Team Notes: Cornell Opens Playoffs at Home Against Rensselaer

ITHACA, N.Y. -- After clinching the top seed in the ECAC Hockey playoffs nearly three weeks ago, the Cornell women's hockey team finally knows that it will open up its league tournament title defense against Rensselaer in the quarterfinal round of the ECAC Hockey tournament this weekend at Lynah Rink. The Big Red and Engineers will meet in a best-of-three series this weekend, with Friday's contest starting at 7 p.m. and Saturday's game two and a decisive game three if necessary on Sunday beginning at 4 p.m. Live video of each game will be available through the Cornell Redcast system, with live stats also available through links posted at www.CornellBigRed.com.

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 true contender for the national championship. Derraugh has an 84-83-16 record as the head coach of the Big Red, leading the team to back-to-back 20 win seasons in 2009-10 and 2010-11. Last season, he led the Big Red to a 21-9-6 mark, setting a record for the most wins in a season, and led his team a berth in the national championship game. He also piloted the Big Red to its first-ever ECAC Hockey regular season and tournament championships, along with the program's first-ever berth in the NCAA tournament. In the process, he was named the AHCA Division I national coach of the year for his efforts. Derraugh's club has broken the school season win total again this season, entering post-season play with 26 victories, and has claimed back-to-back league regular season titles. He has also led Cornell to back-to-back Ivy League titles for the first time since the 1980-81 season. Derraugh took over the program prior to the 2005-06 season after a 13-year professional palying career in Europe. He is assisted by fifth-year assistant coach Danielle Bilodeau, a former Big Red player and 2001 Cornell graduate, Edith Zimmering, in her second season with the Big Red, and first-year volunteer assistant coach Meredith Roth.

ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell closed out the regular season last weekend with a trip to Dartmouth and Harvard, and picked up a split on its final road trip of the season. Cornell dropped a 4-2 contest to ninth-ranked Dartmouth on Friday night, the first loss of the year in league play for the Big Red and just the second loss overall, before bouncing back with a 4-3 victory against Harvard on Saturday. Catherine White led the way offensively for the Big Red, scoring two goals and adding in a pair of assists, while Hayley Hughes, Chelsea Karpenko, Karlee Overguard and Brianne Jenner each chipped in one goal. Lauren Slebodnick got the start in goal both nights and had her roughest weekend of the season, posting a 3.57 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage. For the year, though, Jenner leads the team with 22 goals and 20 assists for 42 points, with Rebecca Johnston one point back with 21 goals and 20 assists. Laura Fortino holds the team lead in assists with 26 from her spot on the blue line, chipping in eight goals for 34 points. In all, six different players are averaging at least a point per game this season. In goal, Lauren Slebodnick has seen most of the action during the 2011 portion of the season, recording a 1.09 goals-against average and a .949 save percentage on the year. Amanda Mazzotta saw time in the first half of the season before an injury has kept her out since early December, and holds a 0.92 goals-against average and a .953 save percentage. As a unit, Cornell's goaltenders have a combined 0.97 goals-against average and a .950 save percentage. The Big Red leads the nation in both power-play efficiency (26.4 percent, 33-of-125) and penalty-killing percentage (93.8 percent, 90-of-96).

ABOUT RENSSELAER
The Engineers qualifed for the ECAC Hockey tournament as the eighth seed, beating out Yale and Colgate for a three-way tie for eighth place for the final spot in the tournament. The Engineers have struggled in recent weeks, entering the playoffs on a four-game losing streak and having lost eight of their last 10 games. Rensselaer's offense is led by Taylor Horton's 23 points on 12 goals and 11 assists in 33 games. Horton's 12 goals lead the sqaud, with only Jordan Smelker joining her in double figures in that category. Four players, including Horton, share the team lead with 11 assists each. In goal, Sonja van der Bliek has played the vast majority of time this season, posting a .894 save percentage and a 2.73 goals-against average to go along with a 10-16-4 record and one shutout. The Enginneers have stuggled on special teams this season, scoring on just 13.6 percent of their power-play chances (18-of-132, 21st nationally), while killing off 81.6 percent of their opponents' power plays (115-of-141, 27th nationally).

THE SERIES WITH RENSSELAER
Cornell leads the all-time series against the Engineers, 7-4, and has won five straight matchups over Rensselaer. The Big Red claimed the season sweep this year, defeating the Engineers by a 6-1 score on Jan. 14 at Houston Field House in Troy, N.Y., before Cornell claimed a 6-0 victory on Jan. 29 at Lynah Rink. The two teams have met once before in the post-season, with Cornell scoring a 5-4 victory last season in the semifinals of the ECAC Hockey tournament at Lynah Rink.

POSTSEASON HOCKEY
The Big Red will be trying to improve on its all-time record in the playoffs, as Cornell enters the 2011 postseason with a 4-14 record in the ECAC Hockey tournament. The Big Red has qualified for the tournament 10 times prior to this season, winning the championship in 2010. The Big Red is 4-0 in ECAC Hockey tournament games played at Lynah Rink, winning all four contests a year ago, but has never won a league tournament game away from home.

PLAYOFF PICK TO CLICK
As the 2011 postseason begins, only one player – senior Karlee Overguard – has played in more than 10 playoff games, appearing in 11 post season contests. Lauriane Rougeau leads the way in scoring among all players in post season games, scoring 12 points on two goals and 10 assists in seven games last season. The only other player in double figures in scoring in the postseason is Laura Fortino, who scored four goals and added six assists in seven games last season, though Catherine White has chipped in nine points in nine career playoff games on a team-best six goals and three assists.

HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE
Entering this weekend, Cornell has played 36 games at Lynah Rink over the past two seasons, and the Big Red has been victorious in 28 of those games, going 28-6-2 over that span. This year, Cornell is 15-1 heading into the postseason at home with the only blemish being a 4-3 overtime loss to Mercyhurst on Nov. 2. The only team to have even held a lead on the Big Red at Lynah Rink this season was Yale, who scored the game's first goal in their contest on Feb. 12.

SO CLOSE
Cornell made it through 20 of the 22 ECAC Hockey games this season without allowing a power-play goal, going a perfect 64-for-64 heading into last weekend's trip to Dartmouth and Harvard. Unfortunately, the streak came to an end, as both teams scored at least once with the man advantage on the weekend, including three power-play goals scored by Dartmouth. Despite allowing four power-play goals on 16 chances last weekend, the Big Red still leads the nation in penalty-killing percentage, boasting a 93.8 percent success rate.

PATTY KAZMAIER WATCH
When the list of nominees for the Patty Kazmaier Award were announced on Monday, four Cornell players found themselves named among the 26 nominees for the award. Junior Rebecca Johnston, sophomores Laura Fortino and Lauriane Rougeau, and freshman Brianne Jenner were selected as nominees. The Division I coaches will vote on the 10 finalists, who will be announced on March 3, with the list then being pared down to three finalists on March 10 with the award being presented during the weekend of the Frozen Four on March 19 in Erie, Pa.

INTO THE HISTORY BOOKS
Cornell's win on Jan. 29 against Rensselaer was the 22nd of the season for the Big Red, setting a new program record for the most victories in a season. The new mark snaps the old record of 21, set during last season's run to the national championship game.

18 TO LIFE
Cornell's season-long winning streak reached 18 games before being snapped on Feb. 4 at Clarkson with a 3-3 tie. That streak was just three wins away from tying the NCAA record for most consecutive victories. The record of 21 games is held by Harvard, set from Jan. 4 to March 15, 2008. The tie also snapped Cornell's road winning streak at 12 games, just three games shy of tying that NCAA mark as well. The NCAA record for road winning streak is held by Mercyhurst from Nov. 2, 2002, through Oct. 18, 2003.

NATURAL BORN KILLERS
Cornell leads the nation in penalty-killing percentage, having successfully ended 93.8 percent of the opposition's power play chances. The Big Red also led the nation in penalty-killing percentage last season, and over the last two seasons, the Big Red has killed off 211 of the 227 opponents' power play chances for a 92.95 percent success rate.

FRONT RUNNERS
One of the more amazing statistics with the Cornell women's hockey team this season has been the amount of time that Cornell has led in games this season. The Big Red has played with the lead for 68.8 percent of the minutes played. By contrast, Cornell has only trailed for a grand total of 100:07, or 5.8 percent of the total minutes. Cornell has only trailed in six of the 29 games this season.

ROAD WARRIORS
After playing 11 of the first 14 games of the season at home, the Big Red spent most of January away from Lynah Rink. The road suits the Big Red just fine, however, as Cornell is 11-1-1 on the road this year, including a 2-0 mark in non-league games. The Big Red picked up a 4-1 win at Syracuse on Nov. 30 and a 3-0 victory at Mercyhurst on Jan. 18.

ONE IMPRESSIVE STREAK
Dating back to last season, Cornell has won 37 of its last 41 games, going 37-3-1 over that span and with two of the three losses over that stretch coming as overtime defeats. Cornell closed out the 2009-10 season with an 11-game winning streak before falling in the national title game to Minnesota-Duluth in triple overtime, then began the 2010-11 season with wins in its first four games before losing in overtime to Mercyhurst, 4-3, at Lynah Rink on Nov. 2.

ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL
Cornell's defense has allowed just 28 goals this season, and has allowed more than one goal just seven times in 29 games. Minnesota-Duluth has allowed the second-fewest goals in the nation, conceeding 49 goals for an average of 1.63 per game, well above Cornell's 0.97 goals allowed per contest.

NO SHOTS=NO GOALS
Cornell has taken nearly twice as many shots on goal as its opposition this season, taking 1058 shots through 29 games compared to 558 shots for its opponents. Cornell has held its opposition to fewer than 10 shots four times (Oct. 23 vs. Robert Morris, Jan. 28 vs. Union, Jan. 29 vs. Rensselaer, Feb. 11 vs. Brown), while holding the opposition to 20 shots or fewer in 18 games. By contrast, the Big Red has a season low of 23 shots, set against Dartmouth on Nov. 6 in a 6-1 Cornell victory.

THE STREAK ENDS...
Freshman goaltender Lauren Slebodnick went the first 197:32 of her career without allowing a goal, spanning the first five appearances. Her streak came to a close with a goal at the 8:49 mark of the second period on Jan. 14 at Rensselaer. Slebodnick's streak is the seventh-longest such streak in ECAC Hockey history.

COUNTING TO 100
Junior Rebecca Johnston has joined teammate Catherine White in reaching the 100-point mark for their careers this season. White became the 13th player in Cornell history to score 100 points when she reached that mark on Nov. 26 against Niagara, while Johnston became the 14th player to reach that mark  with a hat trick on Jan. 7 at Yale. White took 74 games to reach 100 career points, while Johnston did so in her 65th career contest. White currently ranks ninth all-time at Cornell with 123 career points, while Johnston is 10th with 118 points. The duo trail Kim Ratushny in eighth place with 133 career points. Next up in the chase to the 100-point mark is junior Chelsea Karpenko, who enters this weekend nine points shy of 100 for her career.

SHORT-HANDED? NO PROBLEM
Cornell was without five players for the weekend series at Yale and Brown on Jan. 7 and 8 due to their participation with the Canadian U22 National Team at the MLP Cup, but the Big Red didn't miss a beat. Cornell still blanked Yale, 5-0, and Brown, 3-0, to stretch its winning streak to 11 games. Complicating matters, starting goaltender Amanda Mazzotta was out of action due to injury, and senior captain Amber Overguard missed the Jan. 8 contest against Brown after suffering an injury the previous night at Yale.

HELPING HANDS
Cornell got contributions from a number of players on Jan. 7 and 8 at Yale and Brown, as the Big Red remained unbeaten in league play. At Yale, six of the 12 skaters recorded at least one point, with four players having a multi-point game. Against Brown, six of the 11 skaters scored at least one point, led by junior Karlee Overguard's two-assist night. For the weekend, nine of the 12 skaters to dress for at least one game picked up at least one point.

WELCOME HOME
Sophomore Xandra Hompe had a welcome homecoming of sorts on Jan. 7 at Yale. Hompe, a native of New Canaan, Conn., located about an hour west of New Haven, Conn., took the opportunity of playing near her hometown to score her first career points, picking up two assists in the 5-0 win at Yale. Hompe then capped her weekend by scoring her first career goal the following night in a 3-0 win at Brown.

READY THE UNDERSTUDY
With starting goaltender Amanda Mazzotta sidelined due to injury on Jan. 7 and 8 at Yale and Brown, freshman Lauren Slebodnick stepped into the crease and picked up where Mazzotta left off, posting 23 saves in a shutout at Yale and another 15 stops the following night at Brown in a 3-0 win.

A CAREER YEAR
Senior Hayley Hughes is enjoying her final season with the Big Red, as the Toronto, Ontario, native has posted a career best for points this season. Hughes has 14 goals and 14 assists for 28 points, easily surpassing the 12 points she scored as a freshman for her previous career best.

PACKING THEM IN
Cornell's win over Clarkson on Dec. 4 came in front of the largest crowd to ever see the Big Red women's hockey team play at Lynah Rink. That contest was played in front of 2,326 fans, easily surpassing the old mark of 1,528, set on March 7, 2010, when Cornell defeated Clarkson, 4-3, in overtime of the ECAC Hockey championship game. Cornell is averaging 664 fans per game this season at home, the sixth-highest average attendance in the nation and second-highest total in ECAC Hockey.

900 AND COUNTING
Cornell's 3-1 victory on Dec. 3 against St. Lawrence marked the 900th game all-time in the history of the Cornell women's hockey program. The Big Red has a 419-446-51 all-time record for a .485 winning percentage.

NUMBER ONE
With Cornell's sweep over Niagara on Nov. 27-28 and Wisconsin splitting its series with Minnesota-Duluth that same weekend, the Big Red moved up to first in the nation both the USA Today/USA Hockey and USCHO.com polls. This marked the first time in program history that the Big Red has been ranked as the top team in the nation in either of the two polls. Cornell slipped down to second in both polls after Wisconsin defeated Mercyhurst on Jan. 2 in St. Cloud, Minn., and has remained at that spot ever since.

GOING STREAKING
Junior goaltender Amanda Mazzotta saw the second-longest shutout streak of her career snapped on Nov. 30 at Syracuse. Mazzotta's streak, which spanned parts of six games, lasted 218:51 before Syracuse's Kelly Dimmen got the Orange on the scoreboard. As impressive as that mark is, it's still more than a full game shy of Mazzotta's personal best mark of 286:54, set in Feb. 2010, a mark that stands as the fourth-longest streak in NCAA history. The mark is also the second-longest in ECAC Hockey history, bested this season by Princeton's Rachel Weber, whose streak ended at 289:43.

REACHING A MILESTONE
Cornell's win on Nov. 19 against Princeton was the 400th victory in the history of the Cornell women's hockey program. Cornell now has 419 victories, the ninth-highest total among NCAA Division I programs. Cornell is just five wins behind Princeton for eighth place all-time.

OVER THE CENTURY MARK
Cornell's win on Nov. 26 against Niagara marked the 100th victory for the Big Red since the NCAA officially recognized women's hockey as a championship sport prior to the 2000-01 season. Cornell is now 116-183-26 since women's hockey gained official NCAA status.

ON THE BREAK
Cornell's players had a rare week off on Nov. 12-13 due to a quirk in the league schedule. Rather than play a non-conference series that weekend, 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 on Nov. 12-13, 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 as well, 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.

FIRING BLANKS
Amanda Mazzotta became Cornell's all-time career leader in shutouts when she blanked Harvard, 3-0, on Nov. 5. With four shutouts this season, Mazzotta now has 16 shutouts in her Cornell career, surpassing the mark of 12 set by Kathryn LoPresti from 1985 through 1989. Mazzotta's 16 shutouts rank her tied for 13th all-time in NCAA history.

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 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. Overguard stands at 120 career games played, while fellow senior Hayley Hughes reached the 100 career game mark on Jan. 29 against Rensselaer and has appeared in 105 contests.

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.

HAT TRICK PLUS ONE
Freshman Jessica Campbell scored four goals for the Big Red in a 9-1 victory against Robert Morris on Oct. 23, just her second career game. 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.

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 finding her way onto the scoresheet. 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 is the least penalized team in the nation, averaging just 6.7 minutes in the penalty box per contest. Cornell has been called for just 97 penalties in 29 games this season.

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.

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, at the time, the longest streak in ECAC Hockey 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.

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 finished tied for third on the team in scoring and tied for the team lead in assists with four.

UP NEXT
The winner of the quarterfinal series will advance to the semifinals, which will be played on Thursday, March 3, at the site of the two highest seeds. If Cornell wins this weekend's series, it would play host to the lowest remaining seed in a 7 p.m. contest, while a Rensselaer upset would find the Engineers on the road on March 3 at the highest remaining seed.