Team Notes: Cornell Returns From Break

ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell women’s hockey team returns from a 13-day layoff on Friday when it takes on Princeton and Quinnipiac in a pair of ECAC Hockey contests this weekend at Lynah Rink. Cornell will battle the Tigers on Friday at 3 p.m. before taking on the Bobcats on Saturday, also starting at 3 p.m. Both games are afternoon starts with the Cornell men’s team playing in the evening. Fans can follow the action with live streaming video through the Cornell Redcast subscription service, while live stats will also be provided to follow on computers and mobile devices.

HEAD COACH DOUG DERRAUGH
Now in his sixth season as head coach of the Cornell women’s hockey team, Doug Derraugh has turned the program into a contender for the national championship. With a 64-82-15 overall record, Derraugh guided the Big Red to a 21-9-6 record last season and a berth in the national championship game. He led Cornell to its first-ever ECAC Hockey regular season and tournament championships and first appearance in the NCAA tournament, defeating traditional powers Harvard and Mercyhurst on the way to the national title game. He has led the Big Red to double-digit win totals in each of the past three seasons and set a program record for wins in a season with 21 last year. Derraugh took over the program prior to the 2005-06 season after a 13-year professional playing career in Europe and has transformed the Big Red into one of the top young programs in the country. He is assisted by fifth-year assistant coach Danielle Bilodeau, a former Cornell player and 2001 graduate, Edith Zimering, in her second season with the Big Red, and volunteer assistant coach Meredith Roth, in her first year with Cornell.

ABOUT THE BIG RED
The Big Red rebounded well from its first defeat of the season on Nov. 2 against Mercyhurst, scoring a 3-0 victory over No. 10 Harvard and a 6-1 win over Dartmouth, handing the Big Green their only loss of the season to date. Cornell was paced on the weekend by senior Hayley Hughes, who had the best two-game stretch of her Cornell career, scoring two goals and adding an assist on Nov. 5 in the win against Harvard, then chipping in three assists the following night against Dartmouth. Laura Fortino and Lauriane Rougeau both picked up a pair of assists against the Crimson, while Amanda Mazzotta made 24 stops for her 13th career shutout. Against Dartmouth, 10 of the 14 Cornell skaters tallied at least one point, with six players recording multiple points on the night. Mazzotta again was strong, stopping 25 of the 26 shots she faced in the contest. On the season, freshman Brianne Jenner leads the team in scoring with 11 points in five games, while classmate Jessica Campbell has 10 points in seven games. For the year, 16 of the 17 Cornell skaters have recorded at least one point, with the remaining player, sophomore Xandra Hompe, having only played in one game so far this season. Mazzotta has played every minute in goal, recording a 1.43 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage. The Big Red has been strong on the power play, converting on 10-of-35 chances (28.6 percent, first nationally) while killing off 20-of-22 opponents’ power play chances (90.9 percent, fourth nationally).

ABOUT PRINCETON
The Tigers enter the weekend with a 3-5-1 overall record and 3-3-1 mark in league play. Each of Princeton’s last three games have gone to overtime, opening with a 3-2 win at Union on Nov. 6, then a 3-2 loss at home to Dartmouth on Nov. 12. The Tigers capped that stretch with a 2-2 draw the following day to Harvard. Princeton’s offense has been balanced so far this season, with four players sharing the team scoring lead with five points through nine games. In all, 12 different skaters have scored at least one point this season for Princeton. In goal, Cassie Seguin has played most of the time, posting a 2.59 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage, while Rachel Weber has a 2.05 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage, playing about one-quarter of the total minutes this season. Princeton has converted on just three of its 36 power-play chances this season (8.3 percent, 31st nationally), while ranking 21st in the country in penalty killing, having successfully ended 32-of-38 opponents’ power plays (84.2 percent). 

THE SERIES WITH PRINCETON
Cornell claimed the first meeting of the season between the two programs, 5-1, on Oct. 30, at Hobey Baker Rink in Princeton, N.J., to close the gap in the all-time series. Princeton leads the series, 41-30-4, though Cornell has won each of the last three meetings. Cornell is now 5-1-1 in its last seven games against Princeton, snapping what was a 14-game Tiger winning streak. The series, which dates back to the 1974-75 season, saw Cornell win six of the first seven meetings and going 10-2-1 in the first 13 contests. Cornell is 15-18-1 all-time against Princeton at Lynah Rink, while holding a 12-20-3 mark against the Tigers at Hobey Baker Rink.

ABOUT QUINNIPIAC
Following a five-game winning streak to open the year, the Bobcats have been up-and-down, going 3-5-1, to enter the weekend with an 8-5-1 overall mark. The Bobcats have split each of their last two weekends, winning the Friday game before dropping the Saturday contest. Last weekend, it was a 4-1 win against Harvard on Friday before falling to Dartmouth in overtime, 4-3. Freshman Kelly Babstock leads the team in scoring, having collected 27 points in 14 games on 13 goals and 14 assists, more than double her next two closest teammates. Four players are in double figures in scoring on the year so far, including Erica Uden Johansson, Kate Wheeler and Regan Boulton. In goal, Victoria Vigilanti has played every minute, posting a 1.91 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage with three shutouts. Quinnipiac has converted on 14-of-70 power-play chances this season (20.0 percent, ninth nationally), while killing off 44-of-53 opponents’ power plays (83.0 percent, 23rd nationally).

THE SERIES WITH QUINNIPIAC
The season’s first meeting between the two teams was a rarity, as Cornell scored a 5-1 win on Oct. 29 at the TD Bank Sports Center in Hamden, Conn. The game marked the first time since Jan. 31, 2004, that a game between Cornell and Quinnipiac was decided by more than one goal. Cornell holds a 5-3-5 lead in the all-time series that dates back to the 2003-04 season. Cornell’s win earlier this year snapped a string of four straight ties between the two programs. 

ON THE BREAK
Cornell’s players had a rare week off last weekend due to a quirk in the league schedule. Rather than play a non-conference series on Nov. 12-13, the Big Red elected to take the weekend off to evaluate the team’s progress in the early part of the season. Cornell has not had a similar break in the schedule since taking off the weekend of Nov. 23-24, 2007.

WHILE YOU WERE GONE...
Two Cornell players weren’t entirely off during the team’s break last weekend, as Rebecca Johnston and Brianne Jenner took part in the 4 Nations Cup in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Competing with the Canadian National Team, the pair came home with the tournament’s gold medal, defeating the United States in the championship game, 3-2, in overtime. Johnston was especially strong in that championship game, scoring a pair of goals including the overtime game-winner. Johnston finished with seven points on four goals and three assists, ranking her tied for third among all scorers in the tournament. The pair missed Cornell’s weekend series against Harvard and Dartmouth on Nov. 5-6, but the Big Red still posted a pair of victories in their absence.

WHAT A WEEKEND
With Rebecca Johnston and Brianne Jenner on international duty with the Canadian National Team at the 4 Nations Cup on Nov. 5-6, senior Hayley Hughes stepped up with the best weekend of her career. Hughes potted a pair of goals and assisted on the third in Cornell’s 3-0 victory against Harvard on Friday night, then tallied three assists in the 6-1 win against Dartmouth the following day. Hughes’ six-point weekend equaled one-quarter of her career point total entering the 2010-11 season and earned her ECAC Hockey Player of the Week honors for the first time in her career. Hughes now has eight points on the season on four goals and four assists, just four points shy of her career best for a season of 12, set as a freshman in 2007-08.

FIRING BLANKS
Amanda Mazzotta became Cornell’s all-time career leader in shutouts when she blanked Harvard, 3-0, on Nov. 5. Mazzotta now has 13 shutouts in her Cornell career, surpassing the mark of 12 set by Kathryn LoPresti from 1985 through 1989. 

ONE BANNER YEAR
Cornell officially put the cap on the historic 2009-10 season on Nov. 6 against Dartmouth when the Big Red added three banners to the Lynah Rink rafters. Last year’s four seniors – Laura Danforth, Melanie Jue, Kelly McGinty and Liz Zorn – were on hand for the unveiling of banners commemorating the program’s ECAC Hockey championship, the Ivy League championship and national runner-up finish.

FOUR SQUARE
Cornell’s wins on Oct. 29-30 at Quinnipiac and Princeton gave the Big Red victories in each of its first four games in a season for the first time since the 1978-79 season. That year, Cornell began the season with five straight wins on its way to a 13-5-1 overall record.

100 AND COUNTING
Senior Karlee Overguard’s appeared in her 100th career game on Nov. 5 against Harvard, the most games of any player on the roster.  Overguard is on pace to become the school’s career leader in games played, a mark that is currently held by 2010 graduate Laura Danforth. Danforth appeared in 124 games during her four-year career spanning 2006 through 2010. Two of Danforth’s classmates, Liz Zorn (121) and Kelly McGinty (116), stand second and tied for third, respectively, in games played at Cornell.

LEAGUE OPENERS
Cornell won its ECAC Hockey opener for the second straight season with a 5-1 win at Quinnipiac on Oct. 29, and opened up 2-0 in league play for the second time in a row when it downed Princeton the following day by the same score. Last season, Cornell won its first five league games before falling to St. Lawrence. Prior to last season, the last time that Cornell won twice to begin the league campaign came during the 1998-98 season. Entering this weekend at 4-0 in league play, the Big Red will try to match its best start in league play in program history, set last season when Cornell won five straight games to begin the league campaign.

FRONTRUNNERS
Cornell has spent 76.7 percent of the total minutes of games this season with a lead, while trailing for just a total of 1:36, or 0.4 percent of the time. Cornell has been tied for 96:31 through seven games, or 22.9 percent of the total minutes played.

TEAMMATES, ENEMIES
The Nov. 2 game against Mercyhurst featured a number of players who are teammates on the Canadian National Team that won the gold medal at the 4 Nations Cup from Nov. 9-13 in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Cornell players Rebecca Johnston and Brianne Jenner skated against Mercyhurst’s Meghan Agosta and Vicki Bendus at Lynah Rink before taking off to become teammates for Canada. Agosta and Johnston were teammates last year on the Canadian team that captured the Olympic gold medal at the Vancouver Olympics. Additionally, Bendus was a teammate of the eight Cornell players at the Canadian U22 National Team camp in mid-August.

BALANCING ACT
Through the first four games, despite the Big Red having scored 25 goals, only Rebecca Johnston has collected at least one point in every game that she has appeared in. Johnston has eight points this season on three goals and five assists, with two multi-point games on the year.

AND THE WINNER IS...
Freshman Jessica Campbell scored four goals for the Big Red in a 9-1 victory against Robert Morris on Oct. 23, enough to earn her the ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week award in her first weekend. Campbell scored once in both the first and second periods and finished off her four-goal performance with a pair of markers in the third period. Campbell’s four-goal outburst was the first for a Big Red player since Colette Bredin scored five against Colby on Feb. 28, 1998, in a 9-3 Cornell victory.

SAVING MORE HONORS
Amanda Mazzotta was named the ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week after backstopping the Big Red to a pair of wins to open league play on Oct. 29-30. She stopped 42 of 44 shots on the weekend at Quinnipiac and Princeton to claim her first league award of the season.

ANOTHER QUICK START
Brianne Jenner added her first career ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week award on Nov. 2 after her play in the league-opening weekend on Oct. 29-30. Jenner scored six points in the two games on two goals and four assists, scoring three assists against Quinnipiac and tallying two goals and an assist at Princeton.

EVERYONE IN THE ACT
Cornell’s 9-1 victory against Robert Morris on Oct. 23 came as a total team effort. Of the 15 skaters to dress for that contest, 14 of them recorded at least one point, with only freshman defenseman Alyssa Gagliardi not picking up a point. Gagliardi didn’t finish the weekend empty-handed, however, as she picked up an assist in the season opener on Oct. 22.

GOOD GIRLS
Cornell leads the nation in fewest penalty minutes per game, averaging just 6.3 minutes in the box per contest. Cornell has been called for just 22 penalties in the seven games this season, an average of just over three per game.

ON THE BOARD
When junior Jenna Paulson recorded an assist on Oct. 23 against Robert Morris, it marked the first career point for the Toronto native. Paulson had played in 56 games through her first two seasons with the Big Red before collecting her first career point.

FROM THE START
The five skaters in Cornell’s six-player freshman class each made their collegiate debut against Robert Morris on Oct. 22-23, with all five of them recording their first career points. Jessica Campbell picked up four goals on the weekend and leads the team in scoring, while Brianne Jenner tallied a goal and an assist and Hayley Cudmore picked up a pair of assists. The other two newcomers, Olivia Cook and Alyssa Gagliardi, both recorded one assist on the weekend. 

OH CANADA!
Of the 20 members of the Cornell roster in 2010-11, nine were selected to participate in the Canadian U22 National Team Selection Camp in early August, and eight of those players were named to the select team that faced the United States in a three-game series later that month. The eight included goaltender Amanda Mazzotta, defensemen Laura Fortino and Lauriane Rougeau, and forwards Jessica Campbell, Brianne Jenner, Rebecca Johnston, Chelsea Karpenko and Catherine White. Also invited to the camp but not named to the select team was defenseman Hayleigh Cudmore. The nine players invited to the camp far surpassed any other collegiate program, with Boston University placing four players in the initial camp and Mercyhurst placing three.

EARLY PICKS
When the ECAC Hockey preseason coaches poll was released, it was no surprise to see the Big Red standing as the favorite among league coaches to repeat as champions. Cornell received all 11 possible first-place votes with Clarkson gaining the final vote, with coaches unable to vote for their own teams. 

THE FIRST SIX
Along with the preseason coaches poll, the ECAC Hockey bench bosses selected the preseason all-league team, with four Big Red players named among the six spots. The Big Red placed defensemen Laura Fortino and Lauriane Rougeau and forwards Rebecca Johnston and Catherine White among the top six, with Quinnipiac goaltender Victoria Vigilanti and Harvard forward Kate Buesser rounding out the league’s preseason selections.

EVERYBODY’S ALL-AMERICAN
Cornell returns four players who have previously earned AHCA All-America honors during their career, including the program’s first First-Team selection in sophomore defenseman Laura Fortino, who was selected to the nation’s top six in her freshman season. Joining in that group are 2010 second-team selections Catherine White and Lauriane Rougeau and 2009 second-team pick Rebecca Johnston. 

GO FOR THE GOLD
Rebecca Johnston returns to the Big Red for her junior season after sitting out the 2009-10 campaign while centralized with the Canadian senior national team. Johnston was named to the Canadian team that captured the gold medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, playing in five of Canada’s six games and scoring one goal with five assists and a +9 rating.

WORLD CHAMPIONS
Cornell’s roster includes a pair of players who were a part of the Canadian team that won the IIHF U18 World Championship last spring. Freshmen Jessica Campbell and Hayleigh Cudmore were both members of that squad, with Campbell being named the most valuable player of the tournament for her play.

DRAWING A BLANK
Last season, opponents found it exceptionally hard to score on Cornell goaltender Amanda Mazzotta. The junior netminder set a Cornell record – men’s and women’s – by posting 11 shutouts last year, surpassing the total of 10 set by men’s goaltender David McKee during the 2004-05 season. The previous best by a women’s goaltender was six, set by Kathryn LoPresti in the 1988-89 season.

GOING STREAKING
Last season, Cornell goaltender Amanda Mazzotta recorded the fourth-longest shutout streak in NCAA history, recording four straight shutouts from Feb. 5 through Feb. 13. Her total time stretched for 286:54, the longest streak in ECAC Hockey history and fourth-longest all-time in NCAA history. Wisconsin alumna Jessie Vetter owns two of the three longest streaks in NCAA history, including the record of 448:39.

TREATY OF NEUTRALITY
Cornell’s two games at the NCAA Frozen Four last season marked the 42nd and 43rd games the Big Red has played on neutral ice. Cornell holds a 23-17-3 record all-time when playing at a neutral venue. Prior to last season’s national championship weekend, the Big Red’s last neutral site game came on Jan. 21, 2001, when it lost to St. Lawrence, 4-1, at Lake Placid, N.Y. The Big Red is not scheduled to play any neutral site contests this season, but could potentially play as many as four, should Cornell advance in postseason play.

PENALTY KILLING? NO PROBLEM
Cornell was exceptional at staying out of the penalty box last season, ranking 33rd among the 35 teams in Division I in penalty minutes per game. Even when the Big Red found itself shorthanded, however, Cornell still played outstanding defense. The Big Red ranked first in the nation in penalty-killing percentage, allowing just 10 goals in 131 opponents’ power plays (92.4 percent). Cornell’s 2009-10 percentage ranked eighth all-time in NCAA history.

TWO-WAY PLAYER
Sophomore forward Xandra Hompe gives new meaning to that term, as the New Cannan, Conn., native is a dual-sport athlete. Hompe spends her fall season with the Cornell women’s soccer team, where she is tied for third on the team in scoring and shares the team lead in assists with four. 

LYNAH LOCKDOWN
Cornell went 4-0 in postseason games at Lynah Rink last season. Prior to thiat, the Big Red had never won a postseason game, and had never played a postseason game at home.

UP NEXT
Cornell takes a break from league play next weekend, facing Niagara in a two-game series at Lynah Rink. The Big Red and the Purple Eagles will battle on Friday, Nov. 26, at 7 p.m., before meeting again on Saturday, Nov. 27, in a 2 p.m. contest.