CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – A pair of Upstate New York foes await No. 7 Harvard field hockey this weekend, as the Crimson will take on Cornell and No. 11 Syracuse.

Harvard and Cornell will faceoff on Friday, Oct. 9 at 4:00 p.m. in Cambridge, Massachusetts, while the Crimson will head to J.S. Coyne Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 11 for a 1:00 p.m. contest against Syracuse. The match against the Big Red will air live on ESPN+, while Harvard's nonconference contest against Syracuse will be broadcasted on ACC Network Extra.

CRIMSON UPDATES

• Harvard is 8-1 with a 3-0 record heading into the weekend, as the Crimson own the best overall record in the Ivy League as its six-match winning streak is also the longest active run in the Ancient Eight this year.
• Returning to the road, Harvard orchestrated a 4-0 victory against Penn to improve to 3-0 in conference action, as all four goals against the Quakers arrived in the first half.
• Senior forward Sage Piekarski opened the scoring, as junior midfielder and team captain Tilly Butterworth and sophomore forward Lucy Barker added goals in the next seven minutes, as Piekarski wrapped up the scoring with under two minutes left in the first half with her second goal of the afternoon.
• Harvard outshot Penn, 18-6, as sophomore goalkeeper Linde Burger kept her third clean sheet of the season with four saves, one shy of matching her season high.
• Returning home to Berylson Field for the third top 10 showdown on home turf of the 2026 campaign, Harvard rallied late in the second half to pull off a 2-1 win against No. 5 Wake Forest.
• The Crimson utilized counterattacks to reverse the script against the Demon Deacons, as first-year forward Evie Smith leveled the scoring, as Piekarski tallied the game-winning goal with just two seconds left in the first half.
• At the end of the contest, Harvard recorded 14 shots and held Wake Forest to a season-low five shots, as the Crimson recorded eight attacking penalty corner attempts while only allowing four to the visitors.
• Nationally, Harvard ranks third in attacking penalty corners per game with 9.33.
• Senior midfielder Lara Beekhuis and Butterworth are the team captains this season, as duo have combined for seven goals, one assist and 15 points.
• Head coach Tjerk van Herwaarden is in his 14^th season leading the Crimson, as the four-time Ivy League Coach of the Year is 174-70 in his coaching tenure.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION

• Cornell owns a 5-4 record and is the only other program in the Ivy League with a perfect 3-0 mark in conference play, as the Big Red bring a four-game winning streak to Cambridge. Last weekend saw Cornell takedown Brown, 4-0, at home before holding off a Colgate comeback attempt for a 3-2 win against the Raiders.
• Junior forward Uma Käding leads Cornell and is tied for the Ivy League lead in goals scored with eight, as senior midfielder Rease Coleman leads the Ancient Eight with 10 assists.
• Led by head coach Lynn Farquhar, Syracuse is 6-3 this season with a 1-2 record in Atlantic Coast Conference play. In its last outing at No. 3 Duke, the Orange dropped a 2-0. The Orange will face No. 16 Louisville before hosting the Crimson.
• Sophomore forward Aubrey Turner and senior forward Hattie Madden are tied for the team lead in goals with five each, as Syracuse ranks second in the ACC in both save percentage (0.770) and saves per game (5.22).

SERIES HISTORY

• Friday afternoon's showdown is the 52^nd meeting between Harvard and Cornell on the field hockey, as the Crimson lead the all-time series, 34-13-4.
• Harvard has won the last nine matches against Cornell, as last season saw the Crimson head to New York and claim a 2-1 victory. Junior midfielder Martha le Huray opened the scoring late in the first quarter, as Bronte-May Brough '26 doubled the lead in the third quarter.
• Facing off in the regular season for the first time since 2023 and just the fourth time overall, Harvard leads the series against Syracuse, 2-1.
• The two programs last met in the opening round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament, as the Crimson advanced with a 1-0 overtime win, as Beekhuis netted the overtime while Tessa Shahbo '26 kept a clean sheet with four saves. Harvard makes a trip to the Salt City for the first time since 2016.

LIMITED OPPORTUNITIES

• Harvard is excelling at limiting shots taken by opponents this season.
• Across nine matches, Harvard is only allowing 6.4 shots per game, as the Crimson has allowed under 10 shots on seven different occasions this year.
• On average, Harvard is taking 11.3 more shots per game than its opponents. In turn, Harvard is thriving defensively, as the Crimson rank sixth nationally in goals against average (0.84).

IMMEDIATE IMPACT

• First-years are already making an impact on the pitch for the Crimson this year.
• A starter in the attack in all nine matches for Harvard during the 2026 campaign, Smith scored her first career goal in the season opener against UMass Lowell and scored the equalizing goal against No. 5 Wake Forest. In the shootout triumphs against Northeastern and Princeton, Smith converted both of her shootout attempts.
• In the backline, first-year defender Elin van Sante is leading a Crimson defense that ranks sixth in the country in goals against average (0.84). After leading tremendous defensive efforts against Dartmouth and Northeastern, van Sante earned Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week honors for the first time in her career.

POLL POSITION

• Harvard is No. 7 in the latest iteration of the Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches Association's National Coaches Poll and No. 4 in the NCAA's RPI, as the Crimson is the highest ranked Ivy League side in both rankings.
• The Crimson is in the top 10 of the Penn Monto/NFHCA National Coaches Poll for a 18^th straight week, representing the longest streak in program history.
• Harvard is 3-1 against ranked programs this year, with the matchup against Syracuse set to be the first time Harvard will face a ranked opponent away from Berylson Field this season.

CARDIAC CRIMSON

• Prevailing in narrow decisions is a major theme for Harvard across the first half of the 2026 season.
• Harvard is 5-0 in one-goal games this season, as Harvard went 6-1 in contests decided by a single goal last year.
• Earlier this season, Harvard defeated Northeastern and Princeton in consecutive matches via shootout, marking the first time in school history that Harvard won back-to-back games that went to a shootout.

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS

• Dating back to the 2016 season, Harvard is maintaining a 100-game winning streak against unranked foes.
• The last loss against an unranked opponent arrived on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016, a 3-1 defeat against UMass.
• During the 2025 season, Harvard went 9-0 against unranked teams. This year, Harvard is 5-0 against unranked programs.

UP NEXT

Harvard will play its first back-to-back of the 2026 season next weekend, visiting Brown on Saturday, Oct. 17 before hosting Boston University on Sunday, Oct. 18.

For all the latest on Harvard Field Hockey, follow the Crimson on Twitter (@HarvardFH) and Instagram (@harvardfieldhockey).