GAME INFORMATION
GAME #5: Cornell vs. Penn
GAME TIME: Saturday, Sept. 15, at Noon
GAME SITE: Marsha Dodson Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Penn leads, 22-12-2
LAST MEETING: Penn won, 1-0, Sept. 17, 2011 (Philadelphia, Pa.)
2011 RECORDS: Cornell (0-4); Penn (3-2)
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
LIVE VIDEO: None

THE MATCHUP: The Big Red field hockey team will open the Ivy League portion of its schedule this weekend when it plays host to Penn on Saturday, Sept. 15 at noon. Cornell is still looking for its first win after playing an extremely difficult schedule to this point with half of its games coming against top 10 teams and three-of-four being played on the road. The Quakers are 3-2 after dropping its last two outings to Appalachian State and Rider. 

THE SERIES WITH PENN: The Big Red and the Quakers have squared off 36 times since first meeting in 1976 and Penn holds a 22-12-2 advantage in the all-time series. The Quakers dominated the series early on, posting a 17-2-2 record from 1978-1998, but Cornell has won five of the last seven. Last season, the Penn snapped a three-game Cornell streak with a 1-0 victory on Franklin Field. Since 1991, 14 of the 20 meetings between the two squads have been decided by one goal, with seven overtime contests.

LAST TIME VS. THE QUAKERS: The Big Red had a three-game winning streak over Penn snapped on Sept. 17, 2011 on Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pa. Senior goalie Alex Botte made six saves to keep the Big Red in the contest, but a goal by Emily Corcoran in the 44th minute proved to be the difference maker. Cornell carried the play throughout the game and held the edge in shots (14-10), shots on goal (10-7) and corners (11-5) but was turned away at every opportunity by Kieran Sweeney, who made nine saves to go along with a defensive save by Penn defender Mary Rose Croddick in the 57th minute of action.

SCOUTING PENN: The Quakers opened the season with three consecutive wins over Lehigh, Towson and Liberty, before dropping its last two outings against Appalachian State and Rider. All five contests have been high scoring affairs with Penn averaging 3.2 goals per game, while surrendering 3.0 goals per contest. Julie Tahan and Amelia Cohen lead the offense with five and four goals, respectively, while Elizabeth Hitti has registered a team-high three assists. In goal, Carly Sokach has played all 356 minutes for the Quakers and has posted a 3.79 goals-against average to go along with a .667 save percentage.

A WIN OVER THE QUAKERS WOULD:
* make Cornell 7-2 in Ivy League season openers under head coach Donna Hornibrook.
* give the Big Red its first win on the season to make it 1-4.
* be Coach Hornibrook's 70th victory with the Big Red and her 240th career win.

THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Donna Hornibrook is in her ninth season at Cornell (69-65, .515) ... Hornibrook became the sixth coach in Cornell field hockey history in January 2004 ... She has a 239-112-10 (.676) record as a head coach, including a 111-39-4 mark at Houghton and a 60-8-6 record at New Brunswick.

MOVING ON UP: Junior Hannah Balleza ranks eighth overall in Cornell history with 18 goals. She needs eight more tallies to move into a tie for seventh place with Beth Paciello (1985-88). She also currently ranks 12 in Big Red history for career points with 42. She needs just two more points to move into a tie with Lindsay Grace (2000-03) in 11th place and four more points to crack the top-10 and tie Belen Martinez (2005-08) with 46 points.

CLOSE CALLS: Cornell's 2-1 loss to Bucknell on Sept. 5 continued the Big Red's trend of playing in one-goal games. Since the start of the 2006 season, the Big Red has lost 43 games, with 25 of those coming by a single goal, including 11 in overtime. During that same span, Cornell has won 56 games, with 27 coming in one-goal games, including eight in overtime.

STARTME 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.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE (A NEW) HOME: The Big Red is 20-12 all-time on the newly constructed Marsha Dodson Field. Collectively, the team has outscored its opponents by a margin of 71-56 and has taken significantly more shots (595-347) than its opponents. The defense has been equally solid in the circle, allowing just 183 penalty corners (5.7 per game).

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 60-9 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.

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 plays a pair of games on the road next weekend as it faces Ivy League foe Columbia on Friday, Sept. 21 at 4 p.m., before stepping out of conference to take on Rutgers on Sunday, Sept. 23 at 1 p.m. The Cornell Field Hockey Association (CFHA) invites fans to dine with the 2012 team at the Cornell Club in New York City and participate in a panel discussion following the game vs. the Lions at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $30 per person and financial support is available if needed. Family and friends are welcome to attend. Click here to register.