Team Notes: Union, Rensselaer on Tap for Cornell

ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell women's hockey team closes out the month of January this weekend with visits from Union and Rensselaer to Lynah Rink. Cornell will look for the season sweep against both foes, beginning with the contest against the Dutchwomen on Friday at 7 p.m. and wrapping up with a 4 p.m. matchup on Saturday with Rensselaer. Live video of both games will be available through the Cornell Redcast subscription service, while live stats for both contests will also be available free of charge.

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 78-82-15 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. Derraugh has led the Big Red to double-digit win totals in each of the past four seasons, including back-to-back 20-win campaigns in 2009-10 and 2010-11, with the 21 wins last season setting the program record for wins in a season. Derraugh took over the program prior to the 2005-06 season after a 13-year professional playing 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 volunteer assistant coach Meredith Roth, in her first year with Cornell.

ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell extended its winning streak to 16 games last weekend with a pair of wins against Colgate, defeating the Raiders, 6-1, at Lynah Rink on Friday and by a 5-0 margin on Saturday in Hamilton, N.Y. Chelsea Karpenko,Rebecca Johnston and Lauriane Rougeau led the squad with four points apiece in the series against the Raiders, with Karpenko scoring three goals and adding an assist and Johnston potting two goals and chipping in a pair of helpers. Rougeau led all players with four assists in the two games.Lauren Slebodnick picked up the wins both nights in goal, stopping 12 shots on Friday and 14 on Saturday. For the year, Johnston leads all scorers with 31 points in 19 games on 15 goals and 16 assists, whileBrianne Jenner is second with 27 points on 15 goals and 12 assists in 19 contests. In all, seven different players are averaging at least a point per game for the Big Red. In goal, Amanda Mazzotta has played most of the contests this season for Cornell, though she has not played during the month of January due to injury. Mazzotta has a 0.91 goals-against average and a .953 save percentage with a 13-1 record and four shutouts. In her absence, Slebodnick has been outstanding, posting a 0.29 goals-against average and a .984 save percentage with a 6-0 record and four shutouts. Cornell's special teams units are also performing at a high level, with the Big Red ranking third in the country in power-play efficiency (26.7 percent, 23-of-86) while leading the nation in penalty-killing percentage at 97.0 percent (65-of-57).

ABOUT UNION
Despite ranking last in the ECAC Hockey standings, Union holds the distinction of being the only team in the league to have scored more than one goal on Cornell in league play this season, scoring twice in a 4-2 loss to the Big Red on Jan. 15. The Dutchwomen have lost nine straight contests entering the weekend, and have only scored more than one goal over that span once, that coming in the loss to Cornell. Union is averaging just 1.12 goals per game, next-to-last in Division I, while allowing 3.00 goals per contest. Juniors Lauren Hoffman and Lauren Cromartie share the team lead in scoring with nine points each, while senior Callee Heywood and freshman Stefanie Thomson share the team lead in goals with four apiece. In goal, junior Kate Gallagher has seen most of the time, posting a .926 save percentage and a 2.57 goals-against average. Union's power play has struggled this season, converting on just 5-of-95 chances (5.3 percent, 35th in the nation), while the penalty-killing unit is successful 82.2 percent of the time (83-of-101, 26th nationally).

THE SERIES WITH UNION
Cornell holds a 14-1 lead in the all-time series against the Dutchwomen, winning each of the last 13 meetings. The Big Red won the first matchup this season, 4-2, two weeks ago in Schenectady, N.Y., and Cornell claimed the opener last season, 4-0, in Schenectady, before taking a 6-1 win in the second meeting of the year at Lynah Rink. Union's lone win in the series came on Feb.24, 2004, at Messa Rink in Schenectady.

ABOUT RENSSELAER
The Engineers enter the weekend tied for fifth place in the league standings, but just one point out of fourth place with four weekends left to play before the playoffs. Rensselaer has struggled over the last two weekends, going just 1-3 after a stretch that saw the Engineers go 4-0-4 since mid-November. Sophomore Taylor Horton leads the Rensselaer offense with nine goals and eight assists for 17 points in 25 games, while sophomore Andie Le Donne leads the team with 10 assists on the season. In goal, Sonja van der Bliek has seen most of the action, posting a .900 save percentage and a 2.57 goals-against average with a 9-10-3 record. Rensselaer's offense ranks 25th in the nation at just under two goals scored per game, while the defense is allowing just over two and a half goals per contest. The Engineers have converted on 13-of-103 power-play chances (12.6 percent, 25th in the nation), while killing off 90-of-108 short-handed opportunities (83.3 percent, tied for 22nd nationally).

THE SERIES WITH RENSSELAER
Cornell holds a 6-4 lead in the all-time series against Rensselaer, with Saturday's matchup being the 12th all-time meeting between the two schools. The Big Red has won four straight contests in the series, winning on Jan. 14 by a 6-1 score after taking all three games last season, including in the ECAC Hockey semifinals.

TWO MORE FOR THE RECORD
Two wins this season would break the mark set last season for wins in a season in Cornell women's hockey history. The Big Red last year tallied 21 victories on its way to the national title game, and Cornell enters this weekend's series with Union and Rensselaer standing on 20 victories. The Big Red is still a long way away from the NCAA record of 36 wins in a season, shared by Minnesota in 2005 and Wisconsin in 2006 and 2007.

SWEET 16
Cornell's 16-game winning streak is approaching the NCAA record of 21 games, set by Harvard from Jan. 4 to March 15, 2008. The Big Red is also on a 12-game road winning streak that dates back to last season, excluding neutral-site games, a mark that is just three games shy of tying the record set by Mercyhurst from Nov. 2, 2002 through Oct. 18, 2003.

A STREAK ENDS
Cornell's game at Mercyhurst on Jan. 18 marked the first and only time this season that junior Rebecca Johnston has been held off the scoresheet. Johnston, who leads the Big Red with 31 points in 19 games this season, had scored at least one point in each of the first 16 games she appeared in on the year, collecting a multi-point game in six different times, including a high of five on Nov. 27 against Niagara. Senior Karlee Overguard currently holds the longest scoring streak on the team at six games.

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 73.3 percent of the minutes played (925:01 of the 1261:06). By contrast, Cornell has only trailed for a grand total of 6:37, or 0.5 percent of the total minutes. Cornell has only trailed in two of the 21 games this season, with Quinnipiac scoring first on Oct. 29 and Syracuse doing the same on Nov. 30.

ROAD WARRIORS
After playing 11 of the first 14 games of the season at home, the Big Red has closed out a five-game road trip to begin the new year. The road suits the Big Red just fine, however, as Cornell is a perfect 9-0 on the road this year including a 2-0 mark in non-league games, picking 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 31 of its last 33 games, with the two losses over that stretch both 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. Since that loss the the Lakers, the Big Red has won 14 straight contests, and has allowed just six goals over that span.

ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL
Cornell's defense has allowed just 16 goals this season, and has allowed more than one goal just three times. Cornell allowed two goals in the season opener against Robert Morris, then conceeded four to Mercyhurst on Nov. 2. Most recently, the Big Red allowed a pair of goals to Union – the most allowed in league play this season – on Jan. 15. Minnesota has allowed the second-fewest goals this season, conceeding 39 tallies in 25 games. The Gophers are allowing 1.56 goals per game, more than double the 0.76 allowed by the Big Red this season.

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. Senior Karlee Overguard is the next closest player to 100 points, entering this weekend with 79 points in 114 games.

TOP 10 COUNTDOWN
With their performances last weekend, juniors Catherine White andRebecca Johnston have moved into the all-time top 10 lists at Cornell. White is now tied with Linda Campbell '92 for career points with 109, while Johnston is ranked 10th all-time with her 56 goals. Johnston just surpassed Janna Dewar, who scored 55 goals from 1994 through 1998. 

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 nine goals and 10 assists for 196 points, 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 572 fans per game this season at home, the seventh-highest average attendance in the nation.

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 413-445-50 all-time record for a .482 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.

DRAWING A BLANK
While Cornell's offense provides the headlines, it the Big Red's defense that is suffocating opponents and turning into victories. The Big Red has allowed just 16 goals in 21 games and has surrendered just eight goals in 13 league games. Cornell has allowed more than two goals just once this season, giving up four goals in a 4-3 loss to Mercyhurst on Nov. 2, the only blemish of the season on Cornell's record. 

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 last week 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 413 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 110-182-25 since women's hockey gained official status in the eyes of the NCAA.

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 115 career games played, while fellow senior Hayley Hughes is just two games away from 100 for her career.

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 6.5 minutes in the penalty box per contest. Cornell has been called for just 68 penalties in 21 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 andLauriane 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 andLauriane Rougeau and forwards Rebecca Johnston and Catherine Whiteamong 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. FreshmenJessica 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, 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. 

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 to the North Country to face Clarkson and St. Lawrence next weekend. The Big Red will play Clarkson on Friday, Jan. 4, at 7 p.m., before taking on the Saints the following day at 4 p.m.