GAME INFORMATION
GAME #7: Cornell at Penn
GAME TIME: Friday, Sept. 25, at 12:00 p.m.
GAME SITE: Ellen Vagelos Field (Philadelphia, Pa.)
SERIES RECORD: Penn leads, 23-14-2
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 1-0, Sept. 20, 2014 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2015 RECORDS: Cornell (4-2, 0-0 Ivy); Maine (5-1, 0-0 Ivy)
LIVE STATS
LIVE VIDEO
 
*  Important Traffic Information For Friday's Game 

THE MATCHUP: The Big Red field hockey team puts its four-game winning streak on the line when it travels to Penn for its Ivy League opener on Friday, Sept. 25 at noon. In each of its four wins, Cornell has held its opponent scoreless, posting four straight shutouts for just the third time in program history. After losing its season opener, Penn has won five consecutive contests, relying on its offense to get the job done, as the Quakers are averaging 4.4 goals in its victories.

THE SERIES WITH PENN: The Big Red and the Quakers have squared off 39 times since first meeting in 1976 and Penn holds a 23-14-2 advantage in the all-time series. The Quakers dominated the series early on, posting a 17-2-2 record from 1978-1998, but Cornell has won seven of the last 10. The series has been incredibly close in recent years, with 16 of the last 23 meetings between the two squads being decided by one goal, with eight overtime contests … Coach Hornibrook is 7-4 all-time vs. the Quakers.
 
SCOUTING THE QUAKERS: Penn dropped its season-opener to Liberty, 4-3, but has gone on to win five straight and improve to 5-1 on the season. The Quakers rank first in the Ivy League and fourth in the nation in goals per game (4.17), while leading the conference and raking fifth in the country in points per game (11.00). Sophomore forward Alexa Hoover, the reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Year, leads the nation in goals per game (2.50), while senior forward Elizabeth Hitti leads the conference and is second in the country in assists per game (1.00). Sophomore goalie Liz Mata moved into the starting role this season and has posted a 2.89 goals-against average, while saving just .629 percent of shots faced.
 
LAST TIME VS. PENN:  Marisa Siergiej continued her outstanding work on penalty corners, scoring in the 37th minute to break a stalemate and send the Big Red field hockey team to a 1-0 victory over Penn in its 2014 Ivy League opener on Sept. 20 at Marsha Dodson Field. Siergiej's strike was set up by Ann DiPastina and Taylor Standiford at the 36:39 mark and set the tone for a second half in which the Big Red held the 10-2 advantage in shots and the 4-1 edge in penalty corners. The Big Red controlled the play for the majority of the game with several quality chances to score, including what appeared to be a late insurance goal in the 63rd minute that was waved off despite the fact that it appeared to have hit the underside of the crossbar. Cornell had several other scoring opportunities, but was turned away by Penn goalie, Allison Weisenfels, who made five saves, while Claire Kneizys turned in two defensive saves for the Quakers. As well as the Big Red did on offense, the team was even more impressive defensively, allowing five shots, just one of which was on goal, and conceded just two penalty corners during the course of the game. Freshman goalie Kelly Johnson finished the game with one save to earn her first career shutout. For the game, the Big Red held the advantage in shots (15-5) and penalty corners (4-2).

A WIN OVER THE QUAKERS WOULD:
* even Cornell's record in Ivy League openers to 17-17-3 all-time.
* improve head coach Donna Hornibrook to 9-3 in Ivy League season openers.
* snap a two-game losing streak against Penn in Philadelphia.
* run the Big Red's current winning streak to five games.

IVY OPENERS: Cornell opens its 37th season of Ivy League play this weekend against Penn. The Big Red is 16-17-3 all-time in conference season openers, thanks mostly to a 13-5 record since 1997. Cornell has played only four of the seven Ivy League teams in its season openers through the years. Its best records in Ivy openers are against Yale (1-0) and Columbia (6-1). The Big Red has played Princeton and Penn more than any other team in conference openers (14). Cornell has posted a 3-9-2 record in Ivy openers against the Tigers, but the two teams have not met in the season opener since 1999. Cornell has met Penn 14 times in its conference opener, posting a 6-7-1 record against the Quakers.

THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Donna Hornibrook is in her 12th season at Cornell (102-84, .548) ... 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 273-131-10 (.671) record as a head coach, including a 111-39-4 mark at Houghton and a 60-8-6 record at New Brunswick.
 
SHUTOUT STREAK: The Big Red has shutout each of its last four opponents, matching the school record for consecutive shutouts, set twice before. The last time Cornell had four straight clean sheets came over the 1990 and 1991 seasons, as the Big Red defeated Dartmouth (1-0), Colgate (1-0) and Brown (1-0, OT) to close the 1990 season before opening the 1991 campaign with a 5-0 win over CW Post.  Cornell has had four straight shutouts in the same season just once before, blanking Brockport (3-0), Lafayette (0-0, 2OT), Colgate (1-0) and Princeton (0-0, 2OT) in 1985.
 
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: The Big Red has had two players named Ivy League Rookie of the Week so far this season … Kate Fitzpatrick was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week, as well as the ECAC Rookie of the Week on Sept. 15 after tallying one goal against Sacred Heart and one goal vs. Monmouth ... Isabel Siergiej took home both the Ivy League and the ECAC honor on Sept. 22 after scoring two goals on two shots vs. Vermont and being named to the Catamount Classic All-Tournament Team.
  
A NATIONAL PRESENCE: Cornell sophomores Kelly Johnson and Sam McILwrick have been selected to represent the United States and Canada, respectively, as members of their nation's U21 junior national teams that will compete in the Junior Pan American Games this spring. 

TEAM NCAA RANKINGS: The Big Red ranks in the top 20 in the nation in …
* Shutouts per game – 1st (0.67)
* Goals-Against Average – 4th (0.98)
* Save Percentage – 8th (.800)
* Defensive saves – 9th (4)
* Scoring  Margin – 14th (1.64)
 
INDIVIDUAL NCAA RANKINGS:
* Kelly Johnson ranks first in save percentage (.917).
* Kelly Johnson ranks second in goals-against average (.32).
* Louisa Schulte-Bockum ranks fifth in defensive saves (3).
* Krysten Mayers ranks 10th in goals per game (1.00).
* Krysten Mayers ranks 17th in the Ivy League in points per game (2.33).
 
IVY LEAGUE RANKINGS:
* Krysten Mayers ranks second in the Ivy League in points (14).
* Krysten Mayers ranks third in the Ivy League in points per game (2.33).
* Krysten Mayers ranks second in the Ivy League in goals (6).
* Katy Weeks ranks eighth in the Ivy League in goals (3).
* Krysten Mayers ranks second in the Ivy League in goals per game (1.00).
* Louisa Schulte-Bockum ranks first in the Ivy League in defensive saves (3).
* Kelly Johnson and Mackenzie Gagliardi are tied for first in the Ivy League in shutout wins (2).
* Kelly Johnson ranks first in the Ivy League in goals-against average (.32).
* Mackenzie Gagliardi ranks second in the Ivy League in goals-against average (.36).
* Kelly Johnson ranks first in the Ivy League in save percentage (.917).
* Mackenzie Gagliardi ranks second in the Ivy League in save percentage (.857).
 
CAREER RECORD WATCH:
* Marisa Siergiej currently sits in sixth place overall in Cornell history with 68 career points, needing 17 more to surpass Emily Robb (1995-98) and move into fifth place.
* Taylor Standiford and Krysten Mayers are tied for 19th overall for career points (35).  One point will move the pair into a tie with Breanna Gulotta (1989-91) and Beth Chagrasulis (1977-79) in 17th place.
* Marisa Siergiej's 30 career goals is also good for fourth place all-time and she needs just five more to move into a tie for third place with Hannah Balleza (2010-13).
* Krysten Mayers ranks 12th in Cornell history for career goals with 16 and needs just one more to move into a tie with Abbi Horn (2005-08) and Belen Martinez (2005-08) in 10th place.
* Taylor Standiford sits in second place with 29 career assists and needs just five more to break Cari Hills (1994-97) school record.
* Marisa Siergiej has already set the school record for penalty strokes converted in a career (four).
* Marisa 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.

RANKED OPPONENTS: The Big Red's schedule features four teams that are ranked in the latest NFHCA Division I Poll – No. 2 Syracuse, No. 5 Albany, No. 12 Delaware, and No. 20 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.  
 
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 (.632) and 18th for career wins (213), rankings that would be higher if the NCAA counted her 60-8-6 record at Canada's New Brunswick.
 
CLOSE CALLS: Cornell's 1-0 overtime loss to Princeton on Sept. 4 continued the Big Red's trend of playing in one-goal games. Since the start of the 2006 season, the Big Red has lost 62 games, with 38 of those coming by a single goal, including 17 in overtime. During that same span, Cornell has won 82 games, with 41 coming in one-goal games, including 11 in overtime.

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 87-14 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 has won 65-of-69 in a game in which it scores at least three goals, a mark that was raised when it defeated Monmouth (5-0) on Sept. 13, 2015.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE (A NEW) HOME: The Big Red is 37-22 all-time on Marsha Dodson Field. Collectively, the team has outscored its opponents by a margin of 126-97 and has taken significantly more shots (1,002-624) than its opponents. The defense has been equally solid in the circle, allowing just 331 penalty corners (5.6 per game).
 
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.

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). 

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.
  
(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 three home games on the schedule – Lock Haven, Delaware and Monmouth – were not streamed live but are available via archive on the Ivy League Digital Network.

UP NEXT: Cornell hosts Columbia in its Ivy League home-opener at Marsha Dodson Field on Saturday, Oct. 3, before travelling to Syracuse the following day for a contest at 2 p.m.  The Big Red has won two consecutive one-goal games vs. the Lions, including a 2-1 overtime decision a year ago to improve its commanding lead in the all-time series to 16-3. Last season, the Big Red dropped a 5-0 contest to the Orange, as Syracuse extended its advantage in the series to 27-2-1.