GAME INFORMATION
GAME #1: Cornell at Lock Haven
GAME TIME: Friday, Aug. 31, at 7:00 p.m.
GAME SITE: Charlotte E. Smith Field (Lock Haven, Pa.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 3-2
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 3-2 on Sept. 4, 2011 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2011 RECORDS: Cornell (0-0); Lock Haven (1-1)
LIVE STATS: TBA
LIVE VIDEO: http://mediasite.lhup.edu/Mediasite51/Viewer/?peid=bcb9d3462f944fd3b9fb9a52688fefb71d 

GAME #2: Cornell vs. No. 2 North Carolina
GAME TIME: Sunday, Sept. 2, at Noon
GAME SITE: Marsha Dodson Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: First Meeting
LAST MEETING: First Meeting
2012 RECORDS: Cornell (0-0)*; UNC (2-0)*
LIVE STATS: www.CornellBigRed.com
LIVE VIDEO: None

* Prior to games on Sept. 1

OPENING UP: The Cornell field hockey team opens its 41st season on the road as it takes on Lock Haven on Friday, Aug. 31 at Charlotte E. Smith Field in Lock Haven, Pa., before returning to Ithaca to face national powerhouse UNC, the second ranked team in the country, on Marsha Dodson Field on Sunday, Sept. 2 at noon … The Big Red is 24-12-4 (.650) all-time in season-openers. Last season, the Big Red defeated Villanova, 1-0, in the first game of the season, improving Coach Hornibrook to 7-1 in season-openers during her time with Cornell. 

THE SERIES WITH LOCK HAVEN: Cornell holds a slim lead in the all-time series with the Eagles, leading 3-2, thanks to last year's 3-2 victory in Ithaca. 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 the next season with a 1-0 victory in Lock Haven.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES: Lock Haven, which went 10-10 overall and 3-3 in conference play last season, was picked to finish seventh in the 2012 Atlantic 10 Preseason Coaches' Poll. The team is led by junior Kelly Harsh, the team's defensive leader, as well as the top point scorer from a year ago (16). The Eagles are off to a 1-1 start after losing the season opener to St. Francis (Pa.) before defeating Longwood. Three different players have registered one goal apiece for LHU, with two others adding an assist. Between the pipes, Kelsey Moll has played every minute and has logged a 2.00 goals-against average and a .714 save percentage.

LAST TIME VS. LOCK HAVEN: The Big Red fought back from a 1-0 halftime deficit to defeat Lock Haven, 3-2, in a wild game on Marsha Dodson Field. The Big Red controlled the flow of play for much of the game, but the Lady Eagles held the advantage in every offensive statistical category, registering more shots (12-8), shots on goal (9-5) and penalty corners (10-5). Cornell was kept in the game by Carolyn Horner, who in just her second career start, made seven stops to earn the victory. LHU's Lindsay Staufenberg made just two saves in 56:58 of action before giving way to Kelsey Moll, who did not face a shot on goal. LHU jumped out to the early 1-0 lead just over four minutes into the contest but Cornell wasted little time getting on the board in the second half, scoring in the 37th minute, when Hannah Balleza tipped a Brittany Thompson shot into the cage. Balleza had a hand in the Big Red's next goal as well, assisting on Kat DiPastina score to put Cornell up, 2-1, in the 50th minute. Just under five minutes later, the Big Red scored its third unanswered goal when Mallory Bannon put in a rebound off a Genna Collin's penalty corner shot. LHU scored less than three minutes later to close the gap to 3-2 and the final 13 minutes were an intense back-and-forth battle, but Cornell handled the pressure and came away with the victory.

VS. THE ATLANTIC 10: Cornell is 3-6 all-time vs. the current members of the Atlantic 10 with its three victories coming against the conference's newest member, Lock Haven (3-2). 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 3-4 all-time against the A10.

A WIN OVER THE EAGLES WOULD:
* give the Big Red a victory in its season opener for the fourth straight season and the eighth time overall in Coach Hornibrook's nine seasons.
* extend the Big Red's win-streak over Lock Haven to four games.
* even Coach Hornibrook's record at 4-4 against the Atlantic 10.

THE SERIES WITH UNC: Sunday's game will be the first in the series between the Cornell and UNC field hockey programs.

SCOUTING THE TARHEELS: North Carolina, the NCAA runner-up in each of the past two seasons after winning the 2009 national championship, is ranked No. 2 in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I Field Hockey Preseason Poll, just 16 points behind No. 1 Maryland. Seniors Kelsey Kolojejchick and Caitlin Van Sickle, the 2011 ACC Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, respectively, lead the Tarheels, which are  already 2-0 on the season, having defeated No. 10 Michigan and No. 12 Iowa by a combined score of 10-1 in its opening weekend.

VS. THE ACC: Cornell is 1-7 all-time against the current members of the ACC, with its lone victory coming against Virginia in 2002. Cornell has a losing record against the Cavaliers (1-3), as well as Boston College (0-4), and has never played Duke, Maryland, UNC, or Wake Forest in field hockey … Coach Hornibrook is 0-2  vs. the ACC.

A WIN OVER THE TARHEELS WOULD:
* keep the Big Red perfect in season-openers on Marsha Dodson field (5-0).
* improve Cornell to 21-11 all-time on Marsha Dodson Field.
* give Coach Hornibrook her first victory over an ACC opponent.

THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Donna Hornibrook is in her eighth season at Cornell (69-61, .531) ... Hornibrook became the sixth coach in Cornell field hockey history in January 2004 ... She has a 239-108-10 (.683) record as a head coach, including a 111-39-4 mark at Houghton and a 60-8-6 record at New Brunswick.

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.

MOVING ON UP: Junior Hannah Balleza ranks eighth overall in Cornell history with 17 goals. She needs nine more tallies to move into a tie for seventh place with Beth Paciello (1985-88).

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.

TWINS AND MORE TWINS!: While fans of the Big Red know that juniors 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. Senior Molly Casey's twin brother, Daniel, is a member of the Brown football team, while junior Carolyn Horner's twin, Gabrielle, plays lacrosse at Tufts.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN: Genevieve Collins, 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 return for the 2012 season – juniors Hannah Balleza and Mallory Bannon.

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

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 175 penalty corners (5.6 per game).

CLOSE CALLS: Cornell's 2-1 loss in overtime to Dartmouth to close the 2011 season continued the Big Red's trend of playing in one-goal games. Since the start of the 2006 season, the Big Red has lost 39 games, with 23 of those coming by a single goal, including 10 in overtime. During that same span, Cornell has won 56 games, with 27 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 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.

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.

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.

UP NEXT: The Big Red hits the road for a pair of games in the Keystone State. Cornell faces Bucknell on Wednesday, Sept. 5 at 7 p.m., before taking on No. 9 Penn State on Sunday, Sept. 9 at 2 p.m.