GAME INFORMATION
GAME #4: Cornell at Penn State
GAME TIME: Sunday, Sept. 9, at 2:00 p.m.
GAME SITE: Penn State Field Hockey Complex (University Park, Pa.)
SERIES RECORD: First Meeting
LAST MEETING: First Meeting
2011 RECORDS: Cornell (0-3); Penn State (3-1)*
LIVE STATS: www.GoPSUsports.com 
LIVE VIDEO: None

* Penn State record prior to contests on Sept. 6 and Sept. 8

THE MATCH UP: The Cornell field hockey team will face its second top 10 opponent in a week's time, as it travels to University Park, Pa., on Sunday, Sept. 9 to take on No. 8 Penn State at the Penn State Field Hockey Complex at 2 p.m.  The Big Red is off to an 0-3 start, including a pair of one-goal losses to Lock Haven and Bucknell on the road and a 6-1 setback against No. 2 UNC on Dodson Field. The Nittany Lions were 3-1 on the season prior games against No. 4 Princeton on Sept. 6 and Temple on Sept. 8.

THE SERIES WITH PENN STATE: Sunday's game will be the first between the Big Red and the Penn State field hockey programs.

VS. THE BIG 10: The Big Red is 0-1 all-time vs. the current members of the Big 10, thanks to a 5-3 loss to Michigan State during the 2001 season. The Big Red has never faced Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Northwestern, Ohio State or Penn State in field hockey.

A WIN OVER THE NITTANY LIONS WOULD:
* give the Big Red its first win on the season to make it 1-3.
* be Coach Hornibrook's 70th victory with the Big Red and her 240th career win.
* give Cornell a win over its highest ranked opponent in program history.

THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Donna Hornibrook is in her eighth season at Cornell (69-64, .519) ... Hornibrook became the sixth coach in Cornell field hockey history in January 2004 ... She has a 239-111-10 (.678) 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 42 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.

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 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.

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 returns home to open Ivy League play next weekend when it welcomes Penn to Marsha Dodson Field on Saturday, Sept. 15 at noon.