ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell field hockey team kicks off its 2024 campaign when it visits UConn on Friday, Sept. 6 at 1 p.m. at the George J. Sherman Family Sports Complex. The contest will be broadcast live on UConn+.

GAME INFORMATION
Cornell at UConn
DATE & TIME: Friday, Sept. 6 at 1 p.m.
SITE: Sherman Family Sports Complex – Storrs, Conn.
RECORDS: Cornell (0-0, 0-0 Ivy League), UConn (2-0, 0-0 Big East)
SERIES RECORD: UConn leads 2-1
BROADCAST: UConn+
STATS: UConnHuskies.com
DIGITAL PROGRAM: CornellBigRed.com

STORYLINES
• Cornell enters the 2024 campaign with nine starters and 19 letter winners returning from one of the top teams in program history and has its eyes set on achieving even more.
• The 2023 Big Red set team records for goals (58), assists (62), points (178) and wins (12) a season ago and ranked among the national leaders in scoring defense as well.
• Smith's team was playing its best hockey of the season over the final weeks of 2023, as the Big Red was 7-2 beginning in October with its lone losses coming in one-goal defeats to nationally-ranked Harvard and against perennial Ivy contender Princeton.
• A number of returners will be looking to step up after the graduation loss of two-time All-American Caroline Ramsey, the 2023 Ivy League and ECAC Offensive Player of the Year.
• NFHCA All-Region pick Grace Leahy, who was second in the Ancient Eight in goals behind Ramsey in 2023, while freshman sensation Martha Broderick will spearhead a defense that surrendered a goal or fewer in six of the team's final seven contests last fall.
• The Big Red will face an unbeaten UConn squad (2-0) that has outscored its opponents 11-6, including a high-scoring 5-4 overtime clash against No. 13 Saint Joseph's in its opener. 
• Fifth-year head coach Paul Caddy's explosive offense is averaging 5.5 goals per contest in two games with nine players reaching the scoring column over that span. UConn scored just 25 times in 18 contests a year ago.

THE SERIES WITH UCONN
Overall: UConn leads 2-1, first meeting in 1998
In Storrs, Conn.: UConn leads 1-0
Current Streak: Cornell, 1
Last Meeting: Cornell, 2-1 (9/8/2023 in Ithaca, N.Y.)
Smith vs. UConn: 1-0 (0-0 on the road)
Series Notes: The Big Red won its first-ever matchup with the Huskies in Ithaca with a 2-1 victory last fall on the strength of two Caroline Ramsey '24 goals ... UConn had won both previous meetings between the programs (1998, 2004), outscoring the Big Red 13-1 ... the Big Red holds a 10-6 all-time record against current members of the Big East Conference: Georgetown (7-0), Liberty (0-0), Old Dominion (0-0), Providence (0-1), Quinnipiac (0-0), Temple (0-1) and Villanova (2-2) in addition to UConn.

A WIN OVER UCONN WOULD
• make Cornell 4-1 in season openers under head coach Andy Smith.
• make the Big Red 30-17-4 all-time in season openers.
• give Cornell a 12-3 record in its past 15 contests.
• even the all-time series at 2-2.
• up its record against Big East opponents to 11-6.
• give Andy Smith a 41-28 record as head coach of the Big Red.
• make Cornell field hockey 366-382-36 all-time since 1972.

LAST TIME OUT: Princeton 1, #17 Cornell 0 (Nov. 3, 2023)  //  Recap  //  Box Score  //  Gallery
• The Big Red clawed all afternoon for a goal that never came, falling 1-0 in a tight contest to third-seeded Princeton at Harvard's Berylson Field in the semifinals of the inaugural Ivy League Tournament on Nov. 3, 2023. 
• Cornell held a 10-7 edge in corners and a 10-6 advantage on shots, but was only able to put one of its shots on cage. 
• The Big Red had four penalty corners in the final 3.8 seconds, but wasn't able to convert and knot the game after Princeton scored early in the third quarter. 
• Princeton's Ottilie Sykes scored the lone goal of the contest 1:51 into the second half on a penalty corner, one of just two shots on cage for the Tigers in the contest. 
• Martha Broderick turned away the other.
• Cornell didn't have much going in the fourth until the late flurry of penalty corners, but had a number of dangerous opportunities to find the tying score. 
• It was not to be, as the final opportunity went wide and Princeton advanced.

LAST TIME VS. UCONN: Cornell 2, UConn 1 (Sept. 8. 2023) //  Recap  //  Box Score  //  Highlights  //  Gallery
• Senior All-American Caroline Ramsey converted both penalty corners awarded to the Big Red in the second half to overcome UConn 2-1 at Marsha Dodson Field on Sept. 8, 2023. 
• Ramsey moved into fifth place on the school's career goal scoring list with her 34th and 35th, matching Hannah Balleza '14, to overcome an early deficit. 
• She nearly as importantly made a first half defensive save that allowed the Big Red to stay within a goal until it could get into its offense. 
• Freshman Julia Ramsey had two assists as the inserter on both goals, with senior Claire Wolfe the stopped to complete the operation on both score. 
• In two games this season, Cornell has converted on 4-of-5 penalty corners with Caroline Ramsey on the scoring end of all four. 
• The Big Red defense, meanwhile, held UConn off the board in its seven chances on the afternoon. 

RECORD WATCH:
• Junior Grace Leahy's 16 career goals are tied for 16th in school history and is 11 shy of reaching the top 10 all-time at Cornell.
•Leahy's six game-winning goals is tied for 12th all-time and is one shy of joining the top 10.
• Senior Claire Wolfe enters her final season seventh in school history in career assists and is just two shy of the top five, while sophomore Julia Ramsey is eighth with 18 and needs four to also join the top five.
• With her 1.22 goals against average, sophomore Martha Broderick is just off the career record of 1.19 set by Sue Zieman '86.
• Broderick's 12 career wins in goal is 12th all-time and needs five to reach the top 10.
• Head coach Andy Smith has earned 40 victories in five seasons, good for fourth in Cornell history and seven shy of Michelle Tambroni  (1997-2003) with 47. 

THE SCORE:
• Cornell's 12 goals against Colgate in a 12-4 win last season was an Ivy League single-game record and was the most by a Division I team this year, as were its 10 assists and 34 points.
• With a total of 18 assists in 2023, Julia Ramsey ranked second in a single season at Cornell and was just one shy of Bridget Mahoney's 2021 record of 19.
• Cornell had five scorers with at least 14 points in the same season for the first time in program history last fall.

TWO NAMED TO NFHCA WATCHLIST:
• Two members of the Cornell field hockey team have been named to the 2024 NFHCA Watchlist. 
• Sophomore goalkeeper Martha Broderick and junior midfielder Grace Leahy were among 29 Ivy League and 171 total players on the list.  
• Broderick captured second-team All-Ivy honors as a freshman in 2023. 
• A three-time Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week, she led the conference in goals against average (1.22) and ranked fifth in save percentage (.720), sitting 15th and 38th nationally. 
• Broderick set a school record with 12 wins in the cage.
• A second-team All-Ivy pick as a sophomore, Leahy was also an NFHCA All-Region second team pick in 2023. 
• She ranked third in the conference (and 20th nationally) in goals behind only teammate Caroline Ramsey '24 with her 11 tallies. 
• In 15 contests, all starts, Leahy registered 22 points and tallied three game-winning goals, including in victories over Yale and nationally-ranked Syracuse. 

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES:
• The Big Red entered the 2024 season picked to finish fourth in the Ivy League Preseason poll.
• Hannah Balleza '14 has been elected to the Cornell Athletics Hall of Fame for induction on Sept. 28 as part of the Class of 2024. The four-time All-Ivy League pick and a two-time second-team NFHCA Mideast All-Region pick is one of 11 former Big Red greats to be inducted this fall and the 20th to be elected with field hockey connections.
• Caroline Ramsey '24 was among the final players that survived to the final cut for the U.S. national team that competed at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France. 
• Eight members of Cornell's fall 2024 roster to be selected for either a senior national team or a junior selection camp in the past year, with Polly Parsons and Blake Wilks (USA) and Elizabeth and Olivia Friedberg and Grace Leahy (Canada) joining Georgia Kelly (Ireland), Martha Broderick (Scotland) and Annabel Cheveley (England).
• Caroline Ramsey, the program's first two-time All-American, graduated following the 2023 with Cornell single-game records for goals (4), as well as season and career records for goals (55), game-winning goals (14), points (123), and defensive saves (19). 
• The three-year captain was named the 2023 NFHCA Mideast Regional Player of the Year and the Ivy League and ECAC Offensive Player of the Year. 
• As a senior, Ramsey ranked second nationally in goals (24) and points (54), both single-season school records, while leading the Big Red to a second-place finish in the Ancient Eight and a school-record 12 wins. 
• The Big Red coaching staff, led by head coach Andy Smith, was named the 2023 NFHCA Mideast Regional Coaching Staff of the Year after a majority vote of its regional colleagues. Smith, along with assistant coaches Gareth Terrett and Kellie Joyce, helped guide Cornell to a school-record 12 wins and a second-place finish in the Ivy League at 5-2.
• A total of 13 members of the Cornell field hockey team were named to the NFHCA Division I National Academic Squad. It was the fifth consecutive season the Big Red produced at least a dozen members on the team. Given to student-athletes with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.5 or higher through the fall semester of the current academic year, the baker's dozen was among 997 selections to the team. Six members of the Big Red team - Sofia Escalona, Lexie Hausheer, Antonia Packard, Caroline Ramsey, Claire Vaughn and Claire Wolfe - were among 181 players nationally to make the team for the fourth consecutive year. Joining Escalona, Hausheer, Packard, Ramsey, Vaughn and Wolfe are Martha Broderick, Sarah Burns, Annabel Cheveley, Georgia Kelly, Jane McNally, Emma Poplyk and Jenna Villeneuve.
• Three Cornell field hockey players were named to the NFHCA Division I Scholar of Distinction. Martha Broderick, Sarah Burns and Caroline Ramsey were among 260 undergraduate student-athletes nationwide that posted a 3.9 grade point average or better during the fall semester.

UP NEXT:
• Cornell remains on the road to begin the four-game road swing when it visits No. 20 UAlbany on Sunday, Sept. 8 at 1 p.m. at the Alumni Turf.
• The contest will be broadcast on AmericaEast.tv.
• The Great Danes lead the all-time series 10-3 and hold a nine-match win streak after a 3-2 victory in a shootout last season at Marsha Dodson Field.