Field Hockey Ties Scoring Record, Extends Streak to Four

The field hockey team tied a school record for goals in one game en route to a 9-0 home victory over the Bryant University Bulldogs on Saturday at Marsha Dodson Field. The win improves Cornell to 8-4 overall this season, including four straight victories and seven of the Red’s last eight contests. Bryant drops to 1-11.
Leading the way for the Red was the red-hot sophomore Catie De Stio. Coming off Ivy League Co-Player of the Week honors, De Stio scored her first career hat trick and added another assist. De Stio is now tied for the team lead in goals and points with senior co-captain Abbi Horn.
[img_assist|nid=32650|title=The greatest show on turf|desc=Sophomore Catie De Stio (17) had her first career hat trick on Saturday, helping the team tie a school record with nine goals.|link=node|align=left|width=|height=0]
“The offense is really starting to connect well with each other,” De Stio said. “We’ve scored so many goals in the last two games, 15 total, and that’s pretty impressive for field hockey. I seem to have found a scoring groove, but it’s really a whole team effort.”
Freshman Maura Greenwood recorded her first goal and point in a Red jersey, finishing with two goals and an assist, while sophomore Kate Thompson added a goal and two assists. Junior Katie Kirnan, junior Carolyn Franco and sophomore Sara Sanders all scored. In addition, Horn and fellow co-captain Belen Martinez both registered two assists in the high scoring affair.
Between the pipes, junior Melanie Jue continued to prove that the transition from ice to turf can be accomplished — the former ice hockey player recorded two saves in the first thirty minutes before freshman Alex Botte made her third appearance of the season, stopping three shots of her own in the final forty minutes. Bulldog junior netminder Kundayi Mawema made six-of-twelve saves in the first half. Freshman Jennifer Gullotti came on in the second half, allowing three goals while recording two saves.
“I was pleased with how many scoring opportunities we had and with our finishing today,” said head coach Donna Hornibrook to cornellbigred.com. “This was a solid team effort with great balance in our scoring and I was happy to see good production out of some of our younger players.”
Not even seventeen minutes into the match, De Stio already had two goals and an assist on Kirnan’s goal, and Greenwood stretched that lead to 5-0 with back-to-back goals. Just under a minute later, the two teamed up seconds before halftime to complete De Stio’s hat trick and give Cornell a 6-0 lead going into the intermission. The Red kept firing in the second half, with Horn and Thompson both assisting on goals from Franco and Sanders less than seven minutes into the frame. That kind of insurmountable lead allowed Hornibrook to give more playing time to the younger faces, including freshman Jess Buckingham, who recorded her first career point with the Red with an assist on Thompson’s goal.
In all, Cornell outshot Bryant, 23-8, and held a 10-4 advantage in penalty corners.
“This win and the one against Colgate definitely provides confidence to the team as we head into our final four matches, all against Ivy League teams,” De Stio said. “It’s great to beat some out of league teams, and now we’re more prepared to face teams in our league.”