Cornell Releases 2010-11 Schedule

Photo by Jim Rosvold

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Six games against teams that advanced to the 2010 NCAA tournament headline the schedule for the Cornell women's hockey team, announced on Tuesday by head coach Doug Derraugh. Highlighting the slate is a home-and-home series against Mercyhurst, the team the Big Red defeated in the national semifinals a year ago to advance to the national championship game.

Cornell will also play a pair of conference games against Clarkson and Harvard, both NCAA tournament qualifiers from a season ago. Cornell defeated Harvard, 6-2, in the opening round of the NCAA tournament to advance to the Frozen Four in the Big Red's first-ever appearance in the tournament, while Clarkson lost in the opening round at national semifinalist Minnesota.

Following exhibition games against Etibicoke and Mississauga on Oct. 15 and 16, Cornell will open the regular season with a pair of games against Robert Morris at Lynah Rink on Oct. 22 and 23. ECAC Hockey action begins the following weekend when Cornell travels to Quinnipiac and Princeton. The Big Red then returns to Lynah Rink to open up a seven-game home stand when it faces Mercyhurst in a special Tuesday night contest on Nov. 2. Weekend league series against Harvard and Dartmouth on Nov. 5-6 and Princeton and Quinnipiac on Nov. 19 and 20 follow before the Big Red again steps out of league play during Thanksgiving weekend to face Niagara in a pair of games at Lynah Rink. The month of November closes out with the Big Red making its first-ever trip to Syracuse to take on the Orange on Nov. 30. In all, nine of the first 10 games of the season for Cornell will be played in the friendly confines of Lynah Rink.

After closing out the fall semester with Clarkson and St. Lawrence at Lynah Rink on Dec. 3-4, the Big Red takes a five-week break for exams and holidays before returning with a five-game road trip to start the new year. Cornell will battle Yale and Brown on Jan. 7-8 and Rensselaer and Union on Jan. 14-15 before returning the game against Mercyhurst with a Tuesday night meeting on Jan. 18 in Erie, Pa. The Big Red will then play the annual home-and-home series with Colgate on Jan. 21-22, with the first matchup taking place at Lynah Rink before the scene shifts to Hamilton on Saturday afternoon. The month of January closes out with the Big Red playing host to Rensselaer and Union on Jan. 28-29.

The final three weekends of the regular season will find the Big Red making two of the most difficult road trips in the league, beginning with a trip to the North Country for a Feb. 4-5 showdown against Clarkson and St. Lawrence. Cornell returns home the following weekend for the final time in the regular season with games against Yale and Brown before wrapping up regular-season play on Feb. 18-19 at Dartmouth and Harvard.

The league tournament format will revert to the format from the 2008-09 season, where the quarterfinal games will be played at the top four seeds, with the four semifinal teams advancing to the highest seed for the semifinals and championship.