GAME INFORMATION
GAME #17: Cornell at Dartmouth
GAME TIME: Sunday, Nov. 6, at Noon
GAME SITE: Chase Field (Hanover, N.H.)
SERIES RECORD: Dartmouth leads, 20-11-1
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 4-2 on Nov. 6, 2010 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2011 RECORDS: Cornell (7-9, 1-5); Dartmouth (9-7, 4-2)
LIVE STATS: www.DartmouthSports.com
LIVE VIDEO: www.DartmouthSports.com

THE MATCH UP: The Big Red concludes its season this weekend as it travels to Dartmouth to take on the Big Green in an Ivy League contest on Sunday, Nov. 6 at noon. Live stats and live video will be available for the game at www.DartmouthSports.com.

THE SERIES WITH DARTMOUTH: The Big Green holds a commanding lead in the series with Cornell, going 20-11-1 against the Big Red. The teams first met in 1979, a 0-0 tie, and Dartmouth won the next five meetings before Cornell snapped its losing streak in 1985 with a 1-0 victory. From then, the series was fairly even until 1998 when Dartmouth began an eight-game winning-streak against the Big Red. Cornell ended the Big Green's run in 2006 and has extended its own current winning streak to five games, its most consecutive wins in the series.

SCOUTING THE BIG GREEN: After a hot 3-0 start in the Ivy League that led them to the top of the conference rankings, Dartmouth has dropped 2-of-3 league games and now sits in third place with a 4-2 mark in the conference. With a record of 9-7 overall, Dartmouth is led by Kelly Hood's 14 goals and 33 points. For her efforts, Hood joins Cornell's Alex Botte as one of only two Ivy League players selected to participate in the NFHCA Division I Senior Game. Junior Lisa Masini ranks second in the nation in assists per game (1.0) with an Ivy League best 17 helpers on the year, while Ali Savage has chipped in 11 goals and three assists. In goal, Meagan Vakiener has played the majority of minutes for Dartmouth with 14 starts. She has posted an 8-6 record to go along with a 2.71 goals-against average and a .679 save percentage. 

LAST TIME VS. DARTMOUTH: In the final game of their career, the Cornell senior class led the Big Red to a 4-2 victory over Dartmouth on Nov. 6, 2010 on Marsha Dodson Field. Seniors accounted for two goals and one assist, but in a sign of good things to come, Cornell also got a pair of goals and an assist from underclassmen. Among the seniors scoring for the Big Red was Catie De Stio, who became Cornell's all-time career points' leader. Cornell controlled the game, holding the edge in shots (23-9), shots on goal (18-7) and penalty corners (14-7). The Big Red also did a great job of shutting down one of the best penalty corner offenses in the nation, not allowing the Big Green unit to score. Alex Botte had a great game, making five saves in the win. Dartmouth was held in the game by the outstanding play of its goalie, Megan Vakiener, who finished with 13 saves, while Liz Blanken registered a defensive save. The Big Red went up 1-0 on its first shot of the game when senior Mattie Prodanovic scored off an assist from Kate Thompson when the two teamed up for a beautiful give-and-go off a penalty corner attempt. Dartmouth responded with a goal by Allie Weinstock at the 23:01 mark and the teams went into halftime tied at 1-1. De Stio opened the scoring in the second half in the 42nd minute with the assist going to Mallory Bannon. Just over four minutes later, Hanna Balleza tipped a Sara Sanders' shot into the back of the net but Dartmouth's Virginia Peisch responded almost immediately with a great individual effort goal to keep it a one-goal game, 3-2, at 47:48. The Big Red continued to push and got an insurance goal late in the game from Kat Di Pastina.

LAST TIME OUT: Mallory Bannon scored her third goal of the season, but the Big Red surrendered the final five goals of the game in a 6-1 loss to Princeton on Oct. 30. The Tigers, who kept pace with Yale for the Ivy League lead with the win, held dominating advantages in both shot (20-3) and penalty corners (9-1). But only Charlotte Krause scored in the first half, giving Princeton a 1-0 lead at the half. Cornell answered with Bannon's unassisted goal, which came off a rebound from the Big Red's lone penalty corner. That tied the score just shy of nine minutes into the second half. Princeton stormed back ahead a short time later with a pair of goals in a 33-second span. May-Ying Medalia tacked on another about three minutes later, and the Tigers pulled away with two more goals from Amanda Bird. Alex Botte made six saves in the loss for the Big Red.

THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Donna Hornibrook is in her seventh season at Cornell (69-60, .545) ... Hornibrook became the sixth coach in Cornell field hockey history in January 2004 ... She has a 239-107-10 (.685) record as a head coach, including a 111-39-4 mark at Houghton and a 60-8-6 record at New Brunswick.

SENIOR ALL-STAR: For the second straight season, the Big Red will have a representative participating in the NFHCA Division I Senior Game, as Alex Botte was chosen to compete. Out of a total of 38 participants, the senior goalkeeper was one of only two Ivy League players selected, joining Dartmouth's Kelly Hood. The game will be played on Saturday, Nov. 19 at the University of Louisville at 3 p.m. This year's Senior Game participants will face off against the U.S. Women's National Team as well as against each other in a series of four 25 minute sessions.

MOVING ON UP: With her victory against Brown on Oct. 22, senior goalie Alex Botte (19-14) tied the school record for career wins with 19, sharing the mark with Yanaka Bernal (19-23-5) and Kaitlin Tierney (13-32). She also ranks eighth overall for shutouts in a career (4) and needs just one more to move up to fifth overall, while sitting in 11th place for career saves (197).

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE (A NEW) HOME: The Big Red is 20-11 all-time on the newly constructed Marsha Dodson Field. Collectively, the team has outscored its opponents by a margin of 70-50 and has taken nearly twice as many shots (591-317) as its opponents. The defense has been equally solid in the circle, allowing just 178 penalty corners (5.7 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 38 games, with 22 of those coming by a single goal, including nine in overtime. During that same span, Cornell has won 56 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 eighth overall with 17 career goals and needs just 11 more to move into the top five.

POINT PRODUCER: Sophomore Hannah Ballez currently ranks 12th in Cornell history for career points (39) and needs just five more to move into 11th place 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 42-1 in games in which it scores at least three goals after a 4-2 victory against Brown on Oct. 22, 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 60-8 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. With just one game to go, 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.