Horner was named the Ivy League Player of the Week on Sept. 6 after helping the Big Red field start the season at 2-0 with a pair of victories over Villanova and Lock Haven. After playing a total of just nine minutes all of last season, Horner earned her first career start and, playing behind an entirely new defensive unit, she made seven saves and shut out the Wildcats in Cornell's 1-0 victory. Just two days later, she posted another seven saves as the Big Red defeated the Lady Eagles, 3-2.

TWINS AND MORE TWINS!: While ardent fans of the Big Red know that sophomores Keelin and Mallory Bannon are twins, many might not know that two other members of the team have twins, all of which play collegiate sports. Junior Molly Casey's twin brother, Daniel, is a member of the Brown football team, while Carolyn Horner's twin, Gabrielle, plays lacrosse at Tufts.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN: Alex Botte and Olivia Boyd have been named captains for the 2011 season.

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.

REIGNING ROOKIE: Following the 2010 season, Hannah Balleza was named the Ivy League Co-Rookie of the Year, sharing the honor with Yale's Georgia Holland. Balleza, who was also and honorable mention All-Ivy selection, became the Big Red field hockey program's first Rookie of the Year recipient since Cari Hills '98 took home the honor in 1994.

ALL-IVY ACCOLADES: Cornell had six players named to the respective All-Ivy teams in 2010, including two players that return for the 2011 season – senior Alex Botte (first-team) and sophomore Hannah Balleza (honorable mention).

SMARTY PANTS: The Big Red placed eight student-athletes on the 2010 Gladiator by SGI/NFHCA Division I National Academic Squad. The eight selections are a program high, surpassing the 2007 team which placed six players on the squad. Mattie Prodanovic '11 and Alex Botte headlined the group with their third selection to the National Academic Squad, while Kate Thompson '11 and Lauren Neal both earned their second honor. Katie Laventure, Shannon Berry, Carolyn Horner, and Brittany Thompson were all first-time honorees.

UP NEXT: The Big Red hits the road next weekend as it travels to Princeton to take on the Tigers in an Ivy League contest on Saturday, Oct. 29 at noon.