GAME #13: Cornell at Brown
GAME TIME: Saturday, Oct. 25, at 12:00 p.m.
GAME SITE: Goldberger Field (Providence, R.I.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 17-16-2
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 2-1, Oct. 26, 2013 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2014 RECORDS: Cornell (8-4, 3-1 Ivy); Brown (9-4, 1-3 Ivy)
LIVE STATS
LIVE VIDEO
 
GAME #14: Cornell vs. No. 20 Maine
GAME TIME: Sunday, Oct. 26, at 2:00 p.m.
GAME SITE: Albany's Alumni Turf (Albany, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Maine leads, 3-0
LAST MEETING: Maine won, 2-0, Sept. 11, 2011 (Burlington, Vt.)
2014 RECORDS: Cornell (8-4)*; Maine (10-6)*
LIVE STATS: None
LIVE VIDEO: None
  * records prior to Saturday's contests

THE MATCH UP: The Big Red field hockey team, tied for first in the Ivy League standings at 8-4 overall and 3-1 in conference play, will look to end a three-game skid when it takes on Brown (9-4, 1-3 Ivy) in a crucial Ivy League contest on Saturday, Oct. 25 at noon, before playing its final non-conference game of the year vs. No. 20 Maine at the University of Albany campus on Sunday, Oct. 26 at 2 p.m. Saturday's contest with Brown will be available on the Ivy League Digital Network, or fans can follow along via live stats.

THE SERIES WITH BROWN: The Big Red had a six-game winning streak against the Bears snapped in the 2012 season when Brown won 4-3 in double overtime, but Cornell rebounded last year with a 2-1 victory to regain the 17-16-2 lead in the all-time series  ... Coach Hornibrook is 7-3 vs. the Bears.

SCOUTING THE BEARS: Brown won its midweek meeting with Holy Cross to improve to 9-4 overall. Senior Meghan O'Donnell leads the Bears offense with team highs in goals (8), assists (9), and points (25), while Alexis Miller and Jaclyn Torres have registered five and four goals, respectively. Senior goalkeeper Shannon McSweeney has started all 13 games this season and lead the Ivy League with a .761 save percentage while ranking fourth overall with a 2.01 goals-against average.  
 
LAST TIME VS. BROWN: After sixty minutes of scoreless play, the Big Red and Brown field hockey teams combined for three goals in the final 6:28 of play as Cornell gutted out a 2-1 victory on the Class of 2013's Senior Day. The game-winning goal was scored in the 64th minute when freshman Katy Weeks sent a pass from the right corner into the top-center of the circle. Senior Elly Plappert collected the pass and drilled it home, beating Brown goalie Shannon McSweeney. Moments later, McSweeney was pulled from the game in favor of an extra field player as the Bears sought an equalizer. McSweeney was solid all afternoon, finishing with six saves in 64:28. With an open-net in its sights, Cornell continued to push the ball forward and was rewarded with a penalty corner in the 67th minute, which Marisa Seirgiej converted to put the home team up, 2-0. Senior Hannah Balleza and sophomore Taylor Standiford were credited with the assists. As time was running down, a Big Red player was sent off the field with a green card, giving the Bears a two-man advantage, as they continued to play without a goalkeeper. The visitors finally found the back of the net when Meghan O'Donnell collected a rebound off a Carolyn Horner save and slipped the ball in the near post with just 58 seconds to play. Horner finished with three saves to earn her 16th career victory and move into a tie for eighth place in Cornell history with Maureen Sullivan (1988-2000) and Sue Zieman (1983-85) for career goalie wins. A game that was played mostly in the midfield, Cornell held the slim 12-8 advantage in shots, while the Bears had the 3-2 edge in penalty corners.
 
THE SERIES WITH MAINE: The Black Bears are a perfect 3-0 all-time against Cornell. Maine earned a pair of 1-0 decisions in 2002 and 2006, before defeating Cornell, 2-0 in 2011. All three meetings in the series have been played at a neutral site … Coach Hornibrook is 0-2 all-time against Maine. 

SCOUTING THE BLACK BEARS: No. 20 Maine takes an eight-game winning-streak into its contest with No. 13 Albany on Saturday. The Black Bears are 10-6 on the season after starting the season with a 2-6 record.  Four players have double-digit points for the team, led by Annabelle Hamilton's 26 points on nine goals and a team-high eight assists. Danielle Aviani leads the squad with 10 goals, while Holly Stewart (20 points) and Nicole Sevey (13 points) have, eight and six goals, respectively. In goal, sophomore Emma Cochran and freshman Emily Corbet have split the season, with both playing in nine games and making eight starts apiece. Cochran has posted a 5-2 record, has a 1.25 goals-against average and a .767 save percentage, while Corbet has gone 5-4 on the year, earned a 1.81 GAA and posted a .700 save percentage. 
 
LAST TIME VS. MAINE: The Big Red dropped its second consecutive 2-0 decision, as it fell to Catamount Invitational champion Maine on Sept. 11, 2011 at Moulton Winder Field in Burlington, Vt. The senior-laden Black Bear team was held well-below its 5.6 goals per game average, thanks in great deal to sophomore goalkeeper Carolyn Horner, who turned away 14 shots. Maine held the significant advantage in shots (27-9), shots on goal (16-2) and penalty corners (10-4) and Black Bears' goalie Brittany Fleck needed to make just two saves to earn the victory. Annabelle Hamilton put Maine on the board in the third minute of the game on a penalty corner. The Black Bears then capped the scoring in the 43rd minute of the contest when Lelia Sacre converted a penalty stroke. For their efforts in the tournament, including the preceding day's contest with Vermont, Horner and sophomore Hannah Balleza were named to the all-tournament team. 

THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Donna Hornibrook is in her 11th season at Cornell (95-81, .540) ... Hornibrook became the sixth coach in Cornell field hockey history in January 2004 ... She has a 266-128-10 (.671) record as a head coach, including a 111-39-4 mark at Houghton and a 60-8-6 record at New Brunswick.
  
IVY START: Before falling to Harvard, the Big Red opened its Ivy League season at 3-0, its best conference start since winning the first five Ivy games of the 2008 season.

RARE SHUTOUT: Cornell's offense has been shut out just twice this season – being blanked by reigning Patriot League champion American, and to No. 13 Syracuse.

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING: Cornell earned the first national ranking in program history on Sept. 30, coming in at No 19 in the 2014 Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll. The Big Red fell out of the poll the following week after a 1-0 loss to American, but may have managed to hold onto its No. 19 ranking if it weren't for the fact that Indiana upset No. 4 Duke on the same day to jump into the rankings at No. 18.

WHAT A STREAK: Prior to its loss to American on Oct. 5, Cornell's seven-game winning streak was the fourth longest in the nation, behind Virginia, St. Francis (Pa) and Northeastern, who were tied for first at eight games apiece.
 
GONE STREAKING: Cornell's seven-game winning streak from Sept. 12 to Oct. 4 was the second longest in program history, coming in behind the Big Red's eight-game streak from Nov. 9, 2008 to Sept. 26, 2009.

SIERGIEJ'S SURGE: Marisa Siergiej leads the Big Red with 11 goals this season, exceeding her career-high 10 goals from a season ago. Her 0.921 goals per game is good for first in the Ivy League and ninth in the nation.

SOLID IN THE CIRCLE: Cornell's defense has been outstanding this season, giving up just 3.1 penalty corners per game, which is well below the school record of 5.3 during the 2009 season.

MORE SHOTS: Cornell has outshot 11 of its 12 opponents this season and has put more shots on goal than all but Albany, who tied the Big Red at 8-8, Syracuse and Harvard, who both held slim one-shot advantages.
 
IN THE RANKINGS: Cornell enters the week ranked 12th in the nation in scoring margin (1.39), 13th in assists per game (2.33), 22nd in points per game (7.83), 22nd in scoring average (2.71), and 22nd in goals per game (2.75). On the defensive end of the field, Cornell ranks 11th in goals against average (1.31) and 10th in shutouts per game (0.33).
 
INDIVIDUAL EFFORT: Senior Ann DiPastina and junior Taylor Standiford both rank 11th in the nation in assists per game (0.75). Junior Marisa Siergiej ranks ninth in the country in goals per game (0.92), while Krysten Mayers  ranks 62nd overall (0.55). Siergiej is also 25th in the nation in points per game (1.83). Freshman goalie Kelly Johnson is sixth in the country in goals against average (1.06) and 30th in save percentage (.720).
 
MOVING ON UP: Junior Marisa Siergiej currently sits in ninth place overall in Cornell history with 55 career points, needing just four more to surpass Beth Paciello (1985-88) and move into eighth place ... Siergiej's 26 career goals is also good for eighth place all-time and she needs just one more to move into a tie for seventh place with Kelley Boutin (1996-98) … Taylor Standiford sits in third place with 24 career assists and needs just three more to surpass Emily Robb (1995-98) … Ann DiPastina is tied with Kate Thompson (2007-10) in 13th place with 13 career assists and needs just one more to move into a tie with Natalie Appleton (2006-09) and Blair Corcoran (2002-05) in 11th place.
 
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Kelly Johnson and Krysten Mayers have each been named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week once this season, with Johnson earning the honor on Sept. 23, and Mayers winning on Sept. 30. Johnson took home the award after earning her first collegiate shutout in Cornell's Ivy League opener vs. Penn on Sept. 20, before matching a career-high with five saves in a 2-1 victory over Holy Cross the following afternoon. The following weekend, Mayers had a hand in four of the five goals the Big Red scored against Columbia and Monmouth, finishing with three goals and one assist. Mayers scored both goals, including the overtime game winner, against Columbia to keep Cornell atop the conference standings, before assisting on the game-tying goal and then scoring the go-ahead goal the next day vs. Monmouth ... Both Johnson and Mayers were named the ECAC Rookie of the Week after winning the Ivy League honor.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: For the second time in her career, junior Marisa Siergiej was named the Ivy League Player of the Week on Sept. 16 after helping the Big Red win a pair of games to improve to 3-1 on the season. Siergiej recorded back-to-back two-goal games in wins over Lehigh and Delaware. She was also the anchor of a defensive unit that allowed just three penalty corners (1.5 per game) and 11 shots (5.5 per game), while holding the Blue Hens' Esmée Peet, the 2013 CAA Player and Rookie of the Year and 2014 preseason Player of the Year, to just one shot.

200 AMERICAN: With the Big Red's 6-0 victory over Lehigh on Sept. 12, Coach Hornibrook earned her 200th victory with an NCAA institution.  

FAST START: Over the first four games of the season, Cornell outscored its opponents 20-4. The 20 goals were the most over a four-game stretch since the 2008 season, when the Big Red defeated Yale, Lehigh, Colgate and Bryant by a combined score of 19-5. Only once before has Cornell had as successful of a four-game stretch, scoring 21 goals in consecutive games vs. St. Lawrence, Rochester, Brockport and Ithaca College in 1974.
 
ONE FOR THE RECORD BOOKS: The Big Red's 9-0 victory vs. Colgate on Sept. 5 tied a school record for most goals in a single game, matching Cornell's performances vs. against Bryant in 2008 and Saint Francis (Pa.) in 2006.

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 19th for career wins (206), rankings that would be higher if the NCAA counted her 60-8-6 record at Canada's New Brunswick.
 
RANKED OPPONENTS: The Big Red's schedule features three teams that are ranked in the current 2014 NFHCA Division I Poll – No. 10 Syracuse, No. 13 Albany, and No. 20 Maine.  
 
FAST STARTS: In back-to-back games vs. Lehigh and Delaware, the Big Red took an early lead, scoring at the 1:00 mark vs. the Lehigh and at 1:05 vs. the Blue Hens.
 
CLOSE CALLS: Cornell's 2-1 loss to Harvard on Oct. 18, 2014 continued the Big Red's trend of playing in one-goal games. Since the start of the 2006 season, the Big Red has lost 59 games, with 36 of those coming by a single goal, including 16 in overtime. During that same span, Cornell has won 79 games, with 40 coming in one-goal games, including 11 in overtime … So far this season, the Big Red has played in seven one-goal games, including one in overtime, and has posted a 4-3 record.

BALANCED OFFENSE: So far this season, the Big Red has had 13 players register at least one point, marking the first time since 2008 that Cornell has had at least 13 players register a point in a season.

EARLY LEADS: 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 82-14 record in games in which they have scored first. Conversely, the team has won only 12 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. 28, 2014 as Cornell overcame an early 1-0 deficit to defeat Monmouth, 3-2, in West Orange, N.J.

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 60th victory in a game in which it scores at least three goals when it defeated Yale (4-0) on Oct. 4, 2014.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE (A NEW) HOME: The Big Red is 35-19 all-time on Marsha Dodson Field. Collectively, the team has outscored its opponents by a margin of 115-88 and has taken significantly more shots (938-546) than its opponents. The defense has been equally solid in the circle, allowing just 298 penalty corners (5.5 per game).

OPENING UP: The Big Red opened its 43rd season on Sept. 5 with a dominating 9-0 victory over in state rival Colgate at Tyler's Field … The Big Red improved to 25-14-4 (.628) all-time in season-openers, while Coach Hornibrook improved to 8-3 (.727) in season openers during her time with Cornell.

FIRST POINTS: In its season-opener vs. Colgate, the Big Red saw 10 players register at least one point, with seven of those players finding the point column for the first time in their collegiate career. First time goal scorers included, juniors Katie Garrity and Stephanie Eggertson, sophomore Elizabeth Horak, and freshmen Gabby DePetro, Krysten Mayers, and Katie Carlson. Additionally, freshman Isabel Josephs added one assist for her first collegiate point. 

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN: Junior Taylor Standiford has been named team captain for the 2014 season, while senior Ann DiPastina has been named assistant captain.

USA, USA, USA –  A trio of Big Red field hockey players – Marisa Siergiej, Katy Weeks and Kelly Johnson – were selected to participate in a pair of US Field Hockey events this past summer, as Weeks played in the Women's National Championship while Siergiej and Johnson played in the Under 21 Championship.
 
CAN-A-DA, CAN-A-DA – Sam McILwrick was the youngest player selected to train with the U-21 Canadian national team in 2013 and went on to be named the 2013 U-18 Player of the Year by Field Hockey British Columbia. She was also named to the Canadian national "Target 2017" team in preparation of the 2017 Junior World Cup. 
 
EVERYBODY'S ALL-AMERICAN: Junior Marisa Siergiej was named a second-team Mideast Region All-American following the 2013 season. One of the premier defenders in the Ivy League, Siergiej was the anchor of a defensive unit that ranked fourth in the conference in goals allowed (2.12) and gave up just 6.1 penalty corners per contest. On the other side of the field, she was the Big Red's best scoring threat on penalty corner opportunities, netting 10 goals this season. She led the team in goals, game-winning goals (four), and points (22), marks that also placed her in the top 10 in the conference in all three categories.
 
ALL-IVY ACCOLADES: Cornell had four players named All-Ivy in 2013, two of whom are back for the 2014 season – junior Marisa Siergiej  and sophomore  Katy Weeks (second-team).

SMARTY PANTS: The Big Red placed a school-record 10 student-athletes on the 2013 Gladiator by SGI/NFHCA Division I National Academic Squad. The 10 honorees are the most ever, besting the mark of eight that made the team following the 2010 campaign. Additionally, freshman Katie Weeks was named a Division I Scholar of Distinction for having achieved a cumulative GPA of 3.90 or higher through the first semester of the 2013-14 academic year. Cornell has had at least four players earn the honor in nine of the past 10 seasons. In addition to the individual accolades, the squad also earned the NFHCA Collegiate National Academic Team Award for the sixth time during head coach 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.

SISTER ACT: The 2014 campaign will mark the first time since the 2007 campaign that the Cornell roster will not feature at least one set of sisters.

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

UP NEXT: The Big Red will play its final two games of the season at Marsha Dodson Field on consecutive Saturdays, taking on Princeton on Nov. 1 and Dartmouth on Nov. 8. Both games are slated to start at noon.