GAME INFORMATION
GAME #11: Cornell vs. Yale
GAME TIME: Saturday, Oct. 8 at 12:00 p.m.
GAME SITE: Marsha Dodson Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 20-17-1
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 1-0, Oct. 10, 2015 (New Haven, Conn.)
2016 RECORDS: Cornell (5-5, 0-2 Ivy); Yale (4-5, 0-2 Ivy)
LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/fhockey
LIVE VIDEO: http://www.ivyleaguedigitalnetwork.com/cornell
 
GAME #12: Cornell vs. No. 4 Syracuse
GAME TIME: Sunday, Oct. 9 at 3:00 p.m.
GAME SITE: Marsha Dodson Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Syracuse leads, 28-2-1
LAST MEETING: Syracuse won, 9-1, Oct. 4, 2015 (Syracuse, N.Y.)
* 2016 RECORDS: Cornell (5-5, 0-2 Ivy); Syracuse (10-1, 3-1 ACC)
LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/fhockey
LIVE VIDEO: http://www.ivyleaguedigitalnetwork.com/cornell
 
*records prior to Saturday
 
THE MATCHUP: Cornell will look to snap a two-game skid and get its first conference win of the season when Yale comes to town on Saturday, Oct. 8, before facing its toughest test of the season against the defending national champions, No. 4 Syracuse, on Sunday, Oct. 9. The game with the Bulldogs is slated for noon, while the contest vs. the Orange will face-off at 3 p.m. Head coach Donna Hornibrook enters the weekend needing just one victory to become the winningest coach in the history of the Cornell field hockey program. Live stats will be available for both contests at www.CornellBigRed.com, and out of town fans can watch the action live on the Ivy League Digital Network.
 
THE SERIES WITH YALE: The series with the Bulldogs began in 1979, the first official season of Ivy League play, with a 3-0 Yale victory. The Bulldogs went on to enjoy an eight-game unbeaten streak before Cornell earned a 2-1 overtime victory in 1987. Despite not winning a contest until the 1987 season, the Big Red still holds a 20-17-1 advantage in the all-time series. In recent years, the series has been extremely competitive with 16 of the last 20 meetings being decided by one goal ... Coach Hornibrook is 7-5 vs. Yale.
 
SCOUTNG THE BULLDOGS: Yale has lost three consecutive games, including a pair of Ivy League contests to Harvard and Princeton, to slip to 4-5 overall (0-2 Ivy League). The Bulldogs have scored just once in those three contests, but are still averaging 1.8 goals per game. The team is led by Carol Middough's five goals and 11 points, while Kiwi Comizio has a team-best four assists. In goal, Emilie Katz has played every minute of Yale's nine contests and owns a 1.99 goals-against average to go along with a .750 save percentage.
 
LAST TIME VS. YALE: Kate Fitzpatrick registered a goal in the 22nd minute of action and the Big Red's smothering defense held it up as Cornell defeated Yale, 1-0, on Oct. 10, 2015 in New Haven, Conn. The Big Red put tremendous offensive pressure on the home team in the first half, taking seven shots and putting six on goal, including Fitzpatrick's goal, which came off a penalty corner when she converted a rebound off an Emillie Katz save. Katz finished the game with six saves, five of which came in the first half. For the game, Cornell held the 12-8 advantage in shots and the 5-2 edge in penalty corners. The Big Red defense was impressive, limiting Yale to just eight shots, none of which were on goal. In the second half, Yale was unable to get the ball into Cornell's defensive end, going the final 13:54 without taking a shot, including the waning moments of the contest when the Big Red was forced to play two-players down due to cards.
 
THE SERIES WITH SYRACUSE: The series with the Orange began in 1979 and Syracuse has dominated from the beginning to earn a 28-2-1 all-time record against the Big Red. Cornell's first win in the series came in just the fourth-ever meeting between the two squads when it defeated Syracuse by a score of 1-0 inside the Carrier Dome in 1983. Its most recent victory came in 2007 when the Big Red earned a 3-2 victory on Coyne Field.
 
SCOUTING THE ORANGE: No. 4 Syracuse takes a 10-1 record into its battle with No. 2 Duke on Friday evening. The defending national champions held the top spot in the NFHCA Coaches' Poll throughout the month of September before a 3-2 loss in double overtime to No. 5 North Carolina on Sept. 23. The Orange rank among the nation's leaders in goals per game (eighth – 3.82 gpg) and scoring margin (sixth – 2.37), thanks in large part to Lies Lagerweij, who ranks ninth in the country in goals per game (1.00 gpg) and 23rd in points per game (2.09 pgp). Liz Sack also ranks 21st overall in assists per game (0.64 apg). Defensively, goalie Regan Spencer ranks eighth in the nation in goals-against average (1.35) and is ninth overall in save percentage (.763).
 
LAST TIME VS. SYRACUSE: After battling back from an early deficit to trail by one at the half, Cornell gave up seven second half goals to fall the No. 2 Syracuse, 9-1, at Coyne Stadium on Oct. 4, 2015. The home team held the 27-5 advantage in shots and put 19 shots on goal to the Big Red's three. SU also held the 7-3 edge on penalty corners. In goal, Kelly Johnson made seven saves, most of which were of the spectacular variety, while Luisa Schulte-Bockum registered three defensive saves. Schulte-Bockum entered the weekend ranked third in the nation in defensive saves. Krysten Mayers registered Cornell's lone goal in the final minute of the first half to make it a 2-1 game at the intermission. Syracuse had eight different players register a point, including Roos Weers with two goals, including a penalty stroke, and two assists. Serra Degnan and Emma Lamison also scored twice for the Orange. In goal, Jess Jecko made one save and allowed one goal in 51:27 of action before giving way to Regan Spencer, who finished with one save as well.
 
VS. ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE: The Big Red is 3-36-1 all-time vs. the current members of the ACC, due mostly to a 2-28-1 record against its newest member, Syracuse. The Big Red's only other victory against the conference has come against Virginia (1-3). Cornell also has a losing record against Boston College (0-4) and North Carolina (0-1) and has never played Duke, Louisville or Wake Forest … Cornell is 1-9 vs. the ACC during Coach Hornibrook's tenure.
 
THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Donna Hornibrook is in her 13th season at Cornell (114-93, .551) ... 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 281-136-10 (.670) record as a head coach, including a 111-39-4 mark at Houghton and a 60-8-6 record at New Brunswick.
 
CAREER RECORD WATCH:
Kelly Johnson
* Has set the Cornell record for wins (21), surpassing Alex Botte '12, Kaitlin Tierney '04 and Yanaka Bernal '91, who all previously held the record with 19 career wins.
* Ranks fourth in shutouts (7) … Needs one more to move into a second place tie with Carolyn Horner '14 and Karen Kuhm '78.
Luisa Schulte-Bockum
*Ranks second in defensive saves (10) … Needs just two more to break the school record, held by Amy Galebach (1997-2000).
Krysten Mayers
* Ranks eighth in goals (27) … Needs one more to move into a tie with Joanne Powell (1976-79) in seventh place.
* Ranks eighth in points (64) … Needs four more to pass Joanne Powell (1976-79) in seventh place.
* Ranks eighth in game-winning goals (7) … Needs one more to move into a four-way tie for fifth place. 
Katy Weeks
* Ranks 11th in goals (19) … Needs seven more to break into the top 10.
* Ranks 12th in assists (14) … Needs one more to move into a five-way tie for eighth place.
* Ranks 11th in points (52) … Needs seven more to surpass Beth Paciello (1985-88) in 10th place.
 
RANKED OPPONENTS: The Big Red's schedule features three teams that are ranked in the latest NFHCA Division I Poll – No. 4 Syracuse, No. 12 Princeton and No. 18 Stanford … Cornell's last victory over a ranked opponent came when it 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.
 
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE (A NEW) HOME: The Big Red is 43-24 all-time on Marsha Dodson Field. Collectively, the team has outscored its opponents by a margin of 154-103 and has taken significantly more shots (1,170-691) than its opponents. The defense has been equally solid in the circle, allowing just 359 penalty corners (5.4 per game).
 
TEAM NCAA RANKINGS: The Big Red entered the week ranked in the nation's top 25 in …
* Shutouts per game – ninth (0.30)
* Goals Against Average – 12th (1.50)
* Scoring Margin – 23rd (1.00)
 
INDIVIDUAL NCAA RANKINGS:
* Kelly Johnson ranks 13th in goals-against average (1.50).
* Kelly Johnson ranks 27th in save percentage (0.714).
* Krysten Mayers ranks 28th in assists per game (0.60).
* Katie Carlson ranks 46th in goals per game (0.70).
* Katie Carlson ranks 50th in points per game (1.60).
 
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 17th overall for winning percentage (.629) and 18th for career wins (225), rankings that would be higher if the NCAA counted her 60-8-6 record at Canada's New Brunswick.
 
BALANCED ATTACK: Of the 15 field players on the roster that have seen action this season, 12 have registered at least one point.
 
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 is 74-4 in games in which it scores at least three goals, a mark that was raised when it defeated Vermont (4-1) on Sept. 25.
 
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 99-14 record in games in which they have scored first. Conversely, the team has won only 15 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. 7, 2015 as Cornell overcame an early 1-0 deficit to defeat Dartmouth, 5-4, in overtime.
 
CLOSE CALLS: Cornell's 3-2 loss to Columbia on Sept. 30 continued the Big Red's trend of playing in one-goal games. Since the start of the 2006 season, the Big Red has lost 70 games, with 43 of those coming by a single goal (.614), including 18 in overtime. During that same span, Cornell has won 93 games, with 44 coming in one-goal games (.473), including 12 in overtime.
 
OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN: Senior Katy Weeks and junior Sam McILwrick have been selected as team captains for the 2016 season.
 
RETURNING REGIONAL ALL-AMERICANS: Cornell returns a pair of Mideast Region All-American second-team selections to the roster in senior Katy Weeks and junior Krysten Mayers.
 
BIG RED INTERNATIONAL: Juniors Sam McILwrick and Krysten Mayers were selected to represent Canada and Barbados, respectively, as members of those nation's Under-21 teams that participated at the 2016 Pan American Junior Championship.
 
10 WINS: Cornell has won at least 10 games in eight of Coach Hornibrooks' 12 seasons. She is the only field hockey coach in Big Red history to lead the team to a single 10-win season.
 
RECAPPING 2015: For the first time in program history, the Big Red closed a campaign with a top 20 RPI and a top 20 strength of schedule (SOS), finishing at 19th overall in both categories. Cornell finished the 2015 season with a record of 11-6 overall and a mark of 5-2 in the Ivy League, good for second place in the conference standings. Of its six losses, four came to nationally ranked teams that made the NCAA tournament field, including three that finished in the top 10 of the RPI. Additionally, the Big Red's 11 wins tied the school record for victories in a season, previously set three times (2008, 2010, 2014), and the team set new school standards for points (147), goals (50) and assists (57).
 
UP NEXT: Cornell is back in action next weekend when it travels to Harvard on Saturday, Oct. 15 to take on the Crimson at noon.