GAME INFORMATION
GAME #6: Cornell at Columbia
GAME TIME: Friday, Sept. 21, at 4:00 p.m.
GAME SITE: Columbia Field Hockey Venue (New York, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 14-2
LAST MEETING: Columbia won, 3-1, Sept. 24, 2011 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2011 RECORDS: Cornell (1-4, 1-0); Columbia (4-2, 1-0)
LIVE STATS: GoColumbiaLions.com
LIVE VIDEO: None

GAME #7: Cornell at Rutgers
GAME TIME: Sunday, Sept. 23, at 1:00 p.m.
GAME SITE: Bauer Track and Field Complex (Piscataway, N.J.)
SERIES RECORD: Rutgers leads, 4-3
LAST MEETING: Rutgers won, 2-0, Oct. 23, 2011 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2011 RECORDS: Cornell (1-4); Rutgers (4-4)*
LIVE STATS: None
LIVE VIDEO: None

* Prior to games prior to Friday, Sept. 21

THE MATCHUP: The Big Red field hockey team will look to build on last Saturday's victory over Penn as it travels to Columbia and Rutgers this weekend. Cornell will face the Lions 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 SERIES WITH COLUMBIA: The series with the Lions began in 1991, six seasons before Columbia officially joined the Ivy League. Cornell is 14-2 all-time against Columbia after having a seven-game winning streak snapped by the Lions last season on Marsha Dodson Field. Despite the lopsided nature of the series, three of the last five meetings have gone into overtime and four of five have been decided by a single goal.

SCOUTING THE LIONS: After losing a pair of one-goal games to open the season, Columbia has won four in a row to improve to 4-2 and 1-0 in the Ivy League. The Lions high-powered offense is averaging 3.67 goals per contest and is led by Gabby Kozlowski and Liz Malone with five goals apiece, while Bridget DeSandis and Paige Simmons have registered a team-high four assists apiece. Goalie Christie O'Hara has seen the majority of action for Columbia, playing in just over 400 minute and posting a 1.92 goals- against average to go along with a .810 save percentage.

LAST TIME VS. COLUMBIA: In a tightly fought, back-and-forth game, the Big Red field hockey team fell to Columbia, 3-1, on Sept. 24, 2011 on Marsha Dodson Field. Despite trailing, 2-1, midway through the contest Cornell dominated the play in the second half, but couldn't come up with the equalizer before a late Lions' goal sealed the victory for the visitors. The Big Red struggled in the first half and a goal in the 13th minute by Gabby Kozlowski, a tip-in off a penalty corner shot from Paige Simmons, put Columbia up, 1-0. Just minutes later, Cornell answered on an incredible play to knot the game at 1-1. The sequence began when Kat DiPastina won a ball deep in Cornell's defensive end and sent a 50-50 ball upfield to Brittany Thompson. The sophomore forward outmuscled the Columbia defender, worked her way up the sideline and then sent a cross in front of the Lions' goal. Hannah Balleza, planted on the far post, dove to get a stick on it and tipped the ball into the net. The teams went into the half deadlocked at 1-1, but Columbia took advantage of a Big Red man-down situation to score in the opening moments of the second half. For the next 15 minutes, the Big Red completely dominated the flow of the game, forcing Christine O'Hara to make three saves and seeing a sure goal stopped illegally by a Columbia defender, resulting in a penalty stroke attempt for Cornell. Unfortunately, the Big Red could not convert and just over six minutes later, the Lions' sealed the victory with a late goal by Desi Scherf. After a slow start, the Big Red outshot Columbia 13-8 in the second half and had the 5-3 advantage in penalty corners. Cornell finished with the slight edge in shots (16-14) and the Lions held the slim lead in penalty corners (8-5). Between the pipes, O'Hara finished with nine saves for the win, while Botte made eight saves for the loss.

THE SERIES WITH RUTGERS: Cornell and Rutgers have played seven games since first meeting in 1996. The Big Red won the first meeting before dropping back-to-back games in 1997 and 1998. Cornell would go on to win two in a row again in 2004 and 2006, but lost the last two outings, to see the Scarlet Knights take the 4-3 lead in the series.

SCOUTING THE SCARLET KNIGHTS: Rutgers enters Friday's contest vs. Syracuse with a 4-4 record overall. The team has a well balanced offense with eight players registering at least two goals on the season. Cornelia Duffin leads the team with four goals, while Carlie Rouh and Lisa Patrone have registered three goals apiece. In-betweeen the pipes, Sarah Stuby has played every minute for the Scarlet Knights and has posted a 1.86 goals-against average and a .762 save percentage.

LAST TIME VS. RUTGERS: The Big Red had its Senior Day celebration ruined by a visiting Rutgers team on Oct. 23, 2011, as the Scarlet Knights earned a 2-0 victory on Marsha Dodson Field. The game was the final home game for senior co-captains Alex Botte and Olivia Boyd. Cornell was kept in the game by the stellar play in goal by Botte, who made eight saves in her final appearance on Marsha Dodson Field. Rutgers outshot the Big Red, 17-5, and held the 7-4 advantage in penalty corners. Gia Nappi led the Scarlet Knights with one goal and one assist, while goalie Sarah Stuby was called on to make just three saves to earn the victory. Rutgers struck first as Ashley Yanek came up with a 50-50 ball just outside the 25-yard line and dribbled through several Big Red defenders before finding Nappi in front of the Cornell goal. Nappi collected the ball and sent it to the far post to put the visitors up, 1-0, at the 12:50 mark. The Scarlet Knights got a late insurance goal when Nappi set up a Carlie Rough goal off a penalty corner.

VS. THE BIG EAST: Cornell is 12-33-1 all-time against the current members of the Big East, due mostly to the Big Red's 2-25-1 record vs. Syracuse. Cornell holds a winning record vs. Georgetown (5-0), and has played to an even record vs. Villanova (2-2), while holding losing records against Connecticut (0-2), Providence (0-1) and Rutgers (3-4). The Big Red has never played Louisville in field hockey … Coach Hornibrook is 8-9 vs. the Big East.

THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Donna Hornibrook is in her ninth season at Cornell (70-65, .519) ... Hornibrook became the sixth coach in Cornell field hockey history in January 2004 ... She has a 240-112-10 (.677) record as a head coach, including a 111-39-4 mark at Houghton and a 60-8-6 record at New Brunswick.

SHOT STOPPER: Carolyn Horner ranks first in the country in saves per game (11.75) and is fourth overall in save percentage (.825).

MOVING ON UP: Junior Hannah Balleza ranks eighth overall in Cornell history with 21 goals. She needs five more tallies to move into a tie for seventh place with Beth Paciello (1985-88). She also currently ranks 10th in Big Red history for career points with 48. She needs just one more point to move into a tie with Carissa Mirasol (2000-03) and Abbi Horn (2005-08) in ninth place and 19 more points to crack the top-five and tie Joanne Powell (1976-79) with 67 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 57 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 21-12 all-time on the newly constructed Marsha Dodson Field. Collectively, the team has outscored its opponents by a margin of 75-56 and has taken significantly more shots (610-361) than its opponents. The defense has been equally solid in the circle, allowing just 190 penalty corners (5.8 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 61-9 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 43-1 in games in which it scores at least three goals after a 4-0 victory against Penn on Sept. 15, 2012.

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 returns home to play a pair of games next weekend, taking on Ivy League foe Yale on Saturday, Sept. 29 at noon before facing Siena on Sunday, Sept. 30 at 1 p.m. Both games will take place on Marsha Dodson Field.