Team Notes: Cornell Makes NCAA Debut Against Familiar Foe

Photo by Patrick Shanahan

The following article appeared March 10 on the Cornell Web site.

ITHACA, N.Y. -- The dream season continues for the Cornell women’s hockey team, as it will make its first-ever appearance in the NCAA tournament on Friday when it travels to fourth-seeded Harvard for a 7 p.m. contest. Cornell has already collected multiple program firsts this year and willl look to add one more dramatic moment to the list against the Crimson. Cornell went 1-0-1 against the Crimson this season and will try to advance to the NCAA Frozen Four in its first appearance in the national tournament. Live streaming video of the game is available free of charge through links provided at CornellBigRed.com.

HEAD COACH DOUG DERRAUGH
In his fifth season behind the Big Red bench, Doug Derraugh has done something no other coach in Cornell history has done - win an ECAC Hockey regular-season championship and take the Big Red to the league title game. Derraugh, a 1991 alumnus of Cornell, guided the Big Red to its first-ever ECAC Hockey regular-season and tournament championships and to the first Ivy League crown since 1996, and has Cornell in the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history. With a career coaching record of 56-80-15, Derraugh has guided the Big Red to double-digit win totals in each of the last three seasons, including 19 wins so far in 2009-10, the most in a single season in school history. He has also led Cornell to its third straight berth in the league playoffs for the first time since Cornell reached the post-season from 2002 through 2004. Derraugh was named the program’s head coach prior to the 2005-06 season after concluding a 13-year playing career in Europe. He is assisted by Danielle Bilodeau, a 2001 Cornell graduate and former Big Red player, in her fourth season, and Edith Zimmering, in her first year with the Big Red.

ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell claimed its first ECAC Hockey tournament championship with a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory against Clarkson on March 7 at Lynah Rink to earn the program’s first-ever berth in the NCAA tournament. Sophomore Kendice Ogilvie scored the game-winning goal at the 7:52 mark of overtime to lift Cornell to the win and earn the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award. The Big Red led, 3-0, midway through the second period, only to have Clarkson rally to tie the score with just under four minutes left in regulation. Sophomore Chelsea Karpenko had a goal and an assist, while sophomore Catherine White and freshman Laura Fortino both added a goal for Cornell. Sophomore netminder Amanda Mazzotta stopped 35 shots in earning the victory for the Big Red, her 19th of the season. On the year, White leads the team with 37 points on 11 goals and 26 assists, while Karpenko has a team-best 16 goals on the year with 12 assists for 28 points. In all, Cornell has a balanced offense that includes five players in double figures in goals and nine players in double digits in points. Mazzotta has played all but one game in between the pipes, posting a 1.51 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage with 11 shutouts. The Big Red has been outstanding on special teams this season, ranking fourth in the nation and first among ECAC Hockey teams in power-play percentage (21.5 percent, 28-of-130) and first in the nation in penalty-killing percentage (93.9 percent, 107-of-114).

Complete article can be accessed via the Cornell Web site by clicking here.