ITHACA, N.Y. - The Big Red field hockey team returns home to play its second Ivy League opponent of the year, Columbia.
 

Game Information

Columbia at Cornell
DATE: Saturday, October 5
TIME: 12:00 PM
SITE: Dodson Field - Ithaca, N.Y. (AstroTurf)
RECORDS: Cornell 4-2, 0-1 Ivy League; Columbia 5-3, 1-0 Ivy League
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads; 17-6
STREAMING: ESPN+ 
STATS: CornellBigRed.com
 
Cornell game notes
Columbia game notes
 

About the Big Red

• In scoring 17 goals in its first six games, the Big Red has its most offensive start to the season since 2014 when Cornell had scored 23 goals in its first six games. The number also matches that of the 2016 squad, with 17 goals. 
• In addition to overcoming No. 18 Syracuse, 2-1, for just the third time in program history, the Big Red earned a double overtime win against Lock Haven, 3-2. After falling to No. 14 Saint Joseph's, 4-2, Cornell came back to win, 4-1, against Lafayette on Monday (9/23). The Big Red fell to Penn, 5-2, in its Ivy League opener (9/28) before beating Colgate, 4-1, on Oct. 1.
• Junior forward Grace Royer leads the team with 13 points on five goals and three assists. Royer scored both goals in the 5-2 loss against Penn on Saturday, in addition to the two goals and two assists previously had. The junior added a goal and an assist against Colgate (10/1).
• Freshman midfielder Caroline Ramsey follows Royer with eight points on four goals. Ramsey was the first of her class to score a goal, scoring two in the first weekend against Syracuse and Lock Haven. She added a goal against Lafayette and against Colgate.
• Sophomore forward Claire Jones is a close third with seven points on two goals and three assists. The sophomore scored two game-winning goals in the first weekend and has assisted on goals against Penn and Colgate.
• Junior midfielder Julianne Mangano scored her second goal on the season against Colgate while freshman Bridget Mahoney netted her first career goal against the Raiders (10/1).
• Totaling 19 wins in her career, senior goalie Maddie Henry's four wins on the season brought her up in Cornell's all-time records. Henry is currently tied for second all-time with Yanaka Bernal (1987-90), Kaitlin Tierney (2000-03) and Alex Botte (2008-11). With one more win, Henry will have the runner-up position all to herself.

 

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.

 

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.

 

About Columbia

• Playing three ranked teams so far, #8 Iowa, #22 Boston U. and #24 Maine, the Lions have won five of their first eight games. Most recently, Columbia beat Brown (9/27) and Quinnipiac (9/29), 4-2 and 2-1, respectively. 
• Within the Ivy League, the Lions found a victory over Brown on Sept. 27.
• Sophomore midfielder Allison Smith and junior midfielder Kelsey Farkas lead the team with 11 points each. Smith has notched five goals and one assist while Farkas has collected four goals and three assists. 
• Smith earned two goals against Brown and one assist against Quinnipiac and Farkas contributed a goal and an assist against Brown.
• Junior goalkeeper Alexa Conomikes has stayed on the field for all eight Lions games. In 476:49 minutes Conomikes has made 41 saves for a .707 save percentage.

 

The Series vs Columbia

• The Big Red first played the Lions in 1991, six seasons before Columbia officially joined the Ivy League. Cornell leads the all-time series, 17-6.
• Despite the lopsided nature of the series, nine of the last 12 games have been one-goal decisions, including four overtime contests.
• The most recent match-up was a Columbia win, 2-0, at the Columbia Field Hockey Stadium in 2018.

 

Up Next

• The Big Red will travel to New Haven, Conn. to face its third Ivy League opponent, Yale, on Saturday, October 12. Cornell will stay in Connecticut for the night to face California in a neutral game, at Yale, on Sunday, October 13.