GAME INFORMATION
GAME #16: Cornell at No. 9 Princeton
GAME TIME: Saturday, Nov. 2 at Noon
GAME SITE: Bedford Field (Princeton, N.J.)
SERIES RECORD: Princeton leads, 27-5-3
LAST MEETING: Princeton won, 5-0, Oct. 27, 2012 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2013 RECORDS: Cornell (9-6, 3-2 Ivy); Princeton (10-4, 5-0 Ivy)
LIVE STATS: GoPrincetonTigers.com
LIVE VIDEO: IvyLeagueDigitalNetwork.com 

THE MATCHUP: After seeing its upset bid against No. 3 Syracuse come up short last weekend, the Big Red field hockey team will be back in action this weekend looking to take down No. 9 Princeton at Bedford Field in Princeton, N.J. Cornell had won six consecutive contests prior to its overtime loss to the Orange, while the Tigers are riding a four-game winning streak, and have been even more impressive in conference play, winning 18 straight, dating back to the 2011 season. 



THE SERIES WITH PRINCETON: The Tigers have dominated the series with Cornell from the get-go, winning the first five meetings, beginning with a 4-0 victory in 1978. The Big Red's best stretch in the series came from 1983-1990, as Cornell posted a 4-2-2 record, but a 2-1 overtime win by Princeton in 1991 began a 14-game unbeaten streak for the Tigers. The streak was snapped with a 4-3 Big Red victory at Princeton in 2007, but the Tigers have won the last five outings and hold the 27-5-3 advantage in the series.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS: No. 9 Princeton (10-4, 5-0 Ivy) has won its last four games overall and brings an 18-game conference winning streak into the contest this weekend. The Tigers have three players ranked in the top 10 in the Ivy League in points per game – Teresa Benvenuti (fifth – 1.77), Allison Evans (eighth – 1.43) and Michelle Cesan (eighth – 1.43). The team's top scorers, Benvenuti (0.62 gpg.) and Evans (0.57 gpg.), are also ranked among the conference's best, sitting in seventh and 10th place, respectively. Cesan also ranks second in the conference, and 12th in the nation, in assists per game (0.57). In goal, Princeton's goalies – Christina Maida (1.59) and Anya Gersoff (1.72) – rank one-two in the league for goals-against average. Gersoff has played the majority of minutes for the Tigers and has a .712 save percentage, while Maida has stopped .652 of the shots she has faced.

LAST TIME VS. PRINCETON: The Big Red managed to hold Kathleen Sharkey, the national point-scoring leader, to just one goal on the afternoon, but the rest of the Tigers rallied and No. 2 Princeton pulled away in the second half to defeat Cornell, 5-0, at Marsha Dodson Field. Cornell was kept in the game by the outstanding play of goalie Carolyn Horner, who made 13 stops, five of which were spectacular saves in one-on-one situations. Princeton was incredibly efficient in the offensive end, putting 18 of their 25 shots on goal, as they outshot the Big Red, 25-5. They also held the significant 9-2 advantage on penalty corners. The Tigers took a 2-0 lead into the intermission, with both goals coming off penalty corners. Cornell had a series of penalty corners late in the half, but couldn't convert, as Teresa Benvenuti tallied a defensive save on a Marisa Seirgiej shot. Horner made five first half saves, including a brilliant one-on-one stop on Sharkey in the closing seconds of the period, to keep the Big Red in striking distance. Midway through the second period, Horner continued to impress with a pair of point-blank saves on Molly Goodman, who had managed to get in behind the defense and was in a one-on-one situation. In the 53rd minute, Julia Reinprecht made it a 3-0 game, but moments later, Horner made another great save to spark the home team. With less than five minutes to play, Taylor Standiford had several chances but Christina Maida, who came in for the second half, made three saves to keep the clean slate. Princeton tacked on two late goals in the final three minutes of regulation to account for the 5-0 final.

THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Donna Hornibrook is in her 10th season at Cornell (86-76, .531) ... Hornibrook became the sixth coach in Cornell field hockey history in January 2004 ... She has a 257-123-10 (.672) record as a head coach, including a 111-39-4 mark at Houghton and a 60-8-6 record at New Brunswick.

RANKED OPPONENTS: Princeton will be the third ranked opponent Cornell will play this season, and second in a row after falling to No. 3 Syracuse, 3-2 in overtime on Oct. 27. The Big Red also took then-No. 18 Drexel to double overtime before falling, 4-3. In its second game of the season, Cornell fell to Albany (3-0) and while they were not ranked at the time, the Great Danes are currently 15th in the latest NFHCA Coaches Poll. 

100 POINTS: With its combined four goals and six assists against Brown and Syracuse, the Big Red went over 100 points in a season for just the sixth time in program history. Its 101 points to date is the fifth best single season performance in school history. Of the six 100-point performances in Cornell history, three have come during head coach Donna Hornibrook's tenure, including the top two marks of 126 points in 2008 and 123 points in 2005. 

SCORE!!: Cornell's 36 goals on the season is the fifth best single-season performance in school history. Of the top five highest goal scoring seasons in Cornell history, four have occurred during head coach Donna Hornibrook's tenure.

250 WINS: The Big Red's 3-1 victory over Georgetown on Sept. 15, 2013 was the 250th win of head coach Donna Hornibrook's career.

ONE OF THE BEST: Head coach Donna Hornibrook ranks among the best when it comes to winning. Among active Division I head coaches, she ranks 13th overall for winning percentage (.630) and 20th for career wins (197), rankings that would be higher if the NCAA counted her 60-8-6 record at Canada's New Brunswick.

SEEKING 10 WINS: The Big Red needs just one more win to hit double-digit victories for the season, and give head coach Donna Hornibrook a 10-win campaign for the sixth time during her 10-year Cornell tenure. It would also be the first 10-win season for the Big Red since the 2010 team went 11-5.

FRESHMAN POINTS: Katy Weeks is proving to have on e of the best freshman seasons in Cornell history with 20 points on seven goals and six assists. Her 20 points ranks fourth overall in Big Red history for points by a rookie. She needs just one more point to tie teammate Hannah Balleza, who registered 21 points during the 2010 season. Weeks' seven goals ranks sixth overall among Cornell freshman and she needs just one more to tie Linda Miller (1980 – eight goals) in fifth place. With six assists on the year, Weeks ranks second overall in Cornell history for rookie assists, sitting behind Cari Hills, who finished her freshman season with eight assists in 1994.

MOVING ON UP: Senior Hannah Balleza ranks third overall in Cornell history with 35 career goals. She needs just one more tally to move into a tie for second place with Catie DeStio (2007-10). She also currently ranks fourth in Big Red history for career points with 90 and needs just two more points to move into a tie with Linda Miller (1980-83) for third place overall. She is also fourth overall in career assists (20) and needs just two more to move into a tie with DeStio.

PLAPPERT PILING ON: Senior Elly Plappert is having the best season of her career, currently ranking second on the team in goals (7), third overall in points (17), and fourth in assists (3). She has reached career-highs in all three categories and already has more goals, assists and points this season that she had collected in her previous three campaigns combined.

WINNING!!: With her 16 career wins, Carolyn Horner is tied with Maureen Sullivan (1988-2000) and Sue Zieman (1983-85) for eighth place in Cornell history for career victories. With her next win, she will move into a tie with Molly Kauffman (1994-96) for seventh place. Horner's record of 16-12 makes her one of just five goalies on Cornell's top 10 win list to have a winning record for her career.

HORNER SHUTOUTS: Carolyn Horner ranks third overall in Big Red history with seven career shutouts, along with Kelly Clark (1985-87). She needs just one more shutout to move into a tie for second place with Karen Kuhn (1975-77).

CLOSE CALLS: Cornell's 3-2 overtime lost to No. 3 Syracuse on Oct. 27, 2013 continued the Big Red's trend of playing in one-goal games. Since the start of the 2006 season, the Big Red has lost 54 games, with 33 of those coming by a single goal, including 16 in overtime. During that same span, Cornell has won 70 games, with 36 coming in one-goal games, including 10 in overtime … This season, nine of Cornell's 15 games have been one-goal decisions.

SAVES A LOT: Carolyn Horner has 211 career saves to her credit, good for 11th overall in Big Red history. She needs just 16 more to move into the top-10 and tie Maureen Sullivan (1998-2000).

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE (A NEW) HOME: The Big Red is 32-16 all-time on Marsha Dodson Field. Collectively, the team has outscored its opponents by a margin of 107-78 and has taken significantly more shots (852-505) than its opponents. The defense has been equally solid in the circle, allowing just 277 penalty corners (5.8 per game).

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: After scoring four of Cornell's five collective goals against Harvard and Lehigh, Marisa Siergiej was named the Ivy League Player of the Week on Oct. 22. It is the first Player of the Week honor of Siergiej's career and was the first one earned by a Big Red player this season.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: After helping the Big Red to even its record at 2-2 with a pair of wins over St. Francis (Pa.) and Georgetown, freshman Georgia Lord was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week on Sept. 17, sharing the honor with Harvard's Sarah Finnemore. Lord registered one goal in each contest.

DEFENSIVE SAVES: The Big Red posted a pair of defensive saves against Yale – one each from Mallory Bannon and Taylor Standiford. Sophomore Marisa Siergiej added a defensive save against No. 3 Syracuse to give the Big Red three on the season, matching the total from last season.

BALANCED OFFENSE: The Big Red currently has nine players that have registered at least one goal on the season. Head Coach Donna Hornibrook has had at least nine players register one goal in all but two seasons with the Big Red (2004, 2012).

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 74-13 record in games in which they have scored first. Conversely, the team has won only 11 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 Oct. 8, 2013 as Cornell overcame an early 1-0 deficit to defeat Colgate, 3-2, in Ithaca, N.Y.

KNOCK THREE TIMES: When the Big Red fell to Penn, 4-3, on Sept. 21, 2013 it marked only the fourth time in Coach Hornibrook's career with Cornell that the team scored three goals and lost the contest. Under Coach Hornibrook, the Big Red earned its 54th victory in a game in which it scores at least three goals when it defeated Harvard (3-2) on Oct. 19, 2013.

THE KEYSTONE STATE: Of Cornell's 17 opponents during this season, six came from the state of Pennsylvania – Lock Haven, St. Francis (Pa.), Penn, Drexel, Saint Joseph's and Lehigh – the most by any one state on the schedule. The Big Red finished the season at 3-3 against the Keystone State.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN:  Carolyn Horner and Hannah Balleza have been named captains for the 2013 season.

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 one set of sisters – twins Keelin and Mallory Bannon.

TWINS AND MORE TWINS!: While fans of the Big Red know that seniors 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. Senior Carolyn Horner's twin, Gabby, plays lacrosse at Tufts.

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

LANGUAGE 101: Senior Carolyn Horner is fluent in Chinese.

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

ALL-IVY ACCOLADES: Cornell had five players named All-Ivy in 2012, four of whom are back for the 2013 season – seniors Hannah Balleza (first-team) and Carolyn Horner (first-team), junior Ann DiPastina (honorable mention) and sophomore Marisa Siergiej (second-team).

SMARTY PANTS: The Big Red placed five student-athletes on the 2012 Gladiator by SGI/NFHCA Division I National Academic Squad. Cornell has had at least four players earn the honor in sight of the past nine seasons. Additionally, the 2012 squad earned the NFHCA Collegiate National Academic Team Award for the fifth time during head coach Donna Hornibrook's tenure.

UP NEXT: The Big Red plays its final game of the regular season next weekend when it travels to Hanover, N.H., to take on Dartmouth on Saturday Nov. 9 at noon.