Team Notes: No. 3 Cornell Set for Meeting with League-Leading Quinnipiac, Third-Place Princeton
ITHACA, N.Y. – Three days after taking down intrastate
rival Colgate, the No. 3 Big Red women's hockey team is back in
action against Quinnipiac and Princeton. On the line this weekend:
first place in ECAC Hockey.
GAME
INFORMATION
Game 16: No. 3 Cornell vs. Quinnipiac
GAME TIME: Friday, Jan. 13, 7 p.m.
GAME SITE: Lynah Rink (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads 8-3-5
LAST MEETING: Cornell won 7-1 on Nov. 19, 2011
2011 RECORDS: Cornell (13-2, 9-1 ECAC Hockey), Quinnipiac (13-8-2,
9-3-2 ECAC Hockey)
LIVE STATS: sidearmstats.com/cornell/whockey/index.htm
LIVE VIDEO: cornellbigred.com/showcase
GAME
INFORMATION
Game 17: No. 3 Cornell vs. Princeton
GAME TIME: Saturday, Jan. 14, 4 p.m.
GAME SITE: Lynah Rink (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Princeton leads 41-32-4
LAST MEETING: Cornell won 3-1 on Nov. 18, 2011
2011 RECORDS: Cornell (13-2, 9-1 ECAC Hockey), Princeton (7-9-4,
6-6-2 ECAC Hockey)*
LIVE STATS: sidearmstats.com/cornell/whockey/index.htm
LIVE VIDEO: cornellbigred.com/showcase
*Records before games on Jan. 16
ABOUT THE BIG RED
Winter break lasted more than a month for the Big Red, but the
team has emerged in 2012 with three consecutive wins and two
shutouts in those three games. After a weekend sweep at Union and
Rensselaer, Cornell knocked off Colgate midweek. Lauren
Slebodnick is on fire in net, improving her record
to 7-0 with three shutouts, and the Big Red offense continues to
lead the country in goals per game (5.60).
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. He earned
the 100th win in his career on Friday against Union and his 101st
Saturday.
ABOUT QUINNIPIAC
The Bobcats, based in Hamden, Conn., come into the weekend as the
top team in ECAC Hockey with 20 points to second-place Cornell's
18. The team had a disappointing weekend against Harvard and
Dartmouth, tying with the Crimson after dropping a 3-2 game with
the Big Green. Goalkeeper Victoria Vigilanti has won the league's
Goalie of the Week award twice this year and has a goals against
average of 2.12. Kelly Babstock leads Quinnipiac with 26 points on
12 goals and 14 assists, numbers that put her tied atop the
conference for points as well.
The Bobcats are coached by Rick Seeley, now entering his fourth
season in charge. He is a 1987 graduate of Elmira College.
THE SERIES WITH QUINNIPIAC
The Big Red and Bobcats have a relatively young rivalry dating
back to just 2003, and Cornell has controlled the matchups in
recent years. The Big Red holds an 8-3-5 advantage all time but has
now won four consecutive games against the Bobcats. The teams last
met in November when the Big Red struck for seven
goals. Brianne
Jenner andCatherine
White each had three points (two assists, one goal)
in that game.
A WIN AGAINST QUINNIPIAC WOULD…
…extend Cornell's winning streak against Quinnipiac to
five…sweep the regular season matchup against the
Bobcats…bring Cornell into a tie in points (20) for first
place in ECAC Hockey…be the second time this season
Cornell has beaten the top team in the conference.
ABOUT PRINCETON
The Tiger, who hail from Princeton, N.J., are on an impressive run
that sees them atop the Ivy League standings and in third place in
ECAC Hockey behind Quinnipiac and Cornell. Princeton is coming off
a big weekend with a win against No. 10 Harvard and a tie against
Dartmouth. After a brutal November with six consecutive losses, the
Tigers are 3-2-3 in their last eight games. Sally Butler leads all
Tigers with eight goals and seven assists for 15 points. Goalie
Rachel Weber has played every minute for Princeton and boasts a
2.17 goals against average.
Princeton is coached by Jeff Kampersal, who graduated from
Princeton in 1992. He is in his 15th year of leading the
Tigers.
THE SERIES WITH PRINCETON
The Big Red and Tigers are long-time Ivy League rivals, and their
series stretches back 77 games. Princeton holds a nine-game lead in
the all-time series, but Cornell has controlled the rivalry lately.
The Big Red have won five in a row against the Tigers, including a
3-1 victory in November. Emily
Fulton, Alyssa
Gagliardi and Rebecca
Johnstonscored in that game, though Johnston's goal was
an empty-netter that put some insurance on what was a tight 2-1
contest. Lauren
Slebodnick saved 17 shots in a near shutout.
A WIN AGAINST PRINCETON WOULD…
…be the sixth consecutive win for the Big Red against the
Tigers…sweep the season series with Princeton for the second
year in a row…put Cornell one point behind Princeton for the
Ivy League lead in points.
LONG TIME (HOME)COMING
Tuesday's win against Colgate was the Big Red's first game in
Lynah Rink since the weekend after Thanksgiving when it swept
then-No. 5 Boston University by a combined 10-2 margin. With the
3-0 victory against the Raiders, Cornell improved to 7-1 in Ithaca
this season.
CONSISTENT SCORERS
The Big Red has two players who have scored a point in all but two
of their games this season. Rebecca
Johnston and Catherine
White have scored in 11 of their 13 appearances this
year. Brianne
Jenner, though, has scored in 12 of her 13 games
this year and currently leads the team in points. Jenner is also
working on a team-high eight-game scoring streak
HELPING HAND
With her three assists in the last four games, Jenner brought her
career average over one assist per game. She has tallied 49 helpers
in 46 career contests.
MAKING A POINT
Six current members of the Cornell roster are averaging more than
a point per game over their career. Freshman Jillian
Saulnier, with the smallest sample size, has a
points-per-game average of 2.00. Brianne
Jenner (1.72), Rebecca
Johnston (1.57), Catherine
White (1.38), Laura
Fortino (1.16) and Chelsea
Karpenko (1.06) are also on that list.
FreshmanEmily
Fulton is right on the line with 15 points in 15
games.
STARTING A NEW STREAK
Cornell won its first game after winter break last season –
a 5-0 rout of Yale – for the first time since 2002. After
dropping its first contest of January from 2003-2010, the Big Red
have started a new winning streak after winter break, winning its
first January game for the second consecutive season.
AWARD WINNERS
Since the beginning of this season, Cornell's players have been
awarded with ECAC Hockey weekly honors seven times, more than any
other team in the league. Discounting the first three weeks of the
year – during which only the six ECAC Hockey teams not in the
Ivy League were playing games – no team has more than four
weekly awards.
Freshman Jillian
Saulnier won Rookie of the Week twice, while
freshmen Emily
Fulton and Monika
Leck each won that honor once. Senior Kendice
Ogilvie and sophomoreBrianne
Jenner have earned Player of the Week honors,
while Amanda
Mazzotta took home Goaltender of the Week once.
GOALS, PERIOD.
Cornell has played 45 periods of hockey this season and has scored
in an impressive 41, or 91.11 percent of its periods.
OUTRANKING THE COMPETITION
In its last 15 games against ranked opponents from the start of
the 2009-10 season until now, the Big Red holds a 10-5 record. The
team won two games against then-No. 5 Boston University in November
and took one of two from then-No. 6 Mercyhurst in December. The Big
Red also topped then-No. 10 Harvard in November.
NATIONAL PRIDE
Cornell saw six players participate in the Meco Cup in Germany
last week, playing for Canada's under-22 national team. All five
Cornell skaters scored at least one point in the five-game
tournament. Jillian
Saulnier led the way with two goals and four
assists, while Catherine
White and Jessica
Campbell notched three points each. Chelsea
Karpenkohad a goal and an assist, Hayleigh
Cudmore earned an assist, and goalie Amanda
Mazzotta got two wins and a shutout. Canada won the
bronze.
NATIONAL POLLS
Cornell remains at No. 3 in this week's USCHO.com national poll,
though the team picked up two first-place votes. The Big Red last
earned a first-place vote in the Nov. 7 poll. No. 1 Minnesota
leapfrogged No. 2 Wisconsin after the Gophers tied and beat the
Badgers in a weekend series.
LOFTY NUMBERS
Forward Brianne
Jenner currently sits at fourth in the nation in
points per game (2.23), with Rebecca
Johnston not far behind in sixth (2.08).
Freshman Jillian
Saulnier, who had topped that category nationally for the
first three weeks of Cornell's season, is third in the country in
goals per game (1.08) and is best in points per game among
freshmen. Jenner is tops in the nation at assists per game (1.69),
while Laura
Fortino is No. 1 points per game for defensemen
(1.31). Goalkeeper Lauren
Slebodnick's 1.12 goals against average puts her at
second in the country, and her 7-0 record has her leading in
winning percentage.
As a team, Cornell has the country's best offense (5.60 goals per
game) and scoring margin (3.87 goals) to go along with the
second-best power play (31.5 percent) and fourth-best scoring
defense (1.73 goals per game).
LAST TIME OUT
Cornell got two goals from Rebecca
Johnston and a second consecutive shutout
by Lauren
Slebodnick as Colgate came to Ithaca on Tuesday
night. The game was Cornell's first at home in more than a month,
but the team played excellent defense and killed off nearly
two minutes of five-on-three penalties during the game to win
3-0.
CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
Against Colgate:
• Lauriane
Rougeau got her 75th career point.
• Lauren
Slebodnick made the 400th save of her career.
• Catherine
White played in her 110th game at Cornell.
Approaching career numbers:
• Rebecca
Johnston is two away from her 100th career game and
three points shy of fifth all-time in school history.
• Jessica
Campbell is one shy of her 20th assist.
• Hayleigh
Cudmore needs just one assist to get to 20.
• Alyssa
Gagliardi needs two points for her 30th.
• Brianne
Jenner is one assist shy of 50 and one point away
from 80 in her career.
• Kendice
Ogilvie is one point away from 40 in her career.
• Lauriane
Rougeau needs one more point for her 75th.
UP NEXT
After three games at home, Cornell takes to the road for five
straight games. The team starts its away stretch with a
Tuesday-night game at Syracuse before a weekend conference trip to
Harvard and Dartmouth.
