GAME INFORMATION
GAME #9: Cornell vs. Colgate
GAME TIME: Tuesday, Oct. 4, at 4:00 p.m.
GAME SITE: Marsha Dodson Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Series Tied, 18-18-3
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 2-1 on Oct. 6, 2010 (Hamilton, N.Y.)
2011 RECORDS: Cornell (3-5, 0-3); Colgate (4-7, 0-1)
LIVE STATS: http://livestats.internetconsult.com/cornell/fhockey/
LIVE VIDEO: None

THE MATCH UP: The Cornell field hockey team returns home to take on in-state rival Colgate in a midweek matchup at Marsha Dodson Field on Tuesday, Oct. 4 at 4 p.m. The Big Red is looking to snap a two-game skid, while the Raiders are looking for their first win in the series since 2007. Live stats for the game will be available at http://livestats.internetconsult.com/cornell/fhockey/.

THE SERIES WITH COLGATE: Cornell evened the series record with Colgate with its victory last season, making the teams 18-18-3 all-time against each other. The Big Red is currently on a three-game winning streak against the Raiders, and holds a 7-4 lead since the 2000 season. Cornell also holds the slight, 9-8 edge all-time in games played in Ithaca.

SCOUTING THE RAIDERS: Colgate brings a 4-7 record to Marsha Dodson Field after losing its Patriot League opener to Lafayette, 5-0, last weekend on Tyler's Field. The Raiders pose a balanced offensive attack with eight players having registered at least one point and they are led by Olivia Nabhan's five goals and 12 points, while Lauren Dittman has chipped in four goals and 10 points on the season.  In goal, Amanda DiDomizio has started all 11 games and has played the majority of minutes for Colgate, earning a 4-7 record with two shutouts. She owns a 3.54 goals-against average and a .760 save percentage.

LAST TIME VS. COLGATE: The Big Red dominated the first half of play and road an early two-goal advantage to a 2-1 victory over Colgate on Tyler's Field in Hamilton, N.Y.  Cornell continued its trend of offensive balance, seeing three different players reach the points' column with Mallory Bannon scoring her first collegiate goal, Hannah Balleza converting her second penalty stroke of the season and Catie De Stio registering her fourth assist on the year. Cornell held the significant advantage in shots (21-5) and shots on goal (15-2), but Colgate had the edge in penalty corners (6-4). After the Big Red jumped out to a two goal lead, the Raiders scored just moments into the second half to pull within one when Olivia Nabhan and Laura Denenga teamed up for a give-and-go goal that Nabhan slipped just under Alex Botte's arm. The Big Red had several great chances throughout the second half, but it was unable to find an insurance goal as Raiders' goalie Kristen Lalli continued her solid play, finishing the game with 13 saves.

VS. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE: The Big Red is 54-51-7 all-time vs. the current members of the Patriot League, thanks mostly to an 18-1-1 lead against Lehigh. The series with Colgate is even (18-18-3), while the Big Red holds a losing record against Lafayette (5-12-2), American (0-1), Bucknell (9-14-1), and Holy Cross (3-5) … Cornell is 16-10 vs. the Patriot League during Coach Hornibrook's tenure.

A WIN OVER COLGATE WOULD:
* improve the Big Red's record at 4-5 on the season and make Cornell 4-2 against non-conference opponents.
* snap Cornell's current two-game losing streak.
* increase the Big Red's winning streak against Colgate to four consecutive games.
* give Coach Hornibrook a 5-3 record against Colgate.
* be Coach Hornibrook's 66th victory with the Big Red and her 236th career win.

LAST TIME OUT: The Big Red suffered its worst lost of the season, dropping a 7-2 decision to Yale on Oct. 1 on Johnson Field. The result is the most lopsided in the series since the Bulldogs posted a 10-1 victory in 1981 and it is Cornell's worst defeat since falling to Princeton, 10-1, during the 2009 season. Yale held a 32-5 advantage in shots and a 17-1 edge in penalty corners as seven different Bulldogs accounted for Yale's seven goals and four of those goals were the result of penalty corners. Alex Botte made eight saves before being pulled at the 52:24 mark, including six in the first half to keep the Big Red within striking distance. Sophomore Carolyn Horner was called on to make one save in the final 17:36. After trailing 3-0 at the intermission, the Big Red collected two quick goals from Brittany Thompson and Christine Hibler in the opening moments of the second half to make it a one goal game, 3-2, at the 37:38 mark. But Yale responded just over five minutes later and scored three unanswered goals down the stretch to account for final. Georgia Holland led the Bulldogs with one goal and two assists and Emily Cain finished with two saves and two goals-against in 59:29. Heather Schlesier came on for the final 10:31 but did not face a shot.

THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Donna Hornibrook is in her seventh season at Cornell (65-56, .537) ... Hornibrook became the sixth coach in Cornell field hockey history in January 2004 ... She has a 235-103-10 (.690) 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 17-8 all-time on the newly constructed Marsha Dodson Field. Collectively, the team has outscored its opponents by a margin of 58-39 and has taken more than twice as many shots (523-243) as its opponents. The defense has been equally solid in the circle, allowing just 142 penalty corners (5.7 per game).

IN THE RANKINGS: Senior goalie Alex Botte currently ranks 16th in the nation in saves per game (7.4). She also ranks 25th overall with a .740 save percentage.

GOALS GALORE: Despite being just a sophomore, Hannah Balleza is already close to moving into Cornell's top 10 for career goals. She currently sits at 14th overall with 14 career goals and needs just two more to rank 10th all-time.

MOVING ON UP: Senior goalie Alex Botte is steadily making her way up the Cornell career wins records lists. She is currently ranked 10th in career victories (15) and needs just five more to become the winningest goalie in Big Red history. She also ranks 8th overall for shutouts in a career (4) and needs just one more to move up to fifth overall.

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.

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 38-1 in games in which it scores at least three goals after a 3-2 victory against Lock Haven on Sept. 4, 2011.

CLOSE CALLS: Cornell's 1-0 loss to Penn on Sept. 17, 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 34 games, with 21 of those coming by a single goal, including nine in overtime. During that same span, Cornell has won 52 games, with 26 coming in one-goal games, including eight in overtime.

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 56-8 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.

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.

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 seven different players reach the points' column.

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 will face a pair of Patriot League foes in coming week, beginning with a road game at Lehigh on Sunday, Oct. 9, before returning to Ithaca to face Bucknell on Tuesday, Oct. 11. Both games are slated to begin at 3 p.m.