GAME INFORMATION
GAME #6: Cornell vs. Penn
GAME TIME: Saturday, Sept. 22, at 12:00 p.m.
GAME SITE: Marsha Dodson Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Penn leads, 26-14-2
LAST MEETING: Penn won, 2-0, Sept. 23, 2017 (Philadelphia, Pa.)
2018 RECORDS: Cornell (1-5, 0-0 Ivy); Penn (3-3, 0-0 Ivy)
LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/fhockey
LIVE VIDEO: https://es.pn/2xhr1q3
 
HOMECOMING WEEKEND: The Big Red field hockey team is back in action this weekend when it opens Ivy League play vs. Penn at Marsha Dodson Field for Homecoming on Saturday, Sept. 22 at noon. Live stats will be available at: http://www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/fhockey, while the game will be streamed live on ESPN+ at: https://es.pn/2xhr1q3.
 
IVY OPENERS: Cornell opens its 40th season of Ivy League play this weekend against Penn.
* The Big Red is 16-20-3 all-time in conference openers, thanks mostly to a 13-8 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 Penn and Princeton more than any other team in conference openers.
* Cornell has met Penn 17 times in its conference opener, posting a 6-10-1 record against the Quakers.
* The Big Red 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.
 
THE SERIES WITH PENN: The Big Red and the Quakers have squared off 42 times since first meeting in 1976 and Penn holds a 26-14-2 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 13. The series has been incredibly close in recent years, with 18 of the last 26 meetings between the two squads being decided by one goal, with nine overtime contests.
 
SCOUTING THE QUAKERS: Penn brings a 3-3 record into Ivy League play.
* Four of the Quakers' six opponents – No. 14 Wake Forest, No. 2 UNC, No. 15 Saint Joseph's and No. 16 Iowa – were nationally ranked at the time, with Penn going 1-3 with a  season-opening overtime win against the Demon Deacons.
*Senior Rachel Mirkin has scored three of the team's five goals on the season.
* Alexa Schneck has a team-high three assists.  
* Ava Rosati has played nearly every minute in goal for the Quakers and has posted a .644 save percentage and a 2.60 goals-against average.
 
FIRST POINTS: With new faces up and down the lineup, a pair of Big Red – Claire Jones (one goal) and Juliana Tardif (one assist) – registered their first career points in a 3-1 win vs. Rider.
 
FRESH START: Laura Kubit saw her first collegiate minutes when she earned the start vs. Rider. The freshman goalie made two saves to earn the win.
 
RETURNING ALL-IVY: Cornell had four players named All-Ivy a year ago, with two returning for their junior seasons. Goalie Maddie Henry was named to the second-team, while midfielder Maddy Conklin was named honorable mention.
 
SMARTY PANTS: The Big Red placed 11 student-athletes on the 2017 ZAG Field Hockey/NFHCA Division I National Academic Squad, including Taylor Gladd who was named Division I Scholars of Distinction for having achieved a cumulative GPA of 3.90 or higher through the first semester of the 2017-18 academic year.
* Cornell has had at least four players earn the honor in 12 of the past 14 seasons.
* In addition to the individual accolades, the squad earned the NFHCA Collegiate National Academic Team Award for the 10th time since 2004.
 
CORNELL CAREER RECORD LIST:
Maddie Henry
* Ranks 14th in wins (11) … Needs two more to move into a tie with Karen Kuhn (1975-77) for 13th 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.
 
FRESH FACE: Alesha Widdall, a seven-year member of the US Women's Field Hockey Senior National Team, has joined the Big Red staff as an assistant coach for the 2018 season.
* A member of the 2016 US Olympic training team, Widdall helped prepare the US squad that took fifth place overall at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
* In total, she has won seven medals with Team USA, including gold medals at the 2017 World League Semifinals, the 2014 Champions Challenge, and the 2013 World League Round 2.
 
10 WINS: Cornell has reached double-digit wins in each of the last six straight season.
 
KNOCK THREE TIMES: Since the start of the 2004 season, the Big Red is 82-5 in games in which it scores at least three goals, a mark that was raised when it defeated Rider, 3-1, on Sept. 9.
* The last time Cornell scored three time came up short was a 4-3 overtime loss to No. 13 Harvard on Oct. 14, 2017.
 
EARLY LEADS: Scoring first has been a big part of the Big Red's success in recent years. Since the 2004 season, Cornell has posted an impressive 113-15 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 Donna 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 at Vermont on Sept. 16 continued the Big Red's trend of playing in one-goal games. Since the start of the 2006 season, the Big Red has won 107 games, with 54 coming in one-goal games (.509), including 14 in overtime. During that same span, Cornell has lost 83 games, with 46 of those coming by a single goal (.554), including 19 in overtime.
  
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME: The Big Red is 53-28 (.654) all-time on Marsha Dodson Field. Collectively, the team has outscored its opponents by a margin of 188-123 and has taken significantly more shots (1,383-833) than its opponents. The defense has been equally solid in the circle, allowing just 423 penalty corners (5.2 per game).
 
SHUT OUT STREAK:
* Last season, goalie Maddie Henry recorded the second-longest shutout streak in Cornell history, standing at 291:09.
* The 291:09 streak, which began during the final game of the 2016 season vs. Dartmouth and ended vs. Penn on Sept. 23, 2017, is second 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.
 
OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN: Senior Gabby DePetro and junior Maddie Henry have been selected as team captains for the 2018 season.
 
RECAPPING 2017: Cornell finished the 2017 season with a 10-6 record, giving the program double-digit wins for the fifth straight season and the ninth time in Hornibrook's 14-year tenure. The 10th victory of the season at Dartmouth gave Coach Hornibrook her 300th win as a head coach and also tied the Class of 2018 with the Class of 2011 and 2017 as the winningest class in program history with 42 victories during their four-year career. The program saw several individual records fall in 2017, most notably Krysten Mayers '18 breaking the school's 34-year old career points record (99), as well as the school mark for career goals (42). Additionally, goalkeeper Kelly Johnson '18 closed her illustrious career as the Big Red's career wins leader (25). Following the season, Sam McILwrick '18 was named a unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection. The senior back headlined four Big Red selections, as she was joined by Mayers and sophomore Maddie Henry on the second-team, while sophomore Maddy Conklin was named honorable mention. The four Ivy selections were the most for Cornell since having five honorees during the 2014 season. McIlwrick and Mayers went on to be named to the Longstreth/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division I All-Mideast Region team, with McILwrick earning first-team honors and Mayers being named to the second team
 
UP NEXT: The Big Red welcomes Colgate for a midweek matchup at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 25 at Marsha Dodson Field.