GAME INFORMATION
GAME #10: Cornell at Lehigh
GAME TIME: Sunday, Oct. 9, at 3:00 p.m.
GAME SITE: Ulrich Sports Complex (Bethlehem, Pa.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 18-1-1
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 3-1 on Oct. 10, 2010 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2011 RECORDS: Cornell (3-6); Lehigh (2-10)*
LIVE STATS: http://www.LehighSports.com
LIVE VIDEO: None

* Prior to game played on Oct. 8

THE MATCH UP: The Cornell field hockey team looks to end a three-game slide when it travels to Pennsylvania to take on Patriot League foe Lehigh at the Ulrich Sports Complex on Sunday, Oct. 9 at 3 p.m. The Big Red is coming off a loss to Colgate on Tuesday night, while the Mountain Hawks will face the Raiders on Saturday prior to their contest with the Big Red. Live stats will be available at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/lehigh.portal#.

THE SERIES WITH LEHIGH: The series with Lehigh began in 1991, and Cornell is 18-1-1 all-time against the Mountain Hawks, with its lone loss coming during the 1993 campaign. The Big Red has won 16 straight in the series and head coach Donna Hornibrook is a perfect 7-0 vs. Lehigh.

SCOUTING THE MOUNTAIN HAWKS: Lehigh brings a 2-10 record into the weekend as it faces Colgate in a league contest prior to taking on the Big Red on Sunday afternoon. The Mountain Hawks have struggled defensively, allowing 4.08 goals per game and giving up a staggering 12.1 penalty corners per outing. Offensively, Lehigh has scored a respectable 1.42 goals per game and is led by Kimberly Eng's six goals and 14 points, while Abby Tilton has chipped in three goals and a team-best four assists. In goal, Sierra Segear has made 10 starts and has played 675 minutes. She has posted a 3.94 goals-against average, a .772 save percentage and a record of 2-7. Backup goalie Sydney Maltinsky has made two starts and has played 177 minutes on the season. She owns a 4.36 GAA, a .593 save percentage and an 0-3 record. 

LAST TIME VS. LEHIGH: The Big Red dominated the game from start to finish as it defeated Lehigh, 3-1, on Marsha Dodson Field. Cornell controlled the play throughout the contest, but the Mountain Hawks kept it close thanks to the outstanding play of goalie Jessica Miller, who turned away 18 shots to keep the visitors in the contest.  For the fourth straight game, Cornell saw a well-balanced sheet with no single player recording more than one point. The Big Red received three goals in a span of 10 minutes midway through the second half from Mallory Bannon, Hannah Balleza and Catie De Stio, while Kat DiPastina chipped in an assist. Goalie Alex Botte made four saves to pick up the win. Cornell took 36 shots, putting 22 on goal, while the Mountain Hawks took just six shots, but put five on cage. The Big Red also held a commanding edge in penalty corners, 14-5. Lehigh registered its lone goal on a penalty corner, as Madison Ingal scored off a direct shot in the 58th minute to account for the 3-1 final. Assists were credited to Abby Tilton and Katey Fardelmann.

VS. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE: The Big Red is 54-52-7 all-time vs. the current members of the Patriot League, thanks mostly to an 18-1-1 lead against Lehigh. The Big Red holds a losing record against American (0-1), Bucknell (9-14-1), Colgate (18-19-3), Holy Cross (3-5) and Lafayette (5-12-2) … Cornell is 16-11 vs. the Patriot League during Coach Hornibrook's tenure.

A WIN OVER LEHIGH WOULD:
* improve the Big Red's record at 4-6 on the season and make Cornell 4-3 against non-conference opponents.
* snap Cornell's current three-game losing streak.
* increase the Big Red's winning streak against Lehigh to 17 consecutive games.
* give Coach Hornibrook an 8-0 record against Lehigh.
* be Coach Hornibrook's 66th victory with the Big Red and her 236th career win.

LAST TIME OUT: In a game dominated by midfield play with limited offensive opportunities for either team, Colgate used one of the few legitimate scoring chances of the game to steal a 1-0 victory from the Big Red field hockey on Tuesday on Marsha Dodson Field. Colgate held the slim edge in shots, 7-6, and penalty corners, 3-2. The Raiders also managed to put four shots on goal, forcing Cornell senior Alex Botte to make one save in the first half before sophomore Carolyn Horner stopped two shots in the final 35 minutes. The Big Red did not get a shot on goal and Colgate goalie Amanda DiDomizio was not called on to make a save.

THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Donna Hornibrook is in her seventh season at Cornell (65-57, .533) ... Hornibrook became the sixth coach in Cornell field hockey history in January 2004 ... She has a 235-104-10 (.688) record as a head coach, including a 111-39-4 mark at Houghton and a 60-8-6 record at New Brunswick.

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.

CLOSE CALLS: Cornell's 1-0 loss to Colgate on Oct. 4, 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 35 games, with 22 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

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.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE (A NEW) HOME: The Big Red is 17-9 all-time on the newly constructed Marsha Dodson Field. Collectively, the team has outscored its opponents by a margin of 58-40 and has taken more than twice as many shots (529-250) as its opponents. The defense has been equally solid in the circle, allowing just 145 penalty corners (5.6 per game).

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.

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 returns to Ithaca to face Bucknell on Marsha Dodson Field on Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 3 p.m.