GAME INFORMATION
GAME #9: Cornell at Columbia
GAME TIME: Friday, Sept. 20 at 6:30 p.m.
GAME SITE: Columbia Field Hockey Venue (New York, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 17-3
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 5-2, Oct. 3, 2015 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2016 RECORDS: Cornell (5-3, 0-1 Ivy); Columbia (4-4, 0-1 Ivy)
LIVE STATS 
 
GAME #10: Cornell at Monmouth
GAME TIME: Sunday, Oct. 2 at 12:00 p.m.
GAME SITE: "So Sweet a Cat" Field (West Long Branch, N.J.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 2-0
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 5-0, Sept. 13, 2015 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
* 2016 RECORDS: Cornell (5-3, 0-1 Ivy); Monmouth (8-2, 0-0 MAAC)
LIVE STATS 
 
*Records prior to Friday
 
THE MATCHUP: 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, and she'll have two opportunities with games against Columbia and Monmouth on tap. The Big Red will take on the Lions in a pivotal Ivy League matchup on Friday, Sept. 30 at 6:30 p.m., before facing the Hawks in a non-conference game on Sunday, Oct. 2 at noon.
 
THE SERIES WITH COLUMBIA: The series with the Lions began in 1991, six seasons before Columbia officially joined the Ivy League in field hockey. Cornell is 17-3 all-time against Columbia. Despite the lopsided nature of the series, seven of the last nine meetings have been decided by a single goal, including four overtime contests.
 
SCOUTNG THE LIONS: Columbia has alternated wins and losses all season to a 4-4 record (0-1 Ivy). Two of the Lions losses (UMass and Brown) have come by one goal, while three of its four wins (Holy Cross, Central Michigan, and Bryant) have come by three goals. Katie Ruesterholz leads the Ivy League and ranks 10th in the nation in goals per game (1.00). She also ranks nationally in points (12th – 2.63) and assists (29th – 0.63). Louisa Hollander has also added five goals and three assists for 13 point on the year. In goal, Kendall Kuntz has played nearly every minute and has posted a .569 save percentage to go along with a 3.48 goals-against average.
  
LAST TIME VS. COLUMBIA: The Big Red rebounded from a heartbreaking loss to Penn last weekend with a definitive victory over Columbia at Marsha Dodson Field on Oct. 3, 2015. Cornell scored in a variety of ways, getting a pair of goals from both Marisa Siergiej and Katie Carlson, and received a solid game in goal by Kelly Johnson to improve to 5-3 on the year and 1-1 in the Ivy League. The Big Red triumph snapped Columbia's five-game winning streak. Cornell outshot the visitors, 18-8, including a mark of 9-3 in the first half as the Big Red built a 3-1 advantage. The home team also put more shots on goal (12-7) and earned more penalty corners (8-5). Johnson made five saves for Cornell, including two in the final minutes of the game, while Columbia goalie Kimberley Pianucci made six saves and got a defensive save from Lion center back Maeve Doherty.
 
THE SERIES WITH MONMOUTH: The Big Red holds the 2-0 lead in the all-time series with the Hawks, beating Monmouth 3-2 in 2014 and 5-0 in 2015.
 
SCOUTING THE HAWKS: Monmouth has won three of its last four games to improve to 8-2 on the season. The Hawks are averaging 2.6 goals per game, while holding opponents to 1.40 goals per contest. Alyssa Ercolino leads the team with seven goals and 17 points, while Julie Laszlo has a team-high six assists. In goal, Christen Piersanti has seen action in all but one half of play. She has posted a .797 save percentage and a 1.26 goals-against average.
 
LAST TIME VS. MONMOUTH: Cornell continued its offensive explosion and head coach Donna Hornibrook picked up her 100th win with the Big Red, as Cornell earned a 5-0 victory over reigning MAAC champions Monmouth on Sept. 13, 2015 at Marsha Dodson Field. For the second game in a row, Krysten Mayers tallied a pair of goals and added an assist for a game-high five points. Senior Marisa Siergiej added one goal and one assist, while junior Katy Weeks and freshman Kate Fitzpatrick each scored. The Big Red also received assists from Isabel Josephs, Isabel Seirgiej, and Taylor Standiford. In goal, Kelly Johnson registered five saves for her second consecutive shutout. Johnson has allowed just one goal in 217 minutes so far this season. Cornell held the advantage in shots (18-10), shots on goal (13-5), and penalty corners (10-6). Hawks goalie Christen Piersanti made seven saves and got some help from Julie Laszlo, who made one defensive save.
 
VS. THE MAAC: The Big Red is 12-1 all-time vs. the current members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, thanks mostly to a 6-0 lead against Siena. The Big Red also holds a winning record against Bryant (1-0), Monmouth (2-0), Rider (2-1), and Sacred Heart (1-0), but has never faced Quinnipiac.
 
THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Donna Hornibrook is in her 13th season at Cornell (114-91, .556) ... 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 (9) … Needs just three 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 (62) … Needs six 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 (18) … Needs eight 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 (50) … Needs nine 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. 11 Princeton and No. 17 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 …
* Goals Against Average – fourth (1.00)
* Shutouts per game – seventh (0.38)
* Save Percentage – eighth (.778)
* Scoring Margin – 17th (1.63)
 
INDIVIDUAL NCAA RANKINGS:
* Kelly Johnson ranks fourth in goals-against average (0.95).
* Kelly Johnson ranks fifth in save percentage (0.800).
* Krysten Mayers ranks 49th in assists per game (0.50).
* Katie Carlson ranks 62nd in goals per game (0.63).
* Katie Carlson ranks 90th in points per game (1.38).
 
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 (.632) 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 1-0 loss to Penn on Sept. 24 continued the Big Red's trend of playing in one-goal games. Since the start of the 2006 season, the Big Red has lost 68 games, with 42 of those coming by a single goal, including 18 in overtime. During that same span, Cornell has won 93 games, with 44 coming in one-goal games, 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 welcomes Yale and No. 4 Syracuse to Marsha Dodson Field on Saturday, Oct. 8 and Sunday, Oct. 9, respectively. The game vs. the Bulldogs begins at noon, while the contest with the Orange is slated for 3 p.m.