Team Notes: Short-Handed No. 2 Cornell Set for Dartmouth, No. 10 Harvard

ITHACA, N.Y. – No. 2 Cornell hosts its fourth and fifth consecutive home matches this weekend when Dartmouth and No. 10 Harvard come to Ithaca for games on Friday night and Saturday afternoon. The Big Red will be without four of its top players as they take part in the 4 Nations Cup for Team Canada in Sweden.

GAME INFORMATION
GAME #5: No. 2 Cornell vs. Dartmouth
GAME TIME: Friday, Nov. 11, 7 p.m.
GAME SITE: Lynah Rink (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Dartmouth leads 40-25-6
LAST MEETING: Cornell won 7-1 on March 12, 2011 in the NCAA quarterfinals
2011 RECORDS: Cornell (4-0, 3-0 ECAC Hockey); Dartmouth (1-2-1, 1-0-1 ECAC Hockey)
LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/whockey/index.htm
LIVE VIDEO:  http://www.cornellbigred.com/showcase

GAME #6: No. 2 Cornell vs. No. 10 Harvard
GAME TIME: Saturday, Nov. 12, 7 p.m.
GAME SITE: Lynah Rink (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Harvard leads 50-21-3
LAST MEETING: Cornell won 4-3 on Feb. 19, 2011
2011 RECORDS: Cornell (4-0, 3-0 ECAC Hockey); Harvard (2-0, 2-0 ECAC Hockey)*
LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/whockey/index.htm
LIVE VIDEO:  http://www.cornellbigred.com/showcase
*Records through games of Nov. 10

ABOUT THE BIG RED
In the last two years, Cornell has evolved into one of the country's top teams. The 2010 season saw the Big Red advance to the NCAA championship game before losing in triple overtime to Minnesota-Duluth, and the team returned to the Frozen Four last year. With the core returning this season, hopes and expectations are again high for the Big Red. Last year's team went 31-3-1 and won its second consecutive ECAC Hockey tournament.
Early in this season, Cornell has won all four of its games by a combined 33-4 and has outshot opponents by a 237-48 margin.

HEAD COACH DOUG DERRAUGH
Now in his seventh season directing the Cornell women's hockey program, Doug Derraugh has quickly brought the Big Red women to their place among the nation's elite. Taking a program that won just four games in the season prior to his arrival, Derraugh guided the Big Red to the national title game in his fifth season and back-to-back NCAA Frozen Four appearances in 2010 and 2011, completely turning around the culture of the women's hockey program at Cornell. Derraugh, a 1991 graduate of Cornell, was the last Big Red men's hockey player to score 30 goals in a season.

ABOUT DARTMOUTH
The Big Green, based in Hanover, N.H., come into Friday night's contest with a 1-2-1 record. Most recently, Dartmouth dropped a Sunday game against New Hampshire by a slim 5-4 scoreline. The weekend prior, the Big Green topped St. Lawrence in an ECAC Hockey contest on Saturday and tied with Clarkson the day before. Dartmouth overall is being outscored 11-10 by opponents but has a 3-2 advantage in goals scored in conference games. Seniors Kelly Foley and Reagan Fischer lead the Big Green with five points each.
The Big Green is coached by Mark Hudak, a 1989 graduate of Army, who is now in his eighth year with the team.

THE SERIES WITH DARTMOUTH
Cornell and Dartmouth have a long historical rivalry in which the Big Green hold a healthy 40-25-6 advantage. But in recent years, that number started to shift to the Big Red. Cornell and Dartmouth met four times last year with Cornell winning three contests. The 2009-10 season also saw Cornell win both meetings between the teams. Cornell topped Dartmouth 3-0 in the ECAC Hockey Tournament Championship last season and then won 7-1 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Chelsea Karpenko scored goals in four of her last five games against Dartmouth.

A WIN AGAINST DARTMOUTH WOULD…
…open the season at 5-0 for the first time since the 1978-79 campaign…extend the Big Red's winning streak over Dartmouth to three…start conference play at 4-0 for the third year in a row and fourth time ever…begin the year with a 3-0 mark against Ivy League competition…be the 94th career victory for head coach Doug Derraugh.

ABOUT HARVARD
The Crimson, based in Cambridge, Mass., enter the weekend having only played two games but with victories in both. Harvard knocked off St. Lawrence and Clarkson on the road by a combined 9-2 margin two weekends ago. The Crimson is ranked No. 10 in the country in the latest USCHO.com poll and will be the first ranked team Cornell faces this year. Sophomore defenseman Marissa Gedman tops Harvard with five points in the two games, and three different Crimson players including Gedman have two goals.
The Crimson is coached by Katey Stone, who is in her 18th year of leading Harvard after graduating from New Hampshire in 1989.

THE SERIES WITH HARVARD
Cornell and Harvard have a hockey rivalry that goes way back, and Harvard has a big lead in the series. A 50-21-3 record lies in the Crimson's favor, but Cornell has won the last three games in the series. Harvard's most recent victory came in the 2008-09 season finale. Cornell defeated Harvard twice last year, including a 4-3 victory in Cambridge on Feb. 19 that came courtesy of two goals from Catherine White, one goal by Chelsea Karpenko and a goal by Brianne Jenner.

A WIN AGAINST HARVARD WOULD…
…extend the team's winning streak against the Crimson to four games.

STANDING ON GUARD
Four Cornell women's ice hockey players have been selected to the roster of Canada's National Women's Team for the 4 Nations Cup, which started this week in Nykoping, Sweden. Junior defensemen Laura Fortino and Lauriane Rougeau, sophomore forward Brianne Jenner and senior forward Rebecca Johnston all made the trip for the six-day tournament from Nov. 9-14 and will be absent for this weekend's games in Ithaca. Big Red head coach Doug Derraugh has also been named an assistant for the competition, and Cornell assistant coach Danielle Bilodeau is in charge of the Big Red this weekend.

NATIONAL PRIDE
Six members of the Cornell women's hockey team have also been named to Hockey Canada's Under-22 national team. Goalkeeper Amanda Mazzotta, forwards Chelsea Karpenko, Catherine White, Jessica Campbell and Jillian Saulnier and defenseman Hayleigh Cudmore will represent their home country at the 2012 Meco Cup in Füssen, Germany from Jan. 3-8. There, they will compete against national teams from Germany, Sweden, Finland, Russia and Switzerland.

TWO-TIME ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Freshman Jillian Saulnier has won the ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week Award the last two weeks after starting her career with a terrific 15 points in four games. In one game last week against Syracuse, Saulnier scored two goals and had three assists. That was enough to give her the award for the second consecutive week.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
For her 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in three games in the Big Red's opening weekend, center Brianne Jenner was named ECAC Hockey's Player of the Week on Nov. 1. Jenner has since scored three more points and sits in second on the team behind Saulnier.

NATIONAL POLLS
The Big Red opened the season ranked No. 3 in the USCHO.com national poll but has moved up to No. 2 in the nation week and has received one first-place vote for the last two weeks. In the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll, Cornell is also at No. 2.

NATIONAL NUMBERS
Cornell's four lopsided opening victories have placed the team ahead of many in national statistics. Saulnier holds for the national lead in points per game (3.75), while Jenner and Johnston are right behind her at 3.25. All told, the Big Red has six players in the national top 20 in that category. Cornell also has seven players in the top 12 for assists per game nationally, and Catherine White's three power-play goals are good for ninth in the county.

As a team, Cornell has the country's best offense (8.25 goals per game) and defense (1.00 goals allowed per game), the second-best power play (36.7 percent) and fifth-best penalty kill (90.0 percent).

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAINS
Four players have been named captains for the 2011-12 women's hockey season. Seniors Rebecca Johnston, Catherine White, Chelsea Karpenko and Amanda Young will all be wearing 'C's on their uniforms this year.

PRESEASON HONORS
Cornell was picked by the ECAC Hockey coaches to once again finish first in the league this season. The Big Red received 11 of the 12 first-place votes — coach Derraugh was not allowed to vote for his own team — for a total of 121 points.

ECAC Hockey also put out its Preseason All-League Team in September, and four Cornell student-athletes made the list. Jenner and Johnston join an all-Big Red blue line of Fortino and Rougeau on the All-League Team. Cornell's players are joined by Quinnipiac goalie Victoria Vigilanti and forward Kelly Babstock.

GREAT GOALIES
Calling senior Amanda Mazzotta and sophomore Lauren Slebodnick the best goaltending tandem in the country last season is not a stretch. They had the stats to back it up. Mazzotta, during her fantastic junior campaign, recorded the country's lowest goals against average of 1.12. Right behind her? Slebodnick, who rocketed onto the scene as a freshman with a 1.15 goals against average. Both are back this year, and Cornell should have a solid netminder every night.

Mazzotta has made three starts this year and has a goals against average of 1.51 that is good for sixth in the country through last weekend's games. Slebodnick earned a shutout in her only start against Brown.

LAST TIME OUT
Local rival Syracuse came to town on Nov. 1 and left with a 9-2 defeat. Cornell scored nine goals for the third consecutive game and dominated on defense.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Cornell women's ice hockey is the best team on campus to follow on social media. With updates daily including pictures and direct responses to fan inquiries, you can get all your Cornell women's ice hockey information on Twitter @CornellWHockey. Or, find the team on Facebook by searching for Cornell University Women's Hockey.

CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
Against Syracuse:
• Chelsea Karpenko played in her 100th career game.
• Lauriane Rougeau got her 70th point and game played.
• Rebecca Johnston notched her 70th goal, assist and 140th point.
• Hayleigh Cudmore scored her first career goal.
• Laura Fortino tallied her 80th point and 200th shot.

Players approaching career numbers:
• Laura Fortino needs one more assist for 60.
• Jillian Saulnier is one goal shy of 10.
• Amanda Young needs one more point for her 40th.

BRING IN THE YOUNG GUNS
The 2011 Cornell team features five new players including four freshmen and one transfer. Freshmen forwards Jillian Saulnier, Monika Leck and Emily Fulton are joined by goalkeeper Katelyn Pippy and senior transfer Erin Barley-Maloney. Barley-Maloney, also a forward, is a senior coming from the University of Vermont.

UP NEXT
The Big Red makes its first major road trip of the season as it travels to Princeton and Quinnipiac on Nov. 18 and 19. Cornell will play the Tigers in Princeton, N.J. at 7 p.m. on Friday before facing the Bobcats at 4 p.m. in Camden, Conn., on Saturday.