GAME INFORMATION
GAME #9: Cornell at Columbia
GAME TIME: Sunday, Sept. 30, at 12:00 p.m.
GAME SITE: Columbia Field Hockey Stadium (New York, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 17-5
LAST MEETING: Columbia won, 2-1, Sept. 30, 2017 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2018 RECORDS: Cornell (2-6, 0-1 Ivy); Columbia (5-3, 1-0 Ivy)
LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/columbia/fhockey
LIVE VIDEO: https://es.pn/2QvxUML
 
THE MATCHUP: The Big Red field hockey team hits the road in search of its first Ivy League victory when it travels to New York City to take on Columbia at noon on Sunday, Sept. 30. Live stats will be available at: http://www.sidearmstats.com/columbia/fhockey, while the game will be streamed live on ESPN+ at: https://es.pn/2QvxUML.
 
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 17-5 all-time against Columbia. Despite the lopsided nature of the series, nine of the last 11 meetings have been decided by a single goal, including four overtime contests.
 
SCOUTING THE LIONS: Columbia has won two in a row, including its Ivy League opener against Brown, to improve to 5-3 overall and 1-0 in the conference.  
* Junior Jennifer Trieschman leads the team in both goals (7) and points (17).
* Senior Katherine Cavanaugh has a team-high four assists.
* Senior Katie Dempsey has started all eight games in goal for Columbia and has posted a .712 save percentage to go along with a 1.84 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 a Division I Scholar 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 (12) … Needs one 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.
 
KNOCK THREE TIMES: Since the start of the 2004 season, the Big Red is 83-5 in games in which it scores at least three goals, a mark that was raised when it defeated Colgate, 3-1, on Sept. 25.
* 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 18 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 Sept. 26, 2018 as Cornell overcame an early 1-0 deficit to defeat Colgate, 3-1.
 
CLOSE CALLS: Cornell's 1-0 loss vs. Penn on Sept. 22 continued the Big Red's trend of playing in one-goal games. Since the start of the 2006 season, the Big Red has won 108 games, with 54 coming in one-goal games (.500), including 14 in overtime. During that same span, Cornell has lost 84 games, with 47 of those coming by a single goal (.560), including 19 in overtime.
 
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME: The Big Red is 54-29 (.651) all-time on Marsha Dodson Field. Collectively, the team has outscored its opponents by a margin of 191-125 and has taken significantly more shots (1,409-853) than its opponents. The defense has been equally solid in the circle, allowing just 439 penalty corners (5.3 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: Cornell returns to Dodson Field nest weekend to take on Yale at noon on Saturday, Oct. 6.