PHILADELPHIA - The University of Pennsylvania field hockey team travels to upstate New York this weekend to open Ivy League play against Cornell on Saturday, then heads to Syracuse on Sunday to play the No. 12 Orange.  

The Quakers travel north with a 3-3 record after losing to No. 16 Iowa, 3-0, on the road, and defeating Drexel, 2-1, at Ellen Vagelos Field last weekend. 

  12 p.m. | Ithaca, N.Y. | Live Stats | Watch 

Saturday's game against Cornell, as well as all home field hockey games and Ivy League away games, will be broadcast on ESPN+ as part of The Ivy League's new partnership with ESPN. ESPN+ is a new, subscription-based service that offers monthly ($4.99) and yearly ($49.99) plans. Click here to subscribe to ESPN+ and start your free trial! Click here for frequently asked questions about the Ivy League on ESPN.  

*Senior Rachel Mirkin has posted her season best goal-scoring return with Penn, scoring three goals. Two of those goals were game-winning goals, in a 1-0 2OT victory over No. 14 Wake Forest and a 2-1 win over Villanova. Mirkin has two career game winning goals at Penn and currently leads the team with six points.  

*The Quakers finished in third place in the Ivy League last season, posting a 4-3 conference record.  

*Penn has set up one of the toughest schedules in program history, with seven of its 17 games coming against teams ranked in the current NFHCA Coaches poll. North Carolina (No. 1), Princeton (No. 5), Syracuse (No. 12), Iowa (No. 13), Delaware (No. 15), Saint Joseph's (No. 16), and Harvard (No. 20) have all received votes as of the Sept. 18 edition of the rankings. 

*Penn returns seven starters and 17 letter winners from the 2017 squad and welcome nine freshmen to the roster in 2018. Among the returners are two All-Ivy selections: senior Paige Meily and junior Alexa Schneck. Both players are two-time All-Ivy selections. 

*Penn's team captains this year include Meily, Schneck, and senior Sofia Palacios. 

*Palacios made her season debut against Saint Joseph's after returning from injury. Palacios has nine career goals and five career assists.  

*Meily recorded her first assist on the season, providing the pass for Mirkin's game-winner against Villanova. Meily tallied five assists in her junior year and seven in her sophomore year, a total of 13 for her career.  

*Meily scored her first career goal last Sunday, converting a penalty stroke. 

*Schneck has recorded three assists this season and is a key member of the Quakers' attacking unit. She has seven goals and eight assists for her career. Schneck has four career game-winning goals and is looking for her first goal this season.  

*Freshman forwards Julia Russo and Maddy Fagan have broken into the Penn starting lineup. Russo and Fagan have three and one shots on the season, respectively, and are both looking to open their Penn goal-scoring accounts.  

*Sophomore Erin Kelly scored her first goal of the season and second of her career against Villanova. Kelly has cemented herself as a vital member of the Quakers' corner unit.  

*Junior Ava Rosati established herself as Penn's starting goalkeeper midway through last season. She has one shutout this season, the third of her career, and has made 29 saves over six games with a .644 save percentage. 

 

Cornell is 1-5 this season, with their only win coming against Rider. Penn holds a 26-14-2 all-time record against the Big Red and have won the past three meetings between the two teams. 

 

Syracuse holds a 4-3 record and is ranked No. 12 in the latest edition of the Penn Monto/NFHCA Coaches Poll. The Quakers are 1-4 against the Orange, but won the last meeting in 2017, 3-2.  

Syracuse ranks No. 12 in the first edition of the NCAA Field Hockey RPI. This will be the third team Penn plays so far this season ranked within the top 15 of the RPI.