Team Notes: Cornell Battles Mercyhurst in National Semifinals

The following article appeared March 17 on the Cornell Web site.

ITHACA, N.Y. -- An already historic season continues for the Cornell women’s hockey team, as it makes its first appearance in the NCAA Division I Women’s Hockey Frozen Four. The Big Red will battle top-seeded Mercyhurst in the first of two national semifinals at 6 p.m. EDT on Friday at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, Minn. The winner of Friday’s contest will face the winner of the other semifinal between Minnesota and Minnesota-Duluth in the national championship game at 1 p.m. EDT on Sunday. Live audio of Cornell’s games will be available free of charge through the Cornell Redcast service, while live stats will also be available through links posted on CornellBigRed.com.

HEAD COACH DOUG DERRAUGH
While the list of accomplishments for the Cornell women’s hockey team grows with each game, so too do the list of achievements for the Big Red’s bench boss, Doug Derraugh. In his fifth season, he has guided the Big Red to its first league regular-season championship, first playoff and playoff series victories, first league tournament title and NCAA tournament appearance, and now, its first NCAA tournament win. Derraugh, a 1991 alumnus of Cornell University, has rebuilt the program from one that won just four games in the year prior to his arrival into one of the top young programs in the country. Derraugh has a career coaching record of 57-80-15, and has guided the Big Red to double-digit win totals in each of the last three seasons and a berth in the league playoffs for three straight years. Derraugh took over the program prior to the 2005-06 season after a 13-year professional playing career in Europe. Derraugh is assisted by fourth-year assistant Danielle Biloudeau, a former Cornell player and 2001 graduate, and Edith Zimering, in her first season with the Big Red.

ABOUT THE BIG RED
One of the nation’s top young programs, Cornell earned its berth in the NCAA Division I Women’s Hockey Frozen Four with a 6-2 victory over fourth-seeded Harvard on Friday, March 12, in Cambridge, Mass. Six different players scored a goal for the Big Red, with Chelsea Karpenko adding a pair of assists for a three-point game and Kendice Ogilvie and Catherine White both having a goal and an assist. Amanda Young chipped in a pair of assists for her first multi-point game of the season. Amanda Mazzotta stopped 34 shots on the night to earn the victory, her 20th of the year. On the season, Cornell is led by White’s 41 points on 12 goals and 29 assists, while Karpenko and Laura Fortino are tied for second on the team in scoring with 31 points apiece. Karpenko has 17 goals to lead all players in that category, while five different players have scored 10 or more goals. In all, nine different players are scoring in double figures on the year. In goal, Mazzotta has played all but one game in between the pipes, posting a 1.52 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage with 11 shutouts. Cornell has one of the nation’s top special-teams units, converting on 29-of-133 power play chances (21.8 percent) and successfully killing off 110-of-118 of its opponent’s power play opportunities (93.2 percent).

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