GAME INFORMATION
GAME #8: Cornell vs. Columbia
GAME TIME: Saturday, Sept. 30, at 12:00 p.m.
GAME SITE: Marsha Dodson Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 17-4
LAST MEETING: Columbia won, 3-2, Sept. 30, 2016 (New York, N.Y.)
2017 RECORDS: Cornell (5-2, 0-1 Ivy); Columbia (4-4, 1-0 Ivy)
LIVE STATS
LIVE VIDEO
 
GAME #9: Cornell vs. Lock Haven
GAME TIME: Sunday, Oct. 1, at 1:00 p.m.
GAME SITE: Marsha Dodson Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Lock Haven leads, 5-4
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 4-0, Sept. 18, 2016 (Lock Haven, Pa.)
* 2017 RECORDS: Cornell (5-2, 0-1 Ivy); Lock Haven (6-4, 1-3 A10)
LIVE STATS
LIVE VIDEO
 
* records prior to Lock Haven's contest on Friday and Cornell's game on Saturday.
 
THE STORY LINE: The Big Red field hockey team will host a pair of games this weekend at Marsha Dodson Field. Cornell will seek its first Ivy League win of the season vs. Columbia on Saturday, Sept. 30 at noon, before it welcomes Lock Haven on Sunday, Oct. 1 at 1 p.m.
 
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 17-4 all-time against Columbia. Despite the lopsided nature of the series, eight of the last 10 meetings have been decided by a single goal, including four overtime contests.
 
SCOUTING THE LIONS: After losing its first three games of the season, Columbia has rebounded with four wins in its last five outings, including a 4-0 decision in its Ivy League opener vs. Brown, to even its record at 4-4. Penalty corner offense and defense is a big part of the Lions' success, as half of the team's goals this season have come on penalty corners (11), while allowing just three penalty corner goals to their opponents. Maeve Doherty leads the Ivy League in goals (7) and points (20), marks that are good for 14th and fifth in the nation, respectively, while ranking second overall in the conference and 14th in the country with six assists. She also ranks first in the Ancient Eight and third in the nation with four defensive saves. Michelle Thompson ranks first in the Ivy League and is 11th in the nation with seven assists. In goal, Katie Dempsey has started all eight games for the Lions and has allowed at least one goal in all but one contest. On the year, she has averaged 5.5 saves per game and posted a .638 save percentage to go along with a 3.03 goals-against average.
 
LAST TIME VS. COLUMBIA: Sam McILwrick scored with 41 seconds remaining to play, but Cornell could not find the equalizer as Columbia ran out the clock to seal a 3-2 victory on Sept. 30, 2016 in New York City. McILwrick's late goal capped an outstanding performance in which the junior captain scored, added an assist, and posted a defensive save to the Big Red effort. The Lions made the most of their chances, holding a slim edge in shots (16-14), but putting 10 of its shots on goal, while Cornell put just six on frame. The Big Red had the advantage in penalty corners (9-7) but scored on just one of its opportunities.  In goal, Kelly Johnson finished with five saves, and was aided by defensive saves from McILwrick and Luisa Schulte-Bockum. In the Columbia net, Kendall Kuntz made just two saves, but received defensive saves from Maeve Doherty and Rebecca Bard. Columbia scored just under two minutes into the contest after an early penalty corner saw Johnson make a pair of saves, but Bard picked up the rebound and sent it to Whitney Harstone, who beat Johnson on the right side.  It didn't take long for the Big Red to answer, as a penalty corner goal from Katy Weeks in the 14th minute knotted the game at 1-1. Katie Carlson and McILwrick earned assists on the goal.  Back-to-back goals by Katie Rusterholz in the 25th and 51st minute proved to be the difference, as Kuntz managed one save down the stretch, and Lion defenders blocked three Cornell shots before McILwrick's late tally.
 
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 5-4 advantage in the series, but of the nine meetings, seven have been decided by a single goal, including five overtime contests. LHU won the first two meetings, before Cornell won three consecutive contests. The Lady Eagles regained the lead in the series with three straight overtime victories in 2012, 2013, and 2015, but the Big Red rebounded with the most lopsided victory in the series, a 4-0 a year ago.
 
SCOUTING THE LADY EAGLES: After winning six of its first seven games, Lock Haven (6-4) has dropped three straight Atlantic 10 contests heading into Friday night's game vs. Davidson. The team has been battle tested, with five one-goal decisions, including four overtime contests. Junior Alyscia Smith leads the squad with seven goals and 17 points, while freshman Tia Judy has a team-best five assists, most of which have come on penalty corner goals. Junior midfielder Tamia Roach is also a potent scoring threat with five goals and two assists on the year.  In the cage, senior Paige Stuppy has played every second for Lock Haven and has posted a .758 save percentage to go along with a 1.41 goals-against average.
 
LAST TIME VS. LOCK HAVEN: The Big Red had three different players register four goals and goalkeeper Kelly Johnson made two saves to earn the 20th win of her career, as the Big Red defeated Lock Haven 4-0. Johnson's win eclipsed the school record, previously held by Alex Botte '12, Kaitlin Tierney '04 and Yanaka Bernal '91. Cornell (4-2) took just nine shots on the day, but made the most of its opportunities by putting seven of those shots on goal and scoring on over half of those chances. The Big Red held Lock Haven to just six shots overall, and had the 5-3 edge in penalty corners. Lady Eagles' goalie Paige Stuppy made three saves and allowed three goals in 46:08 before giving way to Brianna Deangelis who allowed the final goal of the day without making a save. Katie Carlson put Cornell up, 1-0, off a pass from Krysten Mayers, a mark that would stand until the intermission. The Big Red's offense exploded in the second half, including consecutive goals by Mayers and Carlson in a span of under three minutes. Mayers' goal came on an impressive individual effort, while Carlson scored off a great pass form Katy Weeks. Weeks also assisted on the final goal of the day when she set up Gabby DePetro.
 
THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Donna Hornibrook is in her 14th season at Cornell (124-97, .561) ... 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 295-144-10 (.668) record as a head coach, including a 111-39-4 mark at Houghton and a 60-8-6 record at New Brunswick.
 
RPI RANKINGS: Cornel is ranked 24th in the second RPI of the season, one of four Ivy League teams in the top 25, joining Harvard (10), Princeton (14) and Penn (25). As a conference, the Ancient Eight has the third most teams in the top 25, behind only the ACC (seven) and Big Ten (five).
  
THE 300: Head Coach Donna Hornibrook is closing in on 300 career wins, with 295 victories to her credit.  To date, she has 124 wins with Cornell, 111 at Houghton, and 60 at New Brunswick.
 
SHUTOUT 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. 
 
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME: The Big Red is 49-26 all-time on Marsha Dodson Field. Collectively, the team has outscored its opponents by a margin of 173-114 and has taken significantly more shots (1,282-777) than its opponents. The defense has been equally solid in the circle, allowing just 392 penalty corners (5.2 per game).
 
GREAT GOALIE DUO: Senior Kelly Johnson and sophomore Maddie Henry have split time through Cornell's first seven games of the season and have combined for four shutouts. Together, they have helped Cornell to rank first in the nation in save percentage (.860), fourth in shutouts per game (0.57), and sixth in goals-against average (0.86).
 
NCAA RANKINGS (TEAM):
* 1st – Save Percentage (.860)
* 4th – Shutouts Per Game (0.57)
* 6th – Goals Against Average (0.86)
* 14th – Win Percentage (.714)
 
NCAA RANKINGS (INDIVIDUAL):
Maddie Henry
* 1st – Save Percentage (.920)
* 1st – Goals Against Average (0.45)
* 13th – Win Percentage (.750)
Isabel Josephs
* 30th – Assists Per Game (.57)
 
CAREER RECORD WATCH:
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 third in goals (37) … Needs one more to move into a tie with Marisa Siergiej (2012-15) in second place and four more to match Linda Miller's (1980-83) school record.
* Ranks fifth in points (87) … Needs four more to move into a tie with Hannah Balleza (2010-13) in fourth place and seven more to match the school record set by Catie DeStio (2007-10).
* Ranks third in game-winning goals (9) … Needs two more to move into a tie with Linda Miller (1980-83) in third 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 (50) … Needs eight 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 13th in assists (14) … Needs one more to move into a four-way tie for ninth place.
Sam McILwrick
* Ranks fifth in defensive saves … Needs one more to move into a tie with Kimmy Gardner (2000-03) and Natalie Appleton (2006-09) in third place.
Maddie Henry
* Ranks 18th in wins (7) … Needs one more to move into a tie with Jane Matler (1978) and Shea Maultsby (1979-82) for 16th 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.
 
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 GAMES: 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: 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 79-4 in games in which it scores at least three goals, a mark that was raised when it defeated No. 24 Maine (3-2) on Sept. 10.
 
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 107-14 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 2-1 loss to No. 24 Rutgers on Sept. 15 continued the Big Red's trend of playing in one-goal games. Since the start of the 2006 season, the Big Red has won 101 games, with 50 coming in one-goal games (.495), including 13 in overtime. . During that same span, Cornell has lost 74 games, with 44 of those coming by a single goal (.606), 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 next two weekends feature back-to-back Ivy League contests with games at Yale (Oct. 7) and at home against Harvard (Oct. 14). Cornell has won its last three meetings with the Bulldogs to improve to 21-17-1 in the series, but fell to the Crimson a season ago to slip to 27-13-4 all-time.