GAME INFORMATION
GAME #17: Cornell at Dartmouth
GAME TIME: Saturday, Nov. 9 at Noon
GAME SITE: Chase Field (Hanover, N.H.)
SERIES RECORD: Dartmouth leads, 22-11-1
LAST MEETING: Dartmouth won, 2-1, Nov. 3, 2012 (Hanover, N.H.)
2013 RECORDS: Cornell (9-7, 3-3 Ivy); Dartmouth (7-9, 3-3 Ivy)
LIVE STATS: www.DartmouthSports.com 
LIVE VIDEO: www.IvyLeagueDigitalNetwork.com


THE MATCHUP: The Big Red field hockey team will play its final game of the season this weekend when it heads to Hanover, N.H. to take on Dartmouth on Saturday, Nov. 9 at noon. Both teams sit in a tie for third place in the Ivy League with identical records of 3-3 in conference play. For fans that can't make it to the game, the contest will be available on the Ivy League Digital Network.  

THE SERIES WITH DARTMOUTH: The Big Green holds a commanding lead in the series with Cornell, going 22-11-1 against the Big Red. The teams first met in 1979, a 0-0 tie, and Dartmouth won the next five meetings before Cornell snapped its losing streak in 1985 with a 1-0 victory. From then, the series was fairly even until 1998 when Dartmouth began an eight-game winning-streak against the Big Red. Cornell ended the Big Green's run in 2006 and won five straight, its most consecutive wins in the series, before falling in consecutive one-goal games (including one overtime contest) over the past two seasons … Head Coach Donna Hornibrook is 5-4 against Dartmouth.

SCOUTING THE BIG GREEN: Dartmouth (7-9, 3-3 Ivy) has won three of its last four games, including Ivy contests against Columbia and Harvard, to move into a third place tie with Cornell and Yale in the conference standings. The Big Green is led by Ali Savage, who ranks sixth in the nation and leads the Ivy League with 2.44 points per game. Savage sits in 10th place nationally with 0.94 goals per game and 21st overall in 0.56 assists per game. Maggie Scanlon is also having a solid season, ranking ninth in the conference with 0.50 goals per contest and 10th in the circuit with 1.31 points per game, while Janine Leger is fourth in the league with 0.50 assists per game. In goal, Ellen Meyer is making 7.12 saves per game, good for second in the Ivy League, but ranks near the bottom of the league standings in goals-against average (3.37) and save percentage (.679). 

LAST TIME VS. DARTMOUTH: Dartmouth's Samantha McPherson scored her second goal of the game with 56 seconds remaining in the contest to lift the Big Green to a come-from-behind 2-1 victory and ruin Senior Day at Marsha Dodson Field. A frigid afternoon with waves of mixed precipitation challenged players as a midfield battled ensued early on. The Big Red broke through for the game's first goal just 2:38 before halftime off a penalty corner taken by Marisa Siergiej, set up by Hannah Balleza and Taylor Standiford. Dartmouth was awarded six penalty corners before the half was allowed to expire, but the Cornell defense and goalie Carolyn Horner stood tall to maintain the home side's lead into the break. But the Big Green was able to score the equalizer on a controversial goal just 3:58 into the second half. Off yet another penalty corner, McPherson scored from close range after Lisa Masini's shot clanked off the far post. A protest that the ball was kicked in was ignored and the game stood even at 1 until the waning moments. McPherson's game-winner was scored off a tipped shot from Ali Savage.

THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Donna Hornibrook is in her 10th season at Cornell (86-77, .528) ... Hornibrook became the sixth coach in Cornell field hockey history in January 2004 ... She has a 257-124-10 (.670) record as a head coach, including a 111-39-4 mark at Houghton and a 60-8-6 record at New Brunswick.

RANKED OPPONENTS: No. 9 Princeton was the third ranked opponent Cornell faced 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 have been ranked ever since. 

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 14th overall for winning percentage (.628) 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 one 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 16-13 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 55 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 16 games have been one-goal decisions.

SAVES A LOT: Carolyn Horner has 224 career saves to her credit, good for 11th overall in Big Red history. She needs just four more to surpass Maureen Sullivan (1998-2000) and move into the top-10.

DEFENSIVE SAVES: The Big Red has registered four defensive saves this season, tied for the seventh most in school history since the stat started being kept in 1999.

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.

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.

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).

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 game vs. Dartmouth concludes the 2013 field hockey season.