ITHACA, N.Y. - The Cornell field hockey team will play a pair of games against Harvard and UAlbany, this upcoming weekend (Oct. 19-20). The Big Red will host Harvard on Saturday for a special Make-A-Wish game, before traveling to Albany on Sunday.
 

Game Information

#14 Harvard at Cornell
DATE: Saturday, October 19
TIME: 12:00 PM
SITE: Dodson Field - Ithaca, N.Y. (AstroTurf)
RECORDS: Cornell 7-3, 2-1 Ivy League; Harvard 9-3, 3-0 Ivy League
SERIES RECORD: Harvard leads; 28-13-4
STREAMING: ESPN+
STATS: CornellBigRed.com
 
Cornell at #22 UAlbany
DATE: Sunday, October 20
TIME: 5:00 PM
SITE: Dodson Field - Ithaca, N.Y. (AstroTurf)
*RECORDS: Cornell 7-3, 2-1 Ivy League; Albany 9-5, 1-1 America East Conference
SERIES RECORD: Albany leads; 6-3
STREAMING: AE.tv
STATS: UAlbanySports.com
 
*records as of 10/17
 
Cornell game notes
 

Make-A-Wish Fundraiser

During the home game against Harvard, the field hockey team will be hosting a fundraiser for Make-A-Wish. There will be a donation table at which the team will be collecting donations and have bracelets, magnets and stickers. In addition to the game-day table, there is an online donation page where anyone can donate. To go to that page, click here.
 
The fundraising effort is being spearheaded by senior midfielder Maddy Conklin. Since being diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis and having her wish granted, Conklin has worked diligently to raise awareness to finding a cure for CF while giving back to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. With the help of volunteers, supporters, and donations, the foundation grants wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions. After having her wish granted in 2010 and becoming a part of the Make-A-Wish family, Conklin interned and volunteered at numerous Make-A-Wish events so that other children could experience the foundation's generosity. With Make-A-Wish holding a special place in her heart, Conklin's passion for both field hockey and the vision of Make-A-Wish will move and inspire others in our community to join the cause.
 

How to Watch

• The Harvard game is one of 13 out of 17 games on the Big Red's schedule to be broadcast on ESPN+, including all Cornell home games and all Ivy League road games.
• ESPN+ is currently only available to fans in the US for $4.99/month or $49.99/year. (https://plus.espn.com/). A similar international platform is the home for fans outside of the U.S., and will feature both live and archived games.

 

About the Big Red

• The Big Red is off to its best season since 2014 when the field hockey team had just two losses after ten games. Cornell has a 7-3 start this season with wins against #18 Syracuse (2-1, 9/7), Lock Haven (2OT) (3-2, 9/8), Lafayette (4-1, 9/23), Colgate (4-1, 10/1), Columbia (2OT SO) (1-0, 10/5), Yale (2-1, 10/13) and Bucknell (1-0, 10/15).
• Cornell is also having its best offensive season, so far, since 2016 with 25 goals in the first ten games. 
• Junior forward Grace Royer leads the team with 14 points on five goals and four assists. She scored goals against Lafayette (2), Penn (2), and Colgate. She notched assists against Syracuse, Lafayette, Colgate and Yale.
• Sophomore forward Claire Jones follows Royer with 11 points on four goals and three assists. The sophomore scored two game-winning goals in the first weekend and has assisted on goals against Penn and Colgate. She later scored two goals against Yale.
• Freshman midfielder Caroline Ramsey follows Jones with eight points on four goals. She scored goals against Syracuse, Lock Haven, Lafayette and Colgate.
• Totaling 22 wins in her career, senior goalie Maddie Henry's seven wins on the season have led her to the runner-up position in Cornell's career record list. She needs five more wins to pass Kelly Johnson (2014-17), who has 25 wins in her career.

 

Work as a Team, Win as a Team

• The Cornell Big Red field hockey team ranks (national rankings as of 10/15):
  • 16th in the nation in winning percentage (.714); tied with Northwestern
  • 18th in the nation in defensive save (3); tied with 15 other teams
  • 18th in the nation in assists per game (2); tied with Old Dominion, Villanova and UMass Lowell
  • 24th in the nation in points per game (6.86)
  • 25th in the nation in goals per game (2.43)
  • 1st in the Ivy League in save percentage (.778)
  • 2nd in the Ivy League in goals against (18)
  • 3rd in the Ivy League in scoring average (2.100)
  • 3rd in the Ivy League in scoring margin (.30)

 

National and Individual Rankings (as of 10/15)

• Maddie Henry ranks 14th in the nation in goalie win-lose percentage (.714); tied with Florien Marcussen (Northwestern)
• Grace Royer ranks 23rd in the nation in points per game (1.86)
• Grace Royer ranks 25th in the nation in goals per game (.71)
• Maddy Conklin ranks 33rd in the nation in assists per game (.5); tied with six other people
• Maddie Henry ranks 42nd in the nation in save percentage (.702)
• Maddie Henry ranks 44th in the nation in goals against average (1.96)

 

Individual Ivy League Rankings

• Kirsten Pienaar
  • Ranks #2 in defensive saves per game (.30); tied with Sara Falkson (Dartmouth)
  • Ranks #2 in defensive saves (2); tied with five other people
• Claire Jones
  • Ranks #1 in game-winning goals per game (.300)
  • Ranks #1 in game-winning goals (3); tied with Allison Smith (Columbia) and Hannah Davey (Princeton)
• Grace Royer
  • Ranks #5 in points (14)
  • Ranks #5 in points per game (1.40)
  • Ranks #6 in assists (4); tied with three other people
  • Ranks #6 in assists per game (.400)
• Maddie Henry
  • Ranks #1 in shutouts per game (.200)
  • Ranks #1 in save percentage (.760); tied with Ellie Shahbo (Harvard) 
  • Ranks #2 in goals against average (2.072)
  • Ranks #3 in saves per game (5.70)

 

Cornell Career Record List

• Maddie Henry
  • Ranks second in career wins (21) … Needs five more to pass Kelly Johnson (2014-17).
  • Ranks eighth in saves (265) … Needs nine more to pass Sue Zieman (1983-85).
  • Ranks seventh in goalie shutouts (5); tied with Kristi Bullard (1995-98), Molly Kauffman (1994-96) and Yanaka Beranl (1987-90) … Needs one more to be tied for sixth with Kaitlin Tierney (2000-03).

  

Season Marks

• Claire Jones is tied for eighth, with 23 other players, in game-winning goals (3) … Needs one more to be tied for fourth with six other players.
• Caroline Ramsey needs one more goal to be tied for 13th in freshman records.

 

Last Week in Review

• Cornell added an Ivy League win with a 2-1 victory against Yale (10/12). Sophomore Claire Jones led the team in scoring both Big Red goals. Junior Taylor Gladd assisted on both, while fellow junior Grace Royer also assisted on one.
• The Big Red followed the 2-1 win against Yale with a 3-1 loss to Cal (10/13). Assisted by freshman Natalie Stone, junior Julianne Mangano tied the score after one Golden Bear goal in the second quarter, but Cornell was not able to score again. Senior goalie Maddie Henry saved 15 shots for a personal season-high.
• Coming off a split weekend, the Big Red beat Bucknell, 1-0, on Tuesday, Oct. 15. Senior midfielder Kirsten Pienaar scored the lone goal after the team received a penalty stroke.

 

About Harvard

• Playing five ranked teams so far, #22 Albany, #4 Connecticut, #18 Stanford, #13 Liberty and #17 Boston College, the Crimson has a 9-3 record. Most recently, Harvard beat Ivy League foe, Brown, and Massachusetts opponent, UMass Lowell, 4-0.
• Within the Ivy League, Harvard has found victory over Yale (2-1, 9/28), Penn (6-2, 10/5) and Brown (9-1, 10/13).
• Senior midfielder Bente van Vlijmen leads the team with 18 points on seven goals and four assists. In the last week, she scored a goal against Brown.
• Sophomore midfielder/forward Rachel Greenwood follows closely with 17 points on seven goals and three assists. She had her most successful week of 2019 last week with two goals against UMass Lowell and one goal and two assists against Brown.
• Sophomore goalkeeper Ellie Shahbo has played for all but 33 minutes for the Crimson. In 716:30 Shahbo has made 41 saves for a .774 save percentage.

 

The Series vs Harvard

• The Big Red first played the Crimson in 1976, which resulted in a 3-0 Harvard victory.
• The Crimson dominated the series in the beginning allowing just one Big Red win in the first 10 years of the series. This would lead the all-time record to be 28-13-4 in Harvard's favor.
• The series has been much closer in recent years, with Harvard holding an 8-6 advantage in the past 14 meetings.

 

About Albany

• Playing four ranked teams so far, #16 Delaware, #6 Harvard, #5 Princeton and #1 North Carolina, the Great Danes have a 9-5 record. Most recently, Albany fell to New Hampshire, 4-3 (2OT) (10/11), and #1 North Carolina, 4-1 (10/13). Albany will travel to play Monmouth on Friday (10/18) before hosting the Big Red on Sunday (10/20).
• Senior midfielder Dana Bozek leads the team with 25 points on 10 goals and five assists. Within the last week, she scored one unassisted goal against New Hampshire.
• Junior forward Katie MacCallum follows with 22 points on eight goals and six assists. Within the last week, she scored one unassisted goal against New Hampshire.
• Senior goalkeeper Melissa Nealon has played for all but 45 minutes for the Great Danes. In 815:59, Nealon has made 50 saves for a .725 save percentage.

 

The Series vs Albany

• The Big Red first played the Great Danes in 1999, which resulted in a 2-1 Cornell victory.
• Albany holds the 6-3 advantage thanks to its current five-game winning streak. 
• The Great Danes and the Big Red last met in 2015 for a 2-1 Albany victory.

 

National Appeal

• The Big Red has eight different states, as well as Canada and South Africa, represented on the team of 23.
• For the first year New Jersey ties Pennsylvania as the most represented state. Pennsylvania has been the most represented state since 2015. A total of 10 players call New Jersey or Pennsylvania home, five each. The other states with multiple representatives are New York (3) and Texas (2), plus one student-athletes from Connecticut, Maine, Maryland and Texas. 
• There are three international student-athletes as well, two from British Columbia, Canada
• and one from South Africa.
• In addition to our athletes, we have two coaches from California (Hurff and Dempsey), one from Delaware (Orozco) and head coach Andy Smith hails from Doncaster, England.

 

Head Coach Andy Smith

• After serving as the head coach of the field hockey team at the University of the Pacific, Smith was named the head coach of the Cornell field hockey team in May of 2019. 
• Smith comes to East Hill after leading the Pacific Tigers to four regular-season conference titles in six seasons. Smith also coached four student-athletes to All-American honors, in addition to five athletes being selected to participate in FIH World level events.
• Smith brings a new staff of assistant coaches to Cornell this season. Laura Hurff and Johnny Orozco joined the Big Red staff as assistant coaches after successful stints in their respective USA National Teams. Taylor Dempsey joins the team as a volunteer assistant coach after a decorated playing career at the University of the Pacific.

 

Up Next

• After a split home-road weekend the Big Red will return home to host its final Patriot League opponent of 2019, Lehigh, for a 4 p.m. matchup on Tuesday, October 23.