The Cornell field hockey team will be looking to improve on last year’s impressive 10-5 record (4-3 Ivy) when it takes the field Friday at Lock Haven. With four seniors and one assistant coach lost over the offseason it will be challenging for the team to improve on its already sterling reputation. In response it has brought in eight new freshmen from all across the country, as well as a new assistant coach with a superb résumé.

“We’re pretty happy with the freshman class as a whole. I think that they’re coming in at a pretty decent level,” said head coach Donna Hornibrook. “They’re doing a very good job [of learning a new system] and I think we’ve got a good mix. Our young goalkeeper is doing a nice job as well. I’m pretty pleased overall with the … balance of the class, I think it’s fitting in pretty well with our returning group. There are a number of them that have the ability to help us.”

While coach Hornibrook maintained an emphasis that the new group was part of the team and was so far functioning just as that, she did say that there were a few players who were already making names for themselves.

“Brittany Thompson has done a nice job of stepping up in the midfield and has given us some good moments in the first two scrimmages,” Hornibrook said. “We’ve also got several forwards in the mix. Playing up front right now we’ve got Mallory Bannon, Hannah Balleza [and] Christine Hibler.”

However, the freshmen are not the only new additions to the team this year. Over the offseason, new assistant coach Ali Harris signed on with the Red. Harris holds a very impressive résumé, which begins with her time as a goalkeeper for the Lockhaven Eagles. While with the Eagles, Harris made 18 starts, earning a record of 12-4 and winning back-to-back Northeast Conference titles. The newest member of the Red also served as team captain during her senior year. After graduating she went on to the Sancta Maria College Catholic School for Girls in Dublin, Ireland, where she was an assistant coach before leaving to join the Cornell program.

“[Coach Harris] has some good experience as a division I goalkeeper herself,” Hornibrook said. “I think that we’ve got a terrific goalie in Alex Botte; she’s very talented and she has good reactions, good clears and I think just to help Botte refine her skills [Harris] will be very helpful. Also, Carolyn Horner, our freshman goalkeeper, has impressed us very much in practice, so I think that she’s only going to grow and learn under Ali’s tutelage.”

Even with an exciting group of newcomers, the team will still be built around the experience that must serve as its backbone, with six returning seniors highlighting this year’s squad.

“I’m also pretty excited about the returners that we have,” Hornibrook said. “We’ve got pretty good, solid, strong, super six seniors and all of our returners are bringing some experience back to the table. So I think when you combine that with the new additions, we’re hoping that it’s going to be a very solid group.”