GAME INFORMATION
GAME #1: Cornell vs. Villanova
GAME TIME: Friday, Sept. 2, at 4:00 p.m.
GAME SITE: The Training Center (Spring City, Pa.)
SERIES RECORD: Villanova leads, 2-1
LAST MEETING: Villanova won, 2-1 on Oct. 31, 2010 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2011 RECORDS: Cornell (0-0); Villanova (1-0)
LIVE STATS: None
LIVE VIDEO: None

GAME #2: Cornell vs. Lock Haven
GAME TIME: Sunday, Sept. 4, at 2:00 p.m.
GAME SITE: Marsha Dodson Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Series tied, 2-2
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 1-0 on Sept. 3, 2010 (Lock Haven, Pa.)
2011 RECORDS: Cornell (0-0); Lock Haven (1-1)*
LIVE STATS: www.CornellBigRed.com
LIVE VIDEO: None

* Prior to games on Sept. 2

OPENING UP: The Cornell field hockey team opens its 40th season on the road as it takes on Villanova on Friday, Sept. 2 at The Training Center in Spring City, Pa., before returning to Ithaca to face Lock Haven on Marsha Dodson Field on Sunday, Sept. 4 at 2 p.m. … The Big Red is 23-12-4 (.641) all-time in season-openers. Last season, the Big Red defeated Lock Haven, 1-0, in the first game of the season, improving Coach Hornibrook to 6-1 in season-openers during her time with Cornell.

THE SERIES WITH VILLANOVA: The Big Red has faced Villanova three times in field hockey program history, winning the first meeting, 4-3, in 1997, before losing 2-0 in 2004 and 2-1 last season ... Coach Hornibrook is 0-2 vs. the Wildcats.

SCOUTING THE WIILDCATS: Villanova is coming off a 7-10 campaign and like the Big Red will look to replace one of the most decorated senior classes in program history. The Wildcats, chosen to finish sixth in the preseason Big East poll, got off on the right foot with a 3-1 victory over Robert Morris on Wednesday. Freshman forward Leah High posted two goals in her first-ever game to put Villanova in front for good after junior midfielder Amy Jackson scored the first goal of the contest. In goal, Megan Goelz made two saves to pick up the victory.

LAST TIME VS. VILLANOVA: For the second game in a row, the Big Red fell behind early and then nearly came all the way back, but couldn't find the equalizer, falling to Villanova at Marsha Dodson Field, 2-1. Cornell carried the play through most of the contest, but the Wildcats made the most of their chances, scoring two goals late in the second half for the victory. The Big Red held the advantage in shots (18-10), shots on goal (10-5) and penalty corners (12-6), but Villanova goalie Megan Goelz kept the visitors in the game with eight saves, while Jordan Lynn posted a defensive save. Catie De Stio and Kate Thompson teamed up for the Big Red's lone goal with De Stio scoring in the 67th minute of action and goalie Alex Botte made three saves. Even though Cornell turned up the pressure in the second half, putting nine shots on goal in the final 30 minutes, it was Villanova that scored twice, getting goals from Meredith Sabatini and Lauren Wuzzardo in the 49th and 64th minute, respectively. Meghan Ryan registered the assist on both tallies.

VS. THE BIG EAST: Cornell is 10-32-1 all-time against the current members of the Big East, thanks mostly to the Big Red's 2-25-1 record vs. Syracuse. Cornell holds a winning record vs. Georgetown (4-0), and has played to an even record vs. Rutgers (3-3), while holding losing records against Connecticut (0-2), Providence (0-1) and Villanova (1-2). The Big Red has never played Louisville in field hockey … Coach Hornibrook is 6-8 vs. the Big East.

A WIN OVER THE WILDCATS WOULD:
* give the Big Red a victory in its season opener for the third straight season and the seventh time overall in Coach Hornibrook's eight seasons.
* end a two-game losing streak to Villanova.
* improve Cornell to 11-32-1 all-time against the current members of the Big East and 9-8 against teams in the conference other than Syracuse.
* improve Coach Hornibrook to 7-8 against the Big East.

THE SERIES WITH LOCK HAVEN: The series between Cornell and the Eagles is deadlocked at 2-2. Lock Haven won the first two contests, as the former DII powerhouse defeated the Big Red, 3-1, in 2007, before needing overtime to escape with the 3-2 victory in 2008. The Big Red has bounced back, earning its first win against Lock Haven in 2009 with a 2-1 overtime victory in Ithaca and followed that up with a 1-0 victory last season in Lock Haven.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES: Lock Haven, which went 15-7 overall and 5-2 in conference play last season, was picked to finish fourth in the 2011 Atlantic 10 Preseason Coaches' Poll. The team is led by seniors Kristi Shepps and Najia Hasan, who both earned A-10 Second Team honors in 2010, as well as sophomores Kelly Harsh and Abbey Hordendorf, who were both members of the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie team a year ago. The Eagles are off to a 1-1 start after losing the season opener to Radford (4-3) and defeating Longwood (2-1). Five different players have registered one goal apiece for LHU, with Leslie Ahern leading the team in points with four on one goal and two assists. Between the pipes, Lindsay Staufenberg has seen the majority of time, playing 122 minutes and posting a 1.15 goals-against average and an .846 save percentage.

LAST TIME VS. LOCK HAVEN: For the sixth time in head coach Donna Hornibrook's seven-year tenure with the Big Red, Cornell opened the season with a victory, as the Big Red defeated Lock Haven, 1-0, at Smith Field in Lock Haven, Pa. Cornell dominated the game in the first half and Catie De Stio put the Big Red up, 1-0, at the 12:25 mark with a spectacular individual effort. The Eagles got some momentum late in the half but a fantastic kick save from Alex Botte, followed by a great defensive effort on the ensuing penalty corner, preserved Cornell's slim lead and the Big Red took the 1-0 advantage into the intermission. Lock Haven turned up the pressure in the second, putting six shots on goals and earning four penalty corners, but Cornell got five saves from Botte and a defensive save by Mattie Prodanovic with less than 1:40 to play in the contest. Botte finished with the game with eight saves to pick up the win, while Erin Terreson was called on to make just two saves in the loss.

VS. THE ATLANTIC 10: Cornell is 2-6 all-time vs. the current members of the Atlantic 10 with its two victories coming against the conference's newest member, Lock Haven (2-2). The Big Red has a losing record against Massachusetts (0-1), Richmond (0-1), Temple (0-1) and West Chester (0-1), and has never faced La Salle, Saint Joseph's or Saint Louis … Coach Hornibrook is 2-4 all-time against the A10.

A WIN OVER THE EAGLES WOULD:
* keep the Big Red perfect in season-openers on Marsha Dodson field (4-0).
* improve Cornell to 16-7 all-time on Marsha Dodson Field.
* extend the Big Red's win-streak over Lock Haven to three games.
* improve Coach Hornibrook to 3-4 against the Atlantic 10.

THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Donna Hornibrook is in her seventh season at Cornell (62-51, .549) ... Hornibrook became the sixth coach in Cornell field hockey history in January 2004 ... She has a 232-98-10 (.697) record as a head coach, including a 111-39-4 mark at Houghton and a 60-8-6 record at New Brunswick.

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.

WHAT WAS LOST: The class of 2011, which included Catie De Stio, Mattie Prodanovic, Sara Sanders, Steph Sanders, Liz Scovee and Kate Thompson, was the winningest senior class in field hockey program history. The group finished with a record of 42-22 (20-8 Ivy) over their four-year careers and they never finished below third in the Ivy League standings. Additionally, De Stio graduated as the Cornell career leader in points with 94.

WHAT RETURNS: The Big Red returns two of its top four scorers from a season ago, Hannah Balleza and Kat DiPastina, as well as first-team All-Ivy goalkeeper Alex Botte. Balleza ranked second on the team with 10 goals and one assist for 21 points, while DiPastina chipped in four goals and one assist for nine points. Botte was a workhorse for the Big Red, playing all but 9:00 during the season and finishing with an 11-5 record. She concluded the year with two shutouts, including one in Ivy play, and posted 1.77 goals against average to go along with a .726 save percentage. Botte's GAA dropped to 1.50 in Ivy play, ranking third best in the league, but tops amongst goalies that saw more than 400:00 minutes of action in conference play.

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 (14) and needs just six more to become the winningest goalie in Big Red history. She also needs just one more shut out to move into the Cornell top 10 for shut outs in a career.

A BALANCED SHEET: Last season, the Big Red saw a tremendously balanced scoring offense, averaging 2.44 goals per game, but having only two games in which the same player scored multiple goals (Catie De Stio – 2 vs. Virginia; Catie De Stio – 2 vs. Harvard).

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE (A NEW) HOME: The Big Red is 15-7 all-time on the newly constructed Marsha Dodson Field. Collectively, the team has outscored its opponents by a margin of 52-34 and has taken more than twice as many shots (493-205) as its opponents. The defense has been equally solid in the circle, allowing just 112 penalty corners (5.1 per game).

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.

CLOSE CALLS: Cornell's 2-1 loss to Villanova on Oct. 31, 2010 continued the Big Red's trend of playing in one-goal games. Since the start of the 2006 season, the Big Red has lost 31 games, with 20 of those coming by a single goal, including nine in overtime. During that same span, Cornell has won 49 games, with 24 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 55-8 record in games in which they have scored first. Conversely, the team has won only seven 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. 23, 2010 as Cornell defeated Brown, 2-1, in overtime in Providence, R.I.

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 37-1 in games in which it scores at least three goals after a 4-2 victory against Dartmouth on Nov. 6, 2010.

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.

STROKE OF GENIUS: Hannah Balleza converted two penalty strokes for Cornell last season. That was the most made penalty strokes for the Big Red since it converted 2-of-4 during the 2006 season. Balleza's stroke at Columbia was Cornell's first in nearly three years, as its last converted penalty stroke came from Natalie Appleton vs. Syracuse on Oct. 25, 2007. The Big Red did not earn any strokes in 2009 and had one missed in 2008.

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.

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

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 plays a pair of games next weekend in the Sheraton Catamount Classic, held in Burlington, Vt. Cornell opens the weekend by facing the host, Vermont, on Saturday, Sept. 10 at 2 p.m., before taking on Maine on Sunday, Sept. 11 at noon.