ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell field hockey team enters the inaugural Ivy League Tournament with plenty of motivation. The Big Red kicks off the event against perennial power Princeton, which has reached three national semifinals in seven seasons under head coach Cara Tagliente, on Friday, Nov. 3 at 12 p.m. at Harvard's Berylson Field. The Tigers are one of two teams in the field that has defeated Cornell this season, joining top-seeded Harvard. A win over Princeton would snap a six-game skid against the Tigers and put it up against either the top-seeded Crimson or Penn for a chance to represent the Ancient Eight at the national championship tourney. The Ivy semifinal will be broadcast live on ESPN+.

GAME INFORMATION
(3) Princeton vs. #17 (2) Cornell
DATE & TIME: Friday, Nov. 3 at 12 p.m.
SITE: Berylson Field – Cambridge, Mass.
RECORDS: Princeton (7-8, 5-2 Ivy League), Cornell (12-4, 5-2 Ivy League)
SERIES RECORD: Princeton leads 36-6-3
BROADCAST: ESPN+
STATS: GoCrimson.com
DIGITAL PROGRAM: CornellBigRed.com

STORYLINES
• Cornell is participating in the inaugural Ivy League Tournament as the No. 2 seed and is two wins from earning the program's first NCAA Tournament bid.
• This will be the second time this season the Big Red gets a crack at a team that had beaten it previously this year – Cornell opened the season with a 4-2 defeat at Syracuse, but answered on October 15 with a 2-1 victory in double overtime in Ithaca.
• Ranked 17th in the country in the latest national poll, the Big Red is slotted at its highest spot in the history of the NFHCA poll.
• Cornell enters the weekend leading the nation in goals (3.62), assists (3.88) and points per game (11.12), and ranks in the top three in Division I in scoring average (second, 3.40) and scoring margin (third, 2.17).
• Senior All-American Caroline Ramsey, the nation's leader in points and goals per game, already owns school records for single-game goals (4); season goals (24), points (54) and defensive saves (11 in 2022); and career goals (55), points (123) and defensive saves (19).
• The four-time Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week is a first-team All-America and Ivy League Player of the Year candidate.
• Freshman goalkeeper Martha Broderick leads a stingy defense that has buckled down since surrendering four goals in a 12-4 win over Colgate.
• The three-time Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week is 5-1 with a 0.49 goals against average, an .897 save percentage and four shutouts in victories over Yale (3-0), Penn (2-0), No. 13 Syracuse (2-1, 2OT), Brown (1-0) and Boston University (6-0).
• Additionally, sophomore Grace Leahy stands second in the Ancient Eight in goals (0.73) to rank 20th in the country, while Julia Ramsey (1.13) leads the nation in assists with teammate Claire Wolfe (0.88) third in the country.
• The Big Red as a team has set season records for goals (58), assists (62), points (178) and wins (12).
• Cornell outscored its Ivy foes 18-7 in conference games.

THE SERIES WITH PRINCETON
Overall: Princeton leads 36-6-3, first meeting in 1978
At Neutral Sites: First-ever meeting
Current Streak: Princeton, 6
Last Meeting: Princeton, 3-2 2OT SO (9/29/2023 in Princeton, N.J.)
Smith vs. Princeton: 0-4 (0-3 on the road)
Series Notes: Princeton's 36-6-3 edge is bolstered by its current six-game win streak that expands to 14-1 since 2008 … Cornell's last win against the Tigers came in 2016, a 3-2 decision in double overtime … the first-ever meeting between the teams came in 1978 in Ithaca, a 4-0 Princeton triumph.

A WIN OVER PRINCETON WOULD
• advance the Big Red into the first-ever Ivy League championship game.
• up Cornell's record to 13-4 on the season.
• increase its school record season wins total to 13.
• give Cornell a 12-2 record in its past 14 contests.
• narrow Princeton's lead in the all-time series to 36-7-3.
• snap the Tigers' six-game win streak against the Big Red.
• avenge the second of four losses for Cornell this season (Syracuse).
• give Andy Smith a 40-27 record as head coach of the Big Red.
• make Cornell field hockey 366-380-36 all-time since 1972.

LAST TIME OUT: #9 Harvard 2, Cornell 1 (Oct. 28, 2023)  //  Recap  //  Box Score  //   Gallery
• Harvard's Lara Beekhuis blasted home a shot after a rebound with 2.6 seconds remaining to lift the ninth-ranked Crimson to a dramatic 2-1 victory over No. 17 Cornell at Marsha Dodson Field.
• Harvard completed an unbeaten Ivy season (7-0) with the late score and improved to 13-3 overall.
• Cornell had its seven-game win streak snapped and fell to 12-4 overall (5-2 Ivy).
• Trailing 1-0 entering the fourth, Cornell equalized just under two minutes into the final quarter on a brilliant individual effort by Olivia Friedberg.
• The senior dribbled from outside the circle to get off a shot to the right of the goalkeeper and freshman Ashley Plzak got her stick on it to redirect the ball past Harvard goalkeeper Tessa Shahbo.
• The goal was the first allowed by Harvard in the month of October.
• Harvard held a narrow 8-7 edge in shots and a 6-4 advantage on corners.
• The Big Red played without second-leading scorer Grace Leahy, who missed the contest due to injury. 

RECORD WATCH
• Senior Caroline Ramsey's 24 goals has already surpassed her own single-season record set in 2021.
• Ramsey's eight game-winning goals is one more than Alyssa DePaola (2005) and Claire Jones (2019) for most in a season at Cornell.
• With 18 assists, Julia Ramsey is second in season assists, one behind Bridget Mahoney's 2021 record. Claire Wolfe isn't far behind with 14. The duo ranks first and third nationally in assists per game.
• Cornell has broken single season team records for goals (57), assists (61) and points (175).
• Senior Claire Wolfe's 20 career assists rank seventh all-time at Cornell, one short of sixth and two from reaching the top five.
• Sophomore Grace Leahy has 16 career scores, tied for 16^th most by a Big Red player.

THE SCORE
• Cornell's 12 goals against Colgate in a 12-4 win earlier this year was an Ivy League single-game record and is the most by a Division I team this year, as were its 10 assists and 34 points.
• Senior Caroline Ramsey's 24 goals has tripled her 2022 season total of eight and has surpassed her previous single-season record of 18 set in 2021.
• Ramsey enters the weekend looking to build on her school record 123 points.
• With 55 career goals, Ramsey has already surpassed Krysten Mayers '18 who held a Big Red record of 42 scores.
• Ramsey has eight game-winning goals this fall, surpassing the single-season school record of five (Alyssa DePaoloa in 2005, Claire Jones in 2019) and now has 14 for her career, passing Catie DeStio's 12 (2007-10).
• With a total of 18 assists, freshman Julia Ramsey is already second in a single season and is just one shy of Bridget Mahoney's 2021 record of 19.
• Cornell has five scorers with at least 14 points in the same season for the first time in program history.
• Caroline Ramsey and either Grace Leahy or Julia Ramsey have combined for 76 points this season, nine more than the 67 tallied by Cari Hills (36) and Emily Robb (31) in 1995 to become the highest scoring duo in school history.

IVY HONORS
• Three different Cornell players have earned Ivy League Player of the Week accolades a total of eight times so far this season.
• Senior Caroline Ramsey was named Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 11 after tallying five goals with a key defensive save during a 1-2 weekend against NFHCA preseason top 20 opponents.
• She also captured the award on Sept. 25 after scoring seven goals with two assists for 16 points in wins over Dartmouth and Sacred Heart, earning her NFHCA National Offensive Player of the Week.
• Her third award of the year came on Oct. 9 when she tallied four goals and an assist in wins over Colgate and Yale, becoming the school's single-season points leader (41) in the process.
Award No. 4 came on Oct. 16 after scoring five points in Cornell's 2-0 week that included wins over first-place Penn and nationally-ranked Syracuse.
• Sophomore Grace Leahy (Offensive) and Martha Broderick (Defensive) captured weekly honors on Sept. 18 after helping Cornell to a 2-0 weekend, including a victory at Columbia in its Ivy League opener.
• Leahy scored three goals during the Big Red's unbeaten week, including a pair of goals in the team's Ivy League-opening 3-1 win at Columbia and a goal in the final three minutes of regular to send its game vs. American to overtime before the Big Red won 2-1.
• Picking up her first honor, Broderick was 2-0 with nine saves and a 0.90 goals against average over two contests, making seven saves against American, including five after halftime, in the double overtime victory.
• Broderick was later honored on Oct. 16 after going 2-0 with a 0.46 goals against average and an .833 save percentage in wins over Ivy leader Penn and No. 13 Syracuse.
• Her third award came on Oct. 23 after going 2-0 with a pair of shutouts in wins over Brown and Boston University.

PENALTY SHOOTOUT
• Cornell's 3-2 loss to UAlbany (shootout, 4-3) was its first in a penalty shootout since the rule was implemented in 2011.
• It was the Big Red's first game to pass through two overtimes since its 1-0 win over Columbia on Oct. 5, 2019 when the Big Red won 1-0 before  Maddie Henry stopped all five of the Lions' attempts (shootout, 1-0).
• Cornell then fell 3-2 (shootout, 2-1) at Princeton, marking the first time the Big Red has played two games to shootouts in a single season.
• The Big Red is 2-2 in penalty shootouts since it was implemented in 2011 with its first-ever contest a 5-4 win vs. Dartmouth in 2018 (shootout, 2-0).
• In four shootouts, Cornell is 7-for-22 and opponents are 6-for-22 overall after failing on their first 10 attempts.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
• The Big Red entered the 2023 season picked to finish fourth in the Ivy League Preseason poll. 
• Eight members of Cornell's fall 2023 roster to be selected for either a senior national team or a junior selection camp, with Ramsey and Parsons (USA) and Friedberg and Leahy (Canada) joining Georgia Kelly (Ireland), Martha Broderick (Scotland), Annabel Cheveley (England) and Elizabeth Friedberg (Canada).
• With her 19 career defensive saves, Caroline Ramsey already owns the Cornell record.
• Ramsey, a two-time NFHCA first-team regional All-American is looking to become Cornell's first three-time first-teamer. She currently joins Karla Griffin, Carissa Mirasol and Marisa Siergiej as two-time picks.

FOUR NAMED TO NFHCA WATCHLIST
• Four members of the Cornell field hockey team have been named to the 2023 NFHCA Watchlist sponsored by Victory Sports Tours. 
• Senior All-American Caroline Ramsey joins junior Olivia Friedberg, sophomore Grace Leahy and freshman Polly Parsons are among 131 student-athletes named to the initial list.
• Ramsey, an NFHCA third-team All-American in 2022, is a two-time all-region selection and a member of the U.S. National Team. 
• Friedberg was a member of the Canadian women's indoor national team this past season. 
• Leahy was the team's third-leading scorer a season ago as a freshman with five goals and 12 points, with three of her tallies going as game winners. 
• One of just 10 first year players to be recognized, Parsons joins the Big Red after being selected to compete for a spot at the Team USA U-21 National Training Camp. 

UP NEXT
• With a win, Cornell would advance to the Championship game against the winner of #9 Harvard and Penn on Sunday, Nov. 5 at 1 p.m. at Harvard's Berylson Field.
• The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.
• A loss would leave Cornell awaiting a possible NCAA Tournament at-large bid, and would otherwise conclude the 2023 season.