GAME INFORMATION
GAME #3: Cornell vs. No. 23 Rutgers
GAME TIME: Friday, Sept. 7, at 3:00 p.m.
GAME SITE: Bauer Track and Field Complex (Piscataway, N.J.)
SERIES RECORD: Rutgers leads, 7-3
LAST MEETING: Rutgers won, 2-1, Sept. 15, 2017 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2018 RECORDS: Cornell (0-2, 0-0 Ivy); Rutgers (3-0, 0-0 B10)
LIVE STATS: https://scarletknights.com/sidearmstats/fhockey
LIVE VIDEO: https://www.btn2go.com/game/cornell-at-rutgers-on-09072018
 
GAME #4: Cornell vs. Rider
GAME TIME: Sunday, Sept. 9, at 1:00 p.m.
GAME SITE: Dodson Field (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 3-1
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 1-0, Oct. 23, 2016 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
* 2018 RECORDS: Cornell (0-2, 0-0 Ivy); Rider (1-2, 0-0 MAAC)
LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/fhockey
LIVE VIDEO: https://watch.espnplus.com/sports/
 
* records prior to contests on Friday.
 
THE WEEKEND: The Cornell field hockey team will face its toughest test of the young season when it travels to No. 23 Rutgers on Friday, Sept. 7, before returning to Ithaca for its home opener vs. Rider at Marsha Dodson Field on Sunday, Sept. 9.
 
THE SERIES WITH RUTGERS: Cornell and Rutgers have played 10 games since first meeting in 1996. The Big Red won the first meeting before dropping back-to-back games in 1997 and 1998. Cornell would go on to win two in a row again in 2004 and 2006, but have lost the last five outings, to see the Scarlet Knights take the 7-3 lead in the series.
 
SCOUTING THE SCARLET KNIGHTS: No. 23 Rutgers jumped into the national rankings after opening the season with three consecutive wins over Richmond, Hofstra, and No. 18 Saint Joseph's.
* The team had outscored its opponents, 14-2, thanks in large part to an 8-0 win over Hofstra.
* Daphne Groothuis leads Rutgers in goals (3), assists (6) and points (12), while Austyn Cuneo and Kassidy Shetler have added two goals apiece.
* Gianna Glatz has started all three games in goal for the Scarlet Knights and has posted an .818 save percentage and a 0.76 goals-against average.
 
VS. THE BIG TEN: Cornell has a 3-9 record all-time vs. the current members of the Big 10, with all three victories coming against Ruters (3-7). The Big Red is also 0-1 all-time vs. Michigan State and Penn State. Cornell has never faced Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Northwestern, or Ohio State.
 
THE SERIES WITH RIDER: Cornell leads the Broncs, 3-1, in the all-time series, but the teams have met just once since the 1997 season. The Big Red won big in 1995 (3-0) and 1997 (4-0) with Rider taking a one-goal win in 1996 (1-0). Cornell ended the one-game Broncs' winning streak with a 1-0 victory in 2016.
 
SCOUTING THE BONCS: Rider is off to a 1-2 start to the season with a pair of losses to Drexel (8-2) and Appalachian State (4-3, OT), and a 5-0 victory against Davidson.
* Rider was picked to finish fourth in the MAAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, while Alison Amen, Jessica Randazzo, Lena Vandam and Kaitlyn Flemming were all named to the Preseason All-MAAC Team.
* Tess Coorens leads the team with three goals, while Julia Divorra has a team-high two assists.
* Lena Vandam has played every minute in goal and has posted a .500 save percentage and a 3.82 goals-against average.
 
VS. THE MAAC: The Big Red is 13-2 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 (2-1), Rider (3-1), and Sacred Heart (1-0), but has never faced Quinnipiac.
 
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.
 
SLIM MARGIN: Last season, the Big Red had 12 games decided by a single goal, going 8-4 in the process.
* The 12 one-goal games were the most in program history, surpassing the previous high of 11, reached three times before (1992, 1996, 2001), with the 1992 season also featuring two ties, as the Big Red went 4-7-2 during that stretch
 
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.
 
KNOCK THREE TIMES: Since the start of the 2004 season, the Big Red is 81-5 in games in which it scores at least three goals, a mark that was raised when it defeated Lehigh, 4-0, on Oct. 29, 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 112-14 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 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 at Dartmouth on Nov. 4, 2017 continued the Big Red's trend of playing in one-goal games. Since the start of the 2006 season, the Big Red has won 106 games, with 54 coming in one-goal games (.509), including 14 in overtime. During that same span, Cornell has lost 80 games, with 44 of those coming by a single goal (.550), including 19 in overtime
 
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME: The Big Red is 52-28 (.650) all-time on Marsha Dodson Field. Collectively, the team has outscored its opponents by a margin of 185-122 and has taken significantly more shots (1,375-824) than its opponents. The defense has been equally solid in the circle, allowing just 415 penalty corners (5.2 per game).
 
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 will head to Vermont next weekend to participate in the Catamount Classic, facing Maine on Friday, Sept. 14, before taking on host Vermont on Sunday, Sept. 16. Cornell has won three in a row against both Maine and Vermont, evening both series at 3-3.