GAME INFORMATION
GAME #1: Cornell vs. Lock Haven
GAME TIME: Friday, Sept. 4 at 5:00 p.m.
GAME SITE: Marsha Dodson Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Lock Haven leads, 4-3
LAST MEETING: Lock Haven won, 3-2 (OT), Sept. 6, 2013 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2015 RECORDS: Cornell (0-0, 0-0 Ivy); Lock Haven (2-0, 0-0 A-10)
LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/fhockey/
LIVE VIDEO: None

GAME #2: Cornell vs. Delaware
GAME TIME: Sunday, Sept. 6, at 1:00 p.m.
GAME SITE: Marsha Dodson Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 2-0
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 4-2, Sept. 14, 2014 (Newark, Del.)
* 2015 RECORDS: Cornell (0-0, 0-0 Ivy); Delaware (2-0, 0-0 CAA)
LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/fhockey/
LIVE VIDEO: None

* records prior to contests on Sept. 4
 
OPENING UP: The Cornell field hockey team opens its 44th season on Friday, Sept. 4 as it Lock Have to Marsha Dodson Field for a contest at 5:00 p.m., before hosting Delaware on Sunday, Sept. 6 at 1 p.m. … The Big Red is 25-14-4 (.628) all-time in season-openers. Last season, the Big Red defeated 9-0 to improve head coach Donna Hornibrook to 8-3 in season openers during her time with Cornell.
 
(ALMOST) LIVE FROM NEW YORK: The Cornell Department of Athletics and Physical Education is proud to announce that it will offer live video streaming for the majority of Big Red field hockey games this season. The first two home games on the schedule – Lock Haven and Delaware – will be available the following day as a game archive on the Ivy League Digital Network.

THE SERIES WITH LOCK HAVEN: The series with the Lady Eagles has been one of the more competitive ones since its inception in 2007. Not only do the Eagles hold the slim 4-3 advantage in the series, but of the seven meetings, six have been decided by a single goal, including four overtime contests. LHU won the first two meetings, including the most lopsided victory in the series, a 3-1 decision in the very first meeting, before Cornell won three consecutive contests. The Lady Eagles regained the lead in the series with consecutive overtime victories in 2012 and 2013.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES: Lock Haven was picked to finish third overall in the Atlantic 10 preseason coaches' poll, and has opened its 2015 campaign with a pair of wins, downing William & Mary (3-0) and Ohio University (2-1). Senior Rachel Valentine leads LHU with two goals and one assist, while Stephanie Whiteman has a team-high two assists to go along with one goal. The team also returns junior Megan Wenrich, who was a second-team All-A10 selection a year ago. Between the pipes, the Eagles have to replace graduated senior Elaina White, who was an NFHCA All-Mideast Region second team selection a year ago. Senior Maddie Wagenfield started the first game of the season in goal and made two saves to earn the shutout victory. Junior goalie Paige Stuppy started the second game of the season, making two saves and allowing one goal to earn the 2-1 decision.
 
VS. THE ATLANTIC 10: Cornell is 7-6 all-time vs. the current members of the Atlantic 10 with six victories coming against the conference's two newest members – Lock Haven (3-4) and Saint Francis (Pa.) (3-0). The Big Red has a winning record against Saint Joseph's (1-0)., but a losing mark against Massachusetts (0-1) and Richmond (0-1), and has never faced La Salle, Saint Louis or Virginia Commonwealth … Coach Hornibrook is 7-4 all-time against the A10.

LAST TIME VS. LOCK HAVEN: The Eagles scored with 20 seconds remaining in regulation and then again with 26 seconds remaining in overtime to take a 3-2 victory over the Big Red in the 2013 season opener on Marsha Dodson Field. The Big Red had the 13-8 advantage in shots, while LHU had an 8-6 edge in penalty corners. In goal, Elaina White stopped nine shots for the visitors, while reining first-team All-Ivy goalie Carolyn Horner made three saves.  Despite the Big Red carrying the play through the first 35 minutes of action, the teams took a 0-0 draw into the intermission. Cornell finally broke through with a goal early in the second half, as Marisa Siergiej scored on a penalty corner at the 40:54 mark. Hannah Balleza and Taylor Standiford were credited with the assist. Less than five minutes later, the Big Red made it a 2-0 game when Katherine Stone collected a rebound off a White save and slotted the ball to the far post.Colleen McCabe got the visitors on the board in the 59th minute when she took a pass from Megan Wenrich at the top of the circle and blasted a shot that ricocheted off a Cornell player's stick and into the top corner of the cage to make it a one-goal deficit. Stephanie Ebersole registered the game-tying goal at the 69:40 mark when she tipped a penalty corner shot by Kelly Harsh to send the game to overtime. Overtime was a back-and-forth battle with both teams getting ample chances to score but it was Kiersten Cepeda that capitalized for the Lady Eagles when she took a crossing pass from Wenrich and sent it to the far post for the game-winner.

THE SERIES WITH DELAWARE: The Big Red improved to 2-0 against the Blue Hens after earning a  4-2 victory over the CAA champions a year ago … Head Coach Donna Hornibrook is 2-0 against Delaware.
 
CORNELL VS. THE COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION: The Big Red is 4-2 all-time against the current members of the CAA. Cornell holds a winning record against both Delaware (2-0), and Hofstra (2-0), but a losing mark against Drexel (0-1) and Towson (0-1). The Big Red has never faced James Madison, Northeastern, or William & Mary in field hockey … Head coach Donna Hornibrook is 2-2 all-time vs. the CAA.
 
SCOUTING THE BLUE HENS: Following back-to-back Colonial Athletic Association titles, the University of Delaware was predicted to lead the conference once again in 2015 as determined in the CAA preseason coaches' poll.  Additionally, All-American Esmée Peet was selected as the 2015 Preseason Player of the Year for the second straight season. The Blue Hens are off to a solid start with a pair of victories over Central Michigan (10-3) and No. 19 Michigan State (3-1) this past weekend, before taking on Fairfield on Friday, Sept. 4. Lisa Giezeman leads the Blue Hens with three goals and one assist, while Jacki Coveleski has a team-high four assists to go along with one goal. Peet, Meghan Winesettt, and Tylor Lister all have two goals to their credit, with Peet adding one assist as well. Sophomore Emmeline Oltmans returns in goal for UD and has played every minute so far this season, making five saves and allowing four goals for a .556 save percentage and a 2.00 goals-against average.
  
LAST TIME VS. DELAWARE: For the third time in four games, Marisa Siergiej tallied a pair of goals to lead the Big Red to a 4-2 over reigning CAA champion, Delaware, at Rullo Stadium in Newark, Del. The Big Red scored the first three goals of the contest, including a tally by Georgia Lord just 1:05 into the GAME, as she took a pass from Elizabeth Horak and beat UD's goalie Emmeline Oltmans from close range. Cornell kept up the pressure, outshooting the Blue Hens, 9-5, in the first half and added on a pair of Siergiej goals in a span of 5:13 late in the stanza when she scored on a penalty corner at the 20:39 mark, before converting her second-straight penalty stroke attempt at 25:52. Both Taylor Standiford and Ann DiPastina assisted on the penalty corner. Marjelle Scheffers got the home team on the board in the 31st minute when she collected a rebound off a Kelly Johnson save and scored to make it a 3-1 game at the half. The Blue Hens then converted a penalty stroke of its own when Michaela Patzner made it a one-goal game at the 52:40 mark, but Cornell countered just over three minutes later when Horak used a great individual effort to give the Big Red some breathing room and account for the 4-2 final. Offensively, Cornell held the edge in shots, 15-8, and earned six penalty corners. The Big Red put 10 of its shots on goal to keep constant pressure on Oltmans, who finished with three saves, while Allie Mikelson made three defensive saves to help the Blue Hens' cause. On the other end of the field, the Big Red's defense was outstanding, holding the reigning CAA Player and Rookie of the Year, Esmee Peet, to just one shot during the contest, which was turned away by Johnson for one of her two saves on the day. Cornell also gave up just three penalty corners.
 
THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Donna Hornibrook is in her 12th season at Cornell (98-82, .544) ... She is the second winningest coach in Big Red field hockey history, behind only Shelby (Pontz) Bowman, who registered 115 wins over 19 year … Hornibrook became the sixth coach in Cornell field hockey history in January 2004 ... She has a 269-129-10 (.672) record as a head coach, including a 111-39-4 mark at Houghton and a 60-8-6 record at New Brunswick.

2014 SEASON RECORDS:
* A year ago, Cornell posted an 11-5 record overall, tying the school record for victories in a single season, previously set in 2008 and 2010.
* The squad set a school record for points (127), points per game (7.94), goals (45), and assists (37) in a single-season. 
* Defensively, the team set a school record, allowing just 3.9 penalty corners per contest
 
CAREER RECORD WATCH:
* Marisa Siergiej currently sits in seventh place overall in Cornell history with 62 career points, needing just six more to surpass Joanne Powell (1976-79) and move into sixth place.
* Siergiej's 28 career goals is also good for sixth place all-time and she needs just one more to move into a tie for fifth place with Emily Robb (1995-98).
* Siergiej has already set the school record for penalty strokes converted in a career (four).
* Siergiej is tied for fifth place in Cornell history with Hannah Balleza with eight career game-winning goals. She needs just one more to move into a tie with Emily Robb (1995-97) and Beth Paciello (1985-88) in third place.
* Taylor Standiford sits in second place with 27 career assists and needs just seven more to break Cari Hills (1994-97) school record.

RANKED OPPONENTS: The Big Red's schedule features three teams that are ranked in the 2015 Preseason NFHCA Division I Poll – No. 4 Syracuse, No. 7 Albany and No. 15 Princeton … Cornell defeated No. 20 Maine on Oct. 26, 2014, giving the Big Red its first win over a ranked opponent since defeating No. 19 Syracuse, 3-2, on Oct. 25, 2007.  
 
TICKLE THE ALL-IVY: Following the 2014 season, Marisa Siergiej was one of four unanimous first-team All-Ivy selections. In addition to Siergiej, freshman Sam McILwrick and sophomore Katy Weeks were named second-team All-Ivy, while both senior Ann DiPastina and freshman Krysten Mayers earned honorable mention.
 
EVERYBODY'S (REGIONAL) ALL-AMERICAN: A year ago, Marisa Siergiej become just the 12th player in Big Red history to be named first-team All-Mideast Region All-American.
 
10 WINS: With its 11 victories a year ago, Cornell has won at least 10 games in seven of Coach Hornibrooks' 11 seasons. She is the only field hockey coach in Big Red history to lead the team to a 10-win season.

SOLID IN THE CIRCLE: Cornell's defense was outstanding last season, setting the school record by giving up just 3.9 penalty corners per contest, while allowing opponents just 8.0 shots per game, the lowest average since the 1983 season (6.7 shots per game). 

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 (.632) and 19th for career wins (209), rankings that would be higher if the NCAA counted her 60-8-6 record at Canada's New Brunswick.
 
CLOSE CALLS: Cornell's 3-2 loss to Princeton on Nov. 1, 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 60 games, with 37 of those coming by a single goal, including 16 in overtime. During that same span, Cornell has won 80 games, with 41 coming in one-goal games, including 11 in overtime … Last season, the Big Red played in nine one-goal games, including one in overtime, and posted a 5-4 record.

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 83-14 record in games in which they have scored first. Conversely, the team has won only 14 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 Nov. 8, 2014 as Cornell overcame an early 1-0 deficit to defeat Dartmouth, 4-1.

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 63rd victory in a game in which it scores at least three goals when it defeated Dartmouth (4-1) on Nov. 8, 2014.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE (A NEW) HOME: The Big Red is 36-20 all-time on Marsha Dodson Field. Collectively, the team has outscored its opponents by a margin of 121-92 and has taken significantly more shots (967-578) than its opponents. The defense has been equally solid in the circle, allowing just 315 penalty corners (5.6 per game).
 
FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING: Cornell earned the first national ranking in program history on Sept. 30, 2014 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.
 
UP NEXT: The Big Red will be back in action next weekend when it takes on Sacred Heart at the University of Albany on Friday, Sept. 11 at 7 p.m., before returning to Ithaca to welcome Monmouth to Marsha Dodson Field on Sunday, Sept. 13 at 1 p.m.