Team Notes: Raiders Face No. 2 Cornell in Two-Game Set

HAMILTON, N.Y. – The Colgate women's hockey team will face No. 2 Cornell in a two-game set this weekend. The Raiders will first travel to Ithaca, N.Y. for a matchup against the Big Red on Friday, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m. before hosting Cornell on Saturday, Jan. 22 at 4 p.m. in Starr Rink.

Colgate (7-14-2, 4-7-1 ECAC) is coming off a 1-0 shutout win over Union and 5-4 setback to Rensselaer last weekend. Senior Jessi Waters and sophomores Jenna Klynstra and Brittany Phillips had three points apiece over the weekend. Waters had one goal and two assists against the Engineers while Klysntra and Phillips had three points from the two games combined. 

DYNAMIC DUO
Classmates Phillips and Klynstra have played a key role in the team's offense this season. They have scored 21 of the team's 47 goals and combined have a total of 45 points. Between the two sophomores, they have recorded a point in at least one game every week since the beginning of the season.

POINT LEADERS
Phillips has a team-high 25 points from 10 goals and 15 assists. She is followed by Klynstra who has 11 goals and nine assists for 20 points while Waters sits at third with 15 points off two goals and 13 assists. 

THE SERIES
The Raiders own an 11-6-3 record in the all-time series against Cornell that started in the 2001-02 season. The team went 0-3-1 last season with a loss and a 3-3 overtime tie in the regular season before falling to the Big Red twice during the ECAC quarterfinals at Cornell. Colgate's last win was in the 2008-09 season when they won both games in the set. The Raiders now have a 6-2-1 home record and a 5-4-2 away record against Cornell. 

SCOUTING NO. 2 CORNELL
The Big Red (18-1, 12-0 ECAC) is coming off a 3-0 shutout win over No. 5 Mercyhurst on Tuesday (Jan. 18), and two wins over Union and Rensselaer last weekend. The team, which is on a 14-game winning streak, suffered its only loss to Mercyhurst on Nov. 2 in overtime. 

Picked to finish first in the preseason poll as the defending champions, Cornell is led by junior Rebecca Johnston and freshman Brianne Jenner. Johnston has a team-best 27 points off 13 goals and 14 assists while Jenner, who leads the team in scoring, has 14 goals and 12 assists for 26 points. 

ECAC PRESEASON POLL
The Raiders were picked to finish ninth in the ECAC preseason poll that was released on Sept. 16. The defending regular-season and tournament champion Cornell, was picked to finish first with a total of 121 points and 11 first-place votes. Following the Big Red were Clarkson (105, one first-place vote), Harvard (103), Quinnipiac (79), St. Lawrence (77), and Princeton (73), with Rensselaer (70) and Dartmouth (52) rounding off the top eight spots. Colgate (43) along with Yale (34), Brown (24) and Union (11) were the four teams picked to miss out on this season's tournament.

AUTISM AWARENESS PROJECT
The Colgate women's hockey team has established an Autism Speaks U chapter to support the work of Autism Speaks, North America's largest autism science and advocacy organization. Autism Speaks U engages college students across the country in autism awareness, advocacy and fundraising efforts.

The project will kick off with Light Up Starr Rink Blue for the Rensselaer game on Friday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. that will be televised on Time Warner Cable Sports. For that game the team will be wearing special edition puzzle-piece jerseys, which will be auctioned online after the game and is looking to have at least 1000 fans attend the game. Free t-shirts, provided by Price Chopper will be given to the first 250 fans. 

The Raiders have also created online puzzle pieces through Autism Speaks, which are digital puzzles to send to family, friends and supporters of Colgate Women's Hockey so we can help put the pieces together and raise money for autism research.

For more information please visit www.colgate.edu/autism.