GAME INFORMATION
GAME #6: Cornell vs. Columbia
GAME TIME: Saturday, Sept. 28, at Noon
GAME SITE: Marsha Dodson Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 14-3
LAST MEETING: Columbia won, 2-1, Sept. 21, 2012 (New York, N.Y.)
2013 RECORDS: Cornell (2-3; 0-1 Ivy); Penn (3-3; 1-0 Ivy)
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
LIVE VIDEO: None

GAME #7: Cornell vs. No. 18 Drexel
GAME TIME: Saturday, Sept. 29, at Noon
GAME SITE: Marsha Dodson Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: First Meeting
LAST MEETING: First Meeting
2013 RECORDS: Cornell (2-3); Drexel (5-2)*
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
LIVE VIDEO: None

* Prior to Sept. 25

THE MATCHUP: The Big Red field hockey team returns to Ithaca and will look to get back into the win column this weekend when it welcomes Ivy League foe, Columbia, and No. 18 Drexel to Marsha Dodson Field. Cornell will take on the Lions on Saturday, Sept. 28, before facing its toughest test of the season against the Dragons on Sunday, Sept. 29. Both games are slated to begin at noon.

THE SERIES WITH COLUMBIA:  The series with the Lions began in 1991, six seasons before Columbia officially joined the Ivy League. Cornell is 14-3 all-time against Columbia after dropping its last two contests against the Lions. Despite the lopsided nature of the series, three of the last six meetings have gone into overtime and five of six have been decided by a single goal.

SCOUTING THE LIONS: Columbia is sitting at 3-3 (1-0 Ivy) on the season with a pair of losses to nationally ranked opponents Maryland and American. The Lions also lost its most recent outing against Richmond, after winning its Ivy League opener against Brown on Sept. 20.  Katie Ruesterholz leads the team in both goals (5) and points (12), while Christina Freibott and Anna Scipioni have a team-best three assists apiece. Goalkeeper Kimberly Pianucci has played the majority of minutes, starting all six games and posting a 3.01 goals-against average and a .738 save percentage.      

LAST TIME VS. COLUMBIA: Brittany Thompson scored with just under 15 minutes to play and the Big Red hit a post and then was denied a goal by a Columbia defender with less than four minutes to play as the Lions held on for the 2-1 victory on Sept. 21, 2012 in New York City. Thompson's goal was set up by Elly Plappert, who sparked a fast break to make it a 2-1 game at the 55:39 mark. It was another Thompson shot that was stopped by Columbia's Katie DeSandis in the 67th minute. Thompson put her shot on goal after collected her own rebound off a shot that hit the post moments earlier. Thompson was responsible for all four of the Big Red's shots on goal. Cornell was outshot, 20-5, but was kept in the contest by the solid play of goalkeeper Carolyn Horner, who went into the contest leading the nation in saves per game (11.75) and ranking fourth overall in save percentage (.825).  She ended the contest with 10 saves. The Lions held the advantage in penalty corners, 9-5, and both of the home teams goals came off penalty corner situations in the first half of action. Gabby Kozlowski scored at the 24:21 mark when she tipped Paige Simmons shot over Horner, and Bridget DeSandis scored just over seven minutes later on a direct hit. Katie DeSandis and Christina Freibott were credited with the assists. Christie O'Hara was called on to make just two saves to earn the win.

THE SERIES WITH DREXEL: Sunday's contest will be the first meeting between Cornell and Drexel in field hockey.

SCOUTING THE DRAGONS: Drexel enters a mid-week game with Rider with a 5-2 record on the season, with its two losses coming against a pair of top 10 opponents in Maryland and Duke. The Dragons have a three game winning streak, with its most recent triumph coming against No. 10 Iowa. Drexel has a well-balanced offense with 11 different players having registered at least one point. The team is led by Christina Conrad, Chloe Pachuilo and Meghan Plank with three goals apiece, while Elise DiDonato has a team-best 10 points on the strength of six assists and two goals. In goal, Jantien Gunter has played every minute, posting a 2.14 goal-against average to go along with a .766 save percentage.     

CORNELL VS. THE COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION: The Big Red is 3-1 all-time against the current members of the CAA. Cornell holds a winning record against both Delaware (1-0), and Hofstra (2-0), but a losing mark against Towson (0-1). The Big Red has never faced Drexel, James Madison, Northeastern, or William & Mary in field hockey … Head coach Donna Hornibrook is 1-1 all-time vs. the CAA.

THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Donna Hornibrook is in her 10th season at Cornell (78-73, .517) ... Hornibrook became the sixth coach in Cornell field hockey history in January 2004 ... She has a 248-120-10 (.669) record as a head coach, including a 111-39-4 mark at Houghton and a 60-8-6 record at New Brunswick.

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.

THE KEYSTONE STATE: Of Cornell's 17 opponents during this season, six come 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. So far, the Big Red is 1-2 against the Keystone State.

MOVING ON UP: Senior Hannah Balleza ranks third overall in Cornell history with 33 career goals. She needs just three more tallies to move into a tie for second place with Catie DeStio (2007-10). She also currently ranks fifth in Big Red history for career points with 80. She needs just five more points to move into a tie with Emily Robb (1995-98), who sits in fourth place overall with 84 points. She is also ninth overall in career assists (14) and needs just one more to move into a three-way tie for sixth place with Abbi Horn (2005-08), Heather McCormick (1994-96) and Ellen Graap (1985-88).

PLAPPERT PILING ON: Senior Elly Plappert leads the Big Red with three goals on the season. Her three goals are already a career high, having entered the 2013 season with just two goals.

HORNER SHUTOUTS: Carolyn Horner ranks fourth overall in Big Red history with six career shutouts, along with Kaitlin Tierney (2000-03). She needs just one more shutout to move into a tie for third place with Kelly Clark (1985-87).

SAVES A LOT: Carolyn Horner has 188 career saves to her credit, good for 12th overall in Big Red history. She needs 20 more to surpass her predecessor, Alex Botte '12, who sits in 11th place with 207 career saves.

WINNING!!: With her 12 career wins, Carolyn Horner ranks 11th in Cornell history. She needs just one more to move into 10th place overall with Karen Kuhn (1975-77).

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE (A NEW) HOME: The Big Red is 27-15 all-time on Marsha Dodson Field. Collectively, the team has outscored its opponents by a margin of 93-69 and has taken significantly more shots (762-445) than its opponents. The defense has been equally solid in the circle, allowing just 246 penalty corners (5.9 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 69-13 record in games in which they have scored first. Conversely, the team has won only nine 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. 13, 2013 as Cornell overcame an early 1-0 deficit to defeat St. Francis (Pa.), 3-1, 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 49th victory in a game in which it scores at least three goals when it defeated Georgetown (3-1) on Sept. 15, 2013.

CLOSE CALLS: Cornell's 4-3 loss to Penn on Sept. 21, 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 51 games, with 31 of those coming by a single goal, including 14 in overtime. During that same span, Cornell has won 63 games, with 31 coming in one-goal games, including nine in overtime.

SHOT STOPPER: Carolyn Horner finished the 2012 season ranked fifth in the nation in save percentage (.796) and was 11th overall in saves per game (7.56).

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 hits the road next weekend for a pair of contests at Yale and Holy Cross. Cornell faces the Bulldogs on Saturday, Oct. 5 at noon, before taking on the Crusiaders on Sunday, Oct. 6 at 1:00 p.m.