GAME INFORMATION
GAME #3: Cornell at Bucknell
GAME TIME: Saturday, Sept. 11, at 1 p.m.
GAME SITE: Graham Field at Holmes Stadium (Lewisburg, Pa.)
SERIES RECORD: Bucknell leads, 13-9-1
LAST MEETING: Bucknell won 1-0 (OT) on Oct. 25, 2010 on Marsha Dodson Field
2010 RECORDS: Cornell (2-0); Bucknell (0-4)
LIVE STATS: www.BucknellBison.com
LIVE VIDEO: None

GAME #4: Cornell vs. Saint Joseph's
GAME TIME: Sunday, Sept. 13, at 2 p.m.
GAME SITE: Drexel's Vidas Athletics Complex (Philadelphia, Pa.)
SERIES RECORD: First Meeting
LAST MEETING: First Meeting
2010 RECORDS: Cornell (2-0); Saint Joseph's (1-3)
LIVE STATS: www. SJUHawks.com
LIVE VIDEO: None 

THE SERIES WITH BUCKNELL: Cornell's series with the Bison started with a 2-2 tie during the 1974 season, and it continues to be a close fought series to this day, with Bucknell holding the 13-9-1 lead. The Bison currently have a four-game winning streak against the Big Red, but all four of those contests have been decided by a single goal. In fact, 13 of the 23 games played between these two teams have been one-goal games.

SCOUTING THE BISON: Bucknell, the reigning Patriot League regular season champion, is off to a shaky start, falling to 0-4 on the season and being outscored 21-7. Christine Weiss and Morgan Kauffman lead the team with four points, with Weiss tallying a team-high two goals. In-between the pipes, junior Sarah Zargarpour has seen action in all four games, posting a .568 save percentage and a 4.57 goals-against average en route to an 0-3 record. Rookie Erica Perrine has seen 35 minutes of action on the season, earning the loss against Saint Joseph's and posting a .375 save percentage and a 10.00 GAA.

LAST TIME VS. BUCKNELL: The Big Red dropped a heartbreaking 1-0 decision to Bucknell in overtime on Oct. 25 at Marsha Dodson field. The game was the final home contest for the Big Red's four seniors – Natalie Appleton, Mel Jue, Kelley Kantarian and Katie Kirnan. Cornell (9-4) held the slight edge in shots, 17-16, and penalty corners, 9-7, but couldn't get the ball past the Bisons' goalie Jessie Atieh, who made seven saves in regulation before Sarah Zargarpour stopped both of the Big Red's overtime shots. Bucknell (10-6) scored with just over three minutes remaining in the first overtime stanza when Christine Weiss sent a pass behind the Cornell defense to Kelly Bruvik, who found herself alone in front of the cage and beat Cornell goalie Mel Jue for the victory. Jue finishes the game with seven saves.

VS. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE: The Big Red is 52-50-7 all-time vs. the current members of the Patriot League. Cornell has a winning record against Lehigh (17-1-1) and is tied with Colgate (18-18-3), but holds a losing record against Lafayette (5-12-2), American (0-1), Bucknell (9-13-1), and Holy Cross (3-5) … Cornell is 14-9 vs. the Patriot League during Coach Hornibrook's tenure.

THE SERIES WITH SAINT JOSEPH'S: Sunday's game will mark Cornell's first-ever contest vs. Saint Joseph's in field hockey.

SCOUTING THE HAWKS: Saint Joseph's is off to a 1-3 start, with its lone victory coming against Bucknell. Nicole McCreight leads the team with four goals, while Hannah Rogers has a team-high three assists. In goal, Kelly Swanick has started all four games, posting a .717 save percentage and a 3.81 goals-against average, while Liz Messaros has played in two games and owns a .769 save percentage and a 5.14 GAA.

VS. THE ATLANTIC 10: Cornell is 2-6 all-time vs. the current members of the Atlantic 10 with its two victories coming against the conference's newest member, Lock Haven (1-2). The Big Red has a losing record against Massachusetts (0-1), Richmond (0-1), Temple (0-1) and West Chester (0-1), and has never faced La Salle, Saint Joseph's or Saint Louis.

THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Donna Hornibrook is in her seventh season at Cornell (53-46, .535) ... Hornibrook became the sixth coach in Cornell field hockey history in January 2004 ... She has a 223-93-10 (.699) record as a head coach, including a 111-39-4 mark at Houghton and a 60-8-6 record at New Brunswick.

THE BIG RED'S LAST TIME OUT: The Big Red had an outstanding opening weekend, defeating Lock Haven (1-0) and Delaware (4-3 in OT). Senior Catie De Stio scored the game-winner against the Eagles, while junior goalkeeper Alex Botte matched a career-high with eight saves. Two days later, Cornell found itself in a wild game, needing an overtime goal by junior Olivia Boyd to defeat the Bluehens after the Big Red relinquished a two-goal lead in the final 10 minutes of regulation. In the 4-3 victory, the Big Red got goals from four different players, including Boyd, Kat DiPastina, Kate Thompson and Hannah Balleza. In goal, Botte made seven saves, including one in the overtime period, to earn the win.

HALL OF FAME COACH: This summer, Cornell head coach Donna Hornibrook was inducted into the Prince Edward Island Sports Hall of Fame. Hornibrook, a native of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, has an enjoyed an excellent field hockey career, not only as an outstanding player, but as a very successful coach.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN: Seniors Sara Sanders and Kate Thompson have been named captains for the 2010 season.

OPENING UP: Big Red is 23-12-4 (.641) all-time in season-openers. This season, the Big Red defeated Lock Haven, 1-0, in its first game, improving Coach Hornibrook to 6-1 in season-openers during her time with Cornell.

MOVING ON UP: Catie De Stio enters her final season with the Big Red ranked in Cornell's top-10 in career assists (t-3rd – 17), career points (t-4th – 67) and career goals (7th – 25). Meanwhile, senior Kate Thompson needs four more assists to move into the top-10.

CIRCLE OF TRUST: Last season, the Big Red defensive unit allowed just 5.3 penalty corners per game, the best school average since the stat began to be recorded in 1998. Since taking over the program, Coach Hornibrook's teams have allowed just 6.9 penalty corners per game. That is significantly down from the 8.4 average prior to her arrival.

CLOSE CALLS: Cornell's 4-3 overtime victory against Delaware on Sept. 5, 2010 continued the Big Red's trend of playing in one-goal games. Since the start of the 2006 season, the Big Red has lost 26 games, with 17 of those coming by a single goal, including nine in overtime. During that same span, Cornell has won 40 games, with 20 coming in one-goal games, including six in overtime.

KNOCK THREE TIMES: When the Big Red fell to Syracuse during the 2006 season, 4-3, in overtime, it marked the only time in Coach Hornibrook's career with Cornell that the team scored three goals and lost the contest. Under Coach Hornibrook, the Big Red improved to 31-1 in games in which it scores at least three goals after a 4-3 overtime victory against Delaware on Sept. 5, 2010.

COMING AT YOU FROM ALL SIDES: Since taking over the Cornell program in 2004, Coach Hornibrook has had a dozen or more players register at least one point in four-of-six seasons, with a high of 14 in 2005. Just two games into the 2010 season, the Big Red has seen six players reach the points column.

FAST STARTS: Scoring first has been a big part of the Big Red's success in recent years. Since Coach Hornibrook has taken over the program, Cornell has posted an impressive 49-8 record in games in which they have scored first. Conversely, the team has won only four games in which they have had to come back from an early deficit to win. The first was Coach Hornibrook's very first victory with the team, a 6-3 win over Lehigh in 2004, with the latest coming on Sept. 12, 2009 as Cornell defeated Lock Haven, 2-1, in overtime.

HATS OFF: After going three seasons without seeing a Cornell player score three goals in a single game, the Big Red has had four players register hat tricks since the start of the 2008 season – Catie De Stio (Penn, Sept. 18, 2009), Abbi Horn (Georgetown, Sept. 21, 2008), Kelley Kantarian (Colgate, Oct. 9, 2008) and Catie De Stio (Bryant, Oct. 11, 2008). The three hat tricks during the 2008 season was the most by the Big Red since having four during the 1995 season. That year, Cari Hills scored three goals vs. Colgate and four goals against Holy Cross, while Emily Robb tallied three against both Lehigh and Brown. Until the 2008 season, Cornell had never had three different players register hat tricks in the same season.

FREE FIELD HOCKEY: During the 2009 season, the Big Red played in five overtime games, the most since the 2001 season, when Cornell played six overtime contests. The Big Red went 3-2 in OT games last season, while the 2001 squad went 2-4.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE (A NEW) HOME: The Big Red is 11-3 all-time on the newly constructed Marsha Dodson Field. Collectively, the team has outscored its opponents by a margin of 30-17 and has taken nearly three times as many shots (318-123) as its opponents. The defense has been equally solid in the circle, allowing just 65 penalty corners (4.6 per game).

EVERYBODY'S ALL-AMERICAN: Following the 2009 season, Catie De Stio was named to the NFHCA Division I Mideast Region All-America second-team.

ALL-IVY ACCOLADES: Cornell had three players named to the respective All-Ivy teams in 2009, including two players that return for the 2010 season – senior Catie De Stio (first-team) and senior Kate Thompson (second-team).

SMARTY PANTS: The 2009 Big Red squad earned the NFHCA National Academic Team Award for the second time during head coach Donna Hornibrook's tenure, while Cornell placed at least three players on the NFHCA National Academic Squad for the sixth-straight year as Katie Kirnan, Alex Botte, Lauren Neal, Mattie Prodanovic and Kate Thompson were all honored.

UP NEXT: The Big Red opens the home portion of its schedule next weekend when it welcomes Ivy League foe Penn to Marsha Dodson Field on Saturday, Sept. 18 at noon.