ITHACA, N.Y. — With a game under its belt and plenty of motivation, the Cornell field hockey team will look to bounce back from a season-opening loss when it visits No. 20 UAlbany on Sunday, Sept. 8 at 1 p.m. at Alumni Turf. The contest will be broadcast live on America East TV.

GAME INFORMATION
Cornell at #20 UAlbany
DATE & TIME: Sunday, Sept. 8 at 1 p.m.
SITE: Alumni Turf – Albany, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell (0-1, 0-0 Ivy League), #20 UAlbany (2-1, 0-0 America East)
SERIES RECORD: UAlbany leads 10-3
BROADCAST: America East TV
STATS: UAlbanySports.com
DIGITAL PROGRAM: CornellBigRed.com

STORYLINES
• Coming off a 6-1 loss at unbeaten and likely top 20 (next week) foe UConn in its season opener, the Big Red's challenge will be to refocus against another top 20 foe in UAlbany.
• The Big Red will be looking to end a nine-game losing streak to the Great Danes dating back to 2002.
• The hosts are 5-0 against Cornell in the Capital District, outscoring the Big Red 13-2 over that span.
• The two teams met in a classic last fall with UAlbany coming away with a 3-2 double overtime victory thanks to a 4-3 shootout win in Ithaca.
• Julia Ramsey's first career goal with 3:36 left in regulation sent the game to overtime, but the Great Danes were able to get the best of the shootout.
• Cornell entered 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.
• Head coach Andy 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 and made a career-best 13 stops in the 2024 opener vs. UConn.
• UAlbany is off to a 2-1 start, responding to a 6-1 loss in its opener at nationally-ranked Ohio State with consecutive shutout triumphs over Ohio (4-0) and Merrimack (8-0) entering Sunday's showdown.
• Head coach Phi Sykes, who led the Big Red as an interim coach in 2003, has guided UAlbany to seven conference titles and is a two-time NFHCA Northeast Region Coach of the Year.

THE SERIES WITH UALBANY
Overall: UAlbany leads 10-3, first meeting in 1999
In Albany, N.Y.: UAlbany leads 5-0
Current Streak: UAlbany, 9
Last Meeting: UAlbany, 3-2 2OT Shootout (9/10/2023 in Ithaca, N.Y.)
Smith vs. UAlbany: 0-4 (0-2 on the road)
Series Notes: UAlbany holds a 10-3 edge in the series thanks to its nine consecutive victories in the series entering Sunday's contest ... five of the past six contests have been decided by a single goal ... the Big Red  holds a 11-18 all-time record against current members of the America East: Bryant (2-0), Maine (3-4), UMass Lowell (0-0), New Hampshire (0-0), UC Davis (0-0) and Vermont (3-4) in addition to UAlbany.

A WIN OVER UALBANY WOULD
• even Cornell's record at 1-1 on the season.
• snap a nine-game losing streak against the Great Danes.
• be the fourth top 20 win for the Big Red during head coach Andy Smith's tenure.
• end a three-game losing streak dating back to last season.
• give Cornell a 12-4 record in its past 16 contests.
• give Andy Smith a 41-29 record as head coach of the Big Red.
• make Cornell field hockey 366-383-36 all-time since 1972.

LAST TIME OUT: UConn 6, Cornell 1 (Sept. 6, 2024)  //  Recap  //  Box Score
• Sophomore Martha Broderick made a career-high 13 saves, but UConn's explosive offensive attack proved too much for the Cornell field hockey team in its season opener as the Huskies claimed a 6-1 triumph on Friday afternoon at Stevens Field.
• UConn improved to 3-0 on the year with the victory.
• Broderick bettered the 10 saves she made a season ago in her collegiate debut at Syracuse, but the UConn offense, which entered the game averaging 5.5 goals per game, bettered that mark in the victory.
• The Huskies held a 20-5 edge in shots, including 19-2 on goal, and doubled up the visitors in corners, 10-5. 
• Sarah Rogalski had the lone Big Red goal with her first period rocket that cut a 2-0 UConn lead in half.

LAST TIME VS. UALBANY: UAlbany 3, Cornell 2 2OT (Sept. 10, 2023)  //  Recap  //  Box Score  //  Gallery  //  Highlights
• The Cornell field hockey team rallied to tie the game twice in regulation, but UAlbany earned a 3-2 shootout win in a tightly-contested matchup at Marsha Dodson Field.
• Caroline Ramsey scored her fifth goal of the season and freshman sister Julia scored the game-tying goal, the first of her career, late in the fourth to send the game into overtime.
• Freshman Martha Broderick made four saves in goal for the Big Red, which lost 4-3 in the shootout.
• Cornell held a 17-11 edge in shots, including 10-6 put on goal, while UAlbany was 10-8 on corners.
• Alison Smisdom posted two goals to lead the Great Danes and Delphine Le Jeune finished off the contest in the shootout with a goal to send the visitors to victory after a back-and-forth, action-packed 20 minutes of overtime.
• Lara Behn made eight saves and got a pair of stops in the final shootout to claim the third win of the year for the Great Danes. 

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 1.48 goals against average, sophomore Martha Broderick stands fifth in school history.
• 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. 

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:
• The Big Red's challenging season-opening road swing ends when it heads to Louisville for two contests beginning with a neutral site contest against No. 1 Northwestern on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 5 p.m. at Trager Stadium.
• Cornell will also play No. 7 Louisville on Sunday, Sept. 15 at 4 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.
• It will be the first-ever matchup between the Big Red and the Wildcats, while Cornell won the only previous meeting with Louisville when it defeated the fourth-ranked Cardinals on Oct. 23, 2022 in Ithaca.