GAME INFORMATION
GAME #11: Cornell vs. No. 13 Harvard
GAME TIME: Saturday, Oct. 14, at 12:00 p.m.
GAME SITE: Marsha Dodson Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Harvard leads, 26-13-4
LAST MEETING: Harvard won, 5-0, Oct. 5, 2016 (Cambridge, Mass.)
2017 RECORDS: Cornell (7-3, 1-2 Ivy); Harvard (9-3, 3-0 Ivy)
LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/fhockey
LIVE VIDEO: http://www.ivyleaguenetwork.com/
 
GAME #12: Cornell at Colgate
GAME TIME: Sunday, Oct. 15, at 1:00 p.m.
GAME SITE: Tyler's Field (Hamilton, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 22-19-3
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 5-0, Sept. 3, 2016 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
* 2017 RECORDS: Cornell (7-3); Colgate (2-10)
LIVE STATS: http://statb.us/e/179234
LIVE VIDEO: https://watchstadium.com/network/patriot-league-network/
 
* records prior to contests on Saturday. 
 
THE STORY LINE: The Big Red field hockey team enters a crucial stretch of Ivy League action when it welcomes No. 13 Harvard to Marshal Dodson Field on Saturday, Oct. 14 at noon. The following day, Cornell will head to in-state rival Colgate to take on the Patriot League foe at Tyler's Field on Sunday, Oct. 15 at 1 p.m. The Big Red picked up its first Ivy League win of the season last weekend when it defeated Yale, 3-2. Cornell's third goal of the game came off the stick of Krysten Mayers, who is now one tally away from tying Linda Miller's school record for career goals (40), a mark that has stood for 34 years.
 
THE SERIES WITH HARVARD: One of Cornell's longest on-going rivalries, the Big Red first played Harvard during the 1976 season, a 3-0 Crimson victory. Over the next 10 years, Harvard would dominate the series, with Cornell winning just one contest (1978), and allowing the Crimson to post a 26-13-4 record all time vs. the Big Red. Head Coach Donna Hornibrookis 6-7 all-time in the series after a 5-0 loss a year ago in Cambridge.
 
SCOUTING THE CRIMSON: No. 13 Harvard, the defending Ivy League champions, is making a strong push for its second straight conference title with a 9-3 record overall and a mark of 3-0 on the circuit. All three of the Crimson's losses have come to nationally ranked opponents and none have been by more than two goals. Offensively, Harvard ranks third in the nation with an incredible 4.1 goals per game. The squad is led by Kathleen Young, who ranks 14th in the nation with 0.91 goals per game and Bente van Vlijmen, who is 25th with 0.75 goals per game, while Ellie Cookson (0.67) and Casey Allen (0.58) are 22nd and 28th in the nation, respectively, in assists per game. In goal, Libby Manela is fourth in the country with an 0.88 goals-against average. The junior goalkeeper is averaging just 3.67 saves per game and has posted a .786 save percentage.
 
LAST TIME VS. HARVARD: Harvard closed the first and opened the second half with a pair of goals in a span of 55 seconds to put the game out of reach en route to the 5-0 victory on Oct. 5, 2016. The five-goal decision marked the first time since Cornell's 4-0 win in 2012 that the game wasn't decided by just a single-goal. Harvard (8-4), which remained atop the Ivy League standings with a perfect 4-0 record, had a slim 11-7 edge in shots, but put six more shots on goal than the visitors (9-3). Penalty shots were even at 3-3.  Kyla Cordrey converted a penalty corner goal midway through the first quarter and Harvard tacked on a goal with just 38 seconds remaining in the first half when Emily Ott converted a pass from Marissa Balleza, and then Balleza scored just 17 seconds into the second half when she picked off a pass deep in the Cornell zone and scored from the right side of the circle. Balleza added a penalty stroke goal in the 53rd minute, making her the Crimsons' all-time leader in career goals and points, before Hannah Wellington capped the scoring in the 57th minute. In goal, junior Kelly Johnson made three saves and allowed five goals in 56:27 before giving way to freshman Maddie Henry who didn't face a shot. The Big Red also picked up a defensive save from Conklin.For Harvard, Libby Manela made two saves in 54:34, before Callie Rennyson came on in relief and made one save.
 
THE SERIES WITH COLGATE: The Big Red's history with Colgate goes back nearly as far as the field hockey histories for both programs, meeting for the first time in 1974, the third year of existence for Cornell and just the second year for the Raiders program. The series has been incredibly tight, but has swung in the Big Red's favor with four consecutive wins giving Cornell the advantage, 22-19-3 all-time. Coach Donna Hornibrook holds a 8-4 record against the Raiders.
 
SCOUTING THE RAIDERS: Under first-year head coach April Cornell, the Colgate field hockey team has made significant strides despite its 2-10 record entering Saturday's contest vs. American. With a combined 19 freshmen and sophomores on a 23-woman roster, the Raiders have improved in nearly every statistical category from a year ago, especially on offense where they have nearly tripled their goals per game (0.92) and nearly doubled the number of shots taken (10.3). The Colgate defense has also made a vast improvement, allowing 2.75 goals per game after surrendering 4.35 goals per game a year ago. Sophomore Iona MacKillop and freshmen Michaela Corvi lead the Raiders with three goals apiece, with MacKillop and freshman Anne Marijn Bruijn also posting a team-high two assists. In goal, senior Maria Krull ranks fifth in the nation with 8.83 saves per game and has the 17th best save percentage overall (.768), but still owns a 2.52 goals-against average.
 
LAST TIME VS. COLGATE: The Big Red had an offensive explosion in its 2016 season opener, defeating Colgate, 5-0, at Marsha Dodson Field. Cornell scored their first goal 10 minutes into the game and never looked back. With Colgate unable to clear a rebound, sophomore Kate Fitzpatrick put it home for the first of her two goals on the day. The Big Red kept the pressure going throughout the first 35 minutes and it paid off, as Katie Carlson and Elizabeth Horak combined for a goal just minutes before the half. Defensively, the Big Red limited the Raiders to just one shot in the second half and none over the final 19 minutes of play. In the 61st minute, freshman Taylor Reed scored her first career goal when she shot the ball inside the right post from the top of the arc to make it 4-0 and Horak finished off the scoring with just seven seconds remaining in the game. In goal, Kelly Johnson registered one save to preserve the shutout, the seventh of her career. Raiders' goalie Maria Krull made nine saves in the loss. Cornell held the advantage in shots (25-3), shots on goal (14-1), and penalty corners (8-1).
 
CORENLL VS. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE: The Big Red is 69-55-7 all-time vs. the current members of the Patriot League, thanks mostly to a 23-1-1 lead against Lehigh. The Big Red also holds a winning record against Colgate (22-19-3) and Holy Cross (7-5). Cornell has a losing record against American (0-2), Boston University (0-1), Bucknell (11-15-1), and Lafayette (6-12-2) … Cornell is 31-13 vs. the Patriot League during Coach Hornibrook's tenure.
 
THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Donna Hornibrook is in her 14th season at Cornell (126-98, .563) ... She is the winningest coach in Big Red field hockey history, having passed Shelby (Pontz) Bowman, who registered 115 wins over 19 years … Hornibrook became the sixth coach in Cornell field hockey history in January 2004 ... She has a 297-145-10 (.668) record as a head coach, including a 111-39-4 mark at Houghton and a 60-8-6 record at New Brunswick.
 
THE 300: Head Coach Donna Hornibrook is closing in on 300 career wins, with 297 victories to her credit.  To date, she has 126 wins with Cornell, 111 at Houghton, and 60 at New Brunswick.
 
RECORD WATCH!: Krysten Mayers is just one goal shy of tying Linda Millers' (1980-83) school record of 40 career goals. The mark has stood for 34 seasons and was set 13 years prior to Mayers being born in 1996.
 
SLIM MARGIN: The Big Red has had eight games decided by a single goal so far this season, going 6-2 in the process.
* The most one-goal games in a season under Coach Hornibrook is 10, reached twice before (2007, 2012).
* The Cornell record for single-goal games in a season is 11, reached three times (1992, 1996, 2001), with the 1992 season also featuring two ties, as the Big Red went 4-7-2 during that stretch
 
RPI RANKINGS: Cornel is ranked 26th in the latest RPI, one of four Ivy League teams in the top 30, joining Princeton (11), Harvard (19), and Penn (25). As a conference, the Ancient Eight has the third most teams in the top 30, behind only the ACC (seven) and Big Ten (eight).
 
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME: The Big Red is 50-27 (.649) all-time on Marsha Dodson Field. Collectively, the team has outscored its opponents by a margin of 176-117 and has taken significantly more shots (1,321-791) than its opponents. The defense has been equally solid in the circle, allowing just 402 penalty corners (5.2 per game).
 
THAT'S A FIRST: Freshman Grace Royer scored the first goal of her collegiate career against Yale on Oct. 7. The tally proved to be the game-winner against the Bulldogs.
 
NCAA RANKINGS (TEAM):
* 4th – Save Percentage (.823)
* 9th – Shutouts Per Game (0.40)
* 9th – Goals Against Average (1.10)
* 18th – Win Percentage (.700)
 
NCAA RANKINGS (INDIVIDUAL):
Maddie Henry
* 1st – Save Percentage (.837)
* 6th – Goals Against Average (0.94)
* 15th – Win Percentage (.714)
Isabel Josephs
* 77th – Assists Per Game (0.40)
Katie Carlson
* 44th – Assists Per Game (0.50)
Sam McILwrick
* 124th – Goals Per Game (0.40)
* 129th – Points Per Game (1.00)
Krysten Mayers
* 139th – Goals Per Game (0.38)
* 129th – Points Per Game (1.00)
 
CAREER RECORD LIST:
Kelly Johnson
* Has set the Cornell record for wins (24), 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.
* Ranks 14th in saves (134) … Needs 17 more to tie Lori Blutinger (2001-04) in 14th place.
Krysten Mayers
* Ranks second in goals (39) … Needs one more to match Linda Miller's (1980-83) school record.
* Ranks fourth in points (91) … Needs three more to match the school record set by Catie DeStio (2007-10).
* Ranks third in game-winning goals (10) … Needs one more to move into a tie with Linda Miller (1980-83) in second place.
* Ranks 17th in assists (13) … Needs one more to move into a four-way tie for 13th place.
Katie Carlson
* Ranks 12th in points (52) … Needs six more to move into a tie with Beth Paciello (1985-88) in 11th place and 10 more to move into the top 10.
* Ranks 12th in goals (18) … Needs four more to move into a tie with Katy Weeks (2013-16) in 11th place and eight more to move into the top 10.
* Ranks 13th in game-winning goals (5) … Needs one more to move into a tie with Abbi Horn (2005-08) and Kelly Boutin (1996-99) in 11th place and two more to move into the top 10.
* Ranks eighth in assists (16) … Needs one more to move into a tie with Carissa Mirasol (2000-03)  in sevnth place.
Sam McILwrick
* Ranks fifth in defensive saves (4) … Needs one more to move into a tie with Kimmy Gardner (2000-03) and Natalie Appleton (2006-09) in third place.
Maddie Henry
* Ranks 15th in wins (9) … Needs two more to move into a tie with Kelly Clark (1983-85) for 14th place.
* Ranks 17th in shutouts (2) … Needs one more to move into a tie with Shannon Prescott (2005-07) for 16th place and two more to move into the top 10.
 
SHUT OUT STREAK:
* When Penn scored in the 11th minute of its game against the Big Red, it snapped sophomore goalie Maddie Henry's shutout streak at 291:09.
* The 291:09 streak, which began during the final game of the 2016 season vs. Dartmouth, is the second longest in program history, behind only Sue Zieman, who went 349:30 over the final five games of the 1985 season without giving up a goal.
* During her streak, Zieman posted four straight shutouts, two of which went to double overtime, before allowing a goal at the 39:30 mark in a win over Cortland in the season finale. 
 
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Kelly Johnson was named the Ivy League Player of the Week on Sept. 11 after matching a career-high with 10 saves to help Cornell upset No. 24 Maine, 2-0, in a neutral site game.  Of Johnson's 10 saves, seven came in the final 31 minutes as the Big Red clung to the one-goal advantage. 
 
ONE-GOAL GAME STREAK: Cornell opened the 2017 campaign with five consecutive one-goal decisions, posting a 4-1 record in the process.
* Cornell has had five or more one-goal games in a row 11 times in field hockey history.
* Of those 11 instances, only four have taken place during Coach Hornibrook's tenure and in three of the four the Big Red has posted a winning record (2006: 1-5).
* Of the seven instances prior to Coach Hornibrook's arrival, the Big Red posted a winning record just once (1988: 3-2).
* The last time the Big Red had five straight games decided by a single goal came during the 2012 season (3-2).
* The longest streak of one-goal games in Cornell history was nine and it came during the 1992 season and included one tied contest. During that streak, the Big Red went 1-7-1.
 
THE UNDEFEATED: At the time of its first loss of the season to No. 24 Rutgers on Sept. 15, Cornell was one of just four undefeated field hockey teams remaining in the nation, joining UConn, Syracuse and Penn State.
 
WINNING WAYS: With the win over Maine on Sept. 10, Cornell tied the school record for consecutive victories (8), previously set during the 2008-2009 seasons.
 
STRONG START: With its four wins to open the season, Cornell got off to its best start (4-0) since the 2009 squad went 7-0.
 
KNOCK THREE TIMES: Under Coach Hornibrook, the Big Red is 80-4 in games in which it scores at least three goals, a mark that was raised when it defeated Yale (3-2) on Oct. 7. The last time the Big Red scored three goals and lost the contest came in a 4-3 decision to Penn on Sept. 21, 2013.
 
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 109-14 record in games in which they have scored first. Conversely, the team has won only 17 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 Oct. 23, 2016 as Cornell overcame an early 1-0 deficit to defeat Rider, 3-1.
 
CLOSE CALLS: Cornell's 3-2 win over Yale on Oct. 7 continued the Big Red's trend of playing in one-goal games. Since the start of the 2006 season, the Big Red has won 103 games, with 52 coming in one-goal games (.504), including 13 in overtime. During that same span, Cornell has lost 75 games, with 45 of those coming by a single goal (.600), including 18 in overtime
 
OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN: Seniors Katie Carlson, Isabel Josephs, and Sam McILwrick have been selected as team captains for the 2017 season. McILwrick served as co-captain during the 2016 season as well, making her just the ninth player in Big Red field hockey history to be named captain twice.
 
RETURNING REGIONAL ALL-AMERICANS: Cornell returns a pair of Mideast Region All-American second-team selections to the roster in seniors Krysten Mayers and Sam McILwrick.
 
BIG RED INTERNATIONAL: This past summer, Cornell sophomore Rose Gorski helped Team USA to a silver medals at the 2017 Maccabi Games.
 
10 WINS: Cornell finished the 2016 season with a 10-7 record, winning at least 10 games in nine of Coach Hornibrooks' 13 seasons. She is the only field hockey coach in Big Red history to lead the team to a single 10-win season.
 
RECAPPING 2016: Cornell finished the 2016 season on a four-game winning streak, including an upset of No. 13 Princeton, to post a 10-7 record overall and a mark of 4-3 in the Ivy League. The Big Red finished ranked third in the Ivy League, posting its fourth consecutive top-three finish and earned double-digit wins for the fourth straight season and the ninth time in head coach Donna Hornibrook's 13-year career. With the Big Red's win over Brown on Oct. 21, Hornibrook earned the 116th win of her career with Cornell, surpassing Shelby (Pontz) Bowman to become the winningest coach in the history of the Big Red field hockey program. Following the season, the trio of Katy Weeks '17, Krysten Mayers '18 and Sam McILwrick '18 were honored by the Ivy League and the NFHCA. Weeks was named All-Ivy for the fourth time of her illustrious career, taking home first-team honors, along with McILwrick, while Mayers was named to the second-team. Weeks went on to be named to the All-Mideast Region first-team, while both Mayers and McILwrick were named to the second team. 
 
UP NEXT: The Big Red is back in action next weekend when it plays host to Brown at Marsha Dodson Field on Saturday, Oct. 21 at 11:30 a.m.