GAME INFORMATION
GAME #10: Cornell at Colgate
GAME TIME: Wednesday, Oct. 3, at 7 p.m.
GAME SITE: Tyler's Field (Hamilton, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Colgate leads, 19-18-3
LAST MEETING: Colgate won, 1-0, Oct. 4, 2011 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2012 RECORDS: Cornell (3-6); Colgate (2-8)
LIVE STATS: GoColgateRaiders.com
LIVE VIDEO: GoColgateRaiders.com

THE MATCHUP: The Big Red field hockey team will look to extend its current winning streak to three games when it travels to Colgate on Wednesday, Oct. 3 for a key non-conference match up at Tyler's Field at 7 p.m. Live stats and live video (pay-per-view) are available at: GoColgateRaiders.com. 

THE SERIES WITH COLGATE: Colgate took the slim advantage in the series when its 1-0 victory last season gave them the 19-18-3 record all-time against the Big Red. Cornell had won the previous three contests and holds a 7-5 lead since the 2000 season.

SCOUTING THE RAIDERS: Colgate is just 2-8 on the year, with its victories coming against Siena and Saint Joseph's. Still, the Raiders are strong offensively, scoring at least one goal in all but one contest so far this season. Colgate poses a balanced offensive attack with 11 players having registered at least one point and they are led by Halle Biggar's five goals and 11 points, while Lauren Dittman and Eliana Brown have chipped in four goals apiece. Dittman also leads the team with two assists, a mark that is matched by sisters Adrianna and Rebecca Libutti. In goal, Amanda DiDomizio has started all 10 games and has played the majority of minutes for Colgate, posting a 3.85 goals-against average and a .713 save percentage.

LAST TIME VS. COLGATE: 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 team on Oct. 4, 2011 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. Lauren Dittman scored the only goal of the contest when she converted a penalty corner in the 17th minute, as she lofted the ball past Botte and into the net. Adriana Libutti and Kendal Zaharris were credited with the assists.

VS. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE: The Big Red is 56-53-7 all-time vs. the current members of the Patriot League, thanks mostly to a 19-1-1 lead against Lehigh. The Big Red holds a losing record against American (0-1), Bucknell (10-15-1), Colgate (18-19-3), Holy Cross (3-5) and Lafayette (5-12-2) … Cornell is 18-12 vs. the Patriot League during Coach Hornibrook's tenure.

A WIN OVER COLGATE WOULD:
* knot the series with the Raiders at 19-19-3
* give the Big Red its first three-game winning streak since 2010, when Cornell won five consecutive contests from Oct. 3 to Oct. 23.
* be Cornell's fourth victory in the past five seasons against the Raiders.
* give Coach Hornibrook a 5-4 record against Colgate.
* be Coach Hornibrook's 73rd victory with the Big Red and her 243rd career win.

THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Donna Hornibrook is in her ninth season at Cornell (72-67, .518) ... Hornibrook became the sixth coach in Cornell field hockey history in January 2004 ... She has a 242-114-10 (.675) record as a head coach, including a 111-39-4 mark at Houghton and a 60-8-6 record at New Brunswick.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: For the second time in her career, Carolyn Horner has been named the Ivy League Player of the Week after picking up a pair of shutout victories against Yale and Siena. Against the Bulldogs, Horner stopped eight shots, including three sprawling saves during the overtime session, to help the Big Red earn a 1-0 victory. The next day against the Saints, she was called on to make just two saves, but both were on legitimate scoring chances late in the game, as Cornell held on for the 1-0 victory.

SHOT STOPPER: Carolyn Horner currently ranks second in the nation in saves per game (9.5) and is fourth overall in save percentage (.826).

MOVING ON UP: Junior Hannah Balleza ranks eighth overall in Cornell history with 23 goals. She needs three more tallies to move into a tie for seventh place with Beth Paciello (1985-88). She also currently ranks eighth in Big Red history for career points with 52. She needs just six more points to move into a tie with Beth Paciello (1985-88) in seventh place and 15 more points to crack the top-five and tie Joanne Powell (1976-79) with 67 points.

CLOSE CALLS: Cornell's 1-0 victory over Siena on Sept. 30 continued the Big Red's trend of playing in one-goal games. Since the start of the 2006 season, the Big Red has lost 45 games, with 27 of those coming by a single goal, including 12 in overtime. During that same span, Cornell has won 59 games, with 29 coming in one-goal games, including nine 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 63-10 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.

KNOCK THREE TIMES: When the Big Red fell to Rutgers on Sept. 23, 4-3, in overtime, it marked the only the second 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 43-2 in games in which it scores at least three goals after a 4-0 victory against Penn on Sept. 15, 2012.

START ME UP: Freshman goalie Elizabeth Schaeffler's complete game against Lock Haven to open the season marked the first time in the history of the Big Red field hockey program that a rookie netminder started, and played a full contest, in the season opener. Prior to Schaeffler's accomplishment, Yanaka Bernal '91 started the first game of her collegiate career in 1987, but played only the first half.

BANNON SAVES: During the 2011 season, Cornell registered just two defensive saves – both of which were credited to one of the Bannon sisters. Mallory recorded hers first against Georgetown, with Keelin getting hers in the final game of the season against Dartmouth.

DEFENSIVE SAVES: Against Penn State, the Big Red matched its 2011 total for defensive saves with a pair recorded by Ann DiPastina and Paige Mollineaux.

SISTER ACT: Since the beginning of the 2007 campaign, Cornell has had at least one set of sisters on its roster each season. This year, the team features three sets of sisters – Keelin and Mallory Bannon, Ann and Kat DiPastia, Paige and Shelby Mollineaux. The three sets of sisters is the most Cornell has ever had on a roster in the history of the field hockey program, and it is the most on any current roster of any team in the country.

TWINS AND MORE TWINS!: While fans of the Big Red know that juniors Keelin and Mallory Bannon are twins, many might not know that another member of the team has a twin, who also plays a collegiate sport. Junior Carolyn Horner's twin, Gabrielle, plays lacrosse at Tufts.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN: Genevieve Collins, Kat DiPastina, Paige Mollineaux and Carolyn Horner have been named captains for the 2012 season.

ALL-IVY ACCOLADES: Cornell had two players named second-team All-Ivy in 2011, both of whom are back for the 2012 season – juniors Hannah Balleza and Mallory Bannon.

U-S-A; U-S-A: Hannah Balleza has been a member of the US Indoor National Squad for the past three years.

BLACK BELTS: Sisters Paige Mollineaux and Shelby Mollineaux are both black belts in karate.

LANGUAGE 101: Juniors Carolyn Horner and Brittany Thompson are both fluent in a foreign language, speaking Chinese and Arabic, respectively.

ON THE BLOCK: Ann DiPastina is a member of Cornell's Block and Bridle Club and has trained beef heifers by halter breaking them.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE (A NEW) HOME: The Big Red is 23-12 all-time on the newly constructed Marsha Dodson Field. Collectively, the team has outscored its opponents by a margin of 77-56 and has taken significantly more shots (650-376) than its opponents. The defense has been equally solid in the circle, allowing just 200 penalty corners (5.7 per game).

SMARTY PANTS: The Big Red placed four student-athletes on the 2011 Gladiator by SGI/NFHCA Division I National Academic Squad. Cornell has had at least four players earn the honor in seven of the past eight seasons. Alex Botte '12 headlined the group with her fourth selection, joining Stephanie Brownstein '08 as just the second player in Cornell history to be named to the National Academic Squad all four years. Additionally, the 2011 squad earned the NFHCA Collegiate National Academic Team Award for the fourth time during head coach Donna Hornibrook's tenure.

WHAT WAS LOST: Cornell lost a pair of graduated seniors from last season's squad – Olivia Boyd and Alex Botte. Boyd played in 49 games during her career and was a solid contributor with three goals during the 2011 season. Botte graduated as the winningest goalie in Cornell history, tied with Kaitlin Tierney (2000-03) and Yanaka Bernal (1987-90), with 19 career victories.

WHAT RETURNS: The Big Red returns seven of the 10 players that registered at least one point from a season ago, including second-team All-Ivy selections Hannah Balleza and Mallory Bannon.

UP NEXT: The Big Red remains out of conference this weekend as it travels to Washington D.C. to take on Georgetown on Sunday, Oct. 7 at 4 p.m. The game will take place at the University of Maryland's Field Hockey Complex.