ITHACA, N.Y. – Currently on a five-game winning streak, the Big Red women's hockey team is back at Lynah Rink for a non-conference contest against Mercyhurst on Tuesday night. The game will pit two teams in the top seven of the national rankings and could hold postseason significance for both sides. Tickets to the game are just $2, and fans will receive free rally towels in the stands to watch coach
Doug Derraugh potentially make school history.
GAME INFORMATION
GAME #21: No. 5 Cornell vs. No. 7 Mercyhurst
GAME TIME: Tuesday, January 29, 7 p.m.
GAME SITE: Lynah Rink (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Mercyhurst leads 13-4-1
LAST MEETING: Cornell won 5-1 on Feb. 7, 2012
2012-13 RECORDS: Cornell (16-4); Mercyhurst (19-4-1)
LIVE STATS:
Cornell Live Stats
LIVE VIDEO:
Redcast
ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell earned important victories last weekend, knocking off Ivy League rivals Yale and Brown by a combined 9-2 scoreline. The Big Red got a three-goal first period on its way to a 5-0 shutout over Yale on Friday night. The next day, Brown scored first, but Cornell rallied with three strikes in the third period.
Brianne Jenner earned a point on each Cornell goal, and
Lauren Slebodnick got her 40th career victory. Cornell remains tied for second in the ECAC Hockey standings with Clarkson and is just one game behind Harvard for first. The Big Red also clinched a berth in the ECAC Hockey Tournament with the victories.
HEAD COACH DOUG DERRAUGH
Now in his eighth season directing the Cornell women's hockey program,
Doug Derraugh has quickly brought the Big Red women to their current 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-to-back NCAA Frozen Four appearances in 2010, 2011 and 2012, 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 his 120th career win at Boston University on Oct. 20 and is one wins away from breaking the school record for victories as a women's hockey coach (Bill Duthie, 135).
ABOUT MERCYHURST
The Lakers, based in Erie, Pa., come into Tuesday's game with a three-game winning streak that includes a combined 15-1 series win at Lindenwood over the weekend. The Lakers split a series with highly ranked Boston College the weekend before that. Mercyhurst is 10-2 in conference play and has the third-best winning percentage (.812) in the country, the third-best scoring offense (4.38 goals per game) and third-best scoring defense (1.50 goals allowed per game). Christine Bestland is the team's leading scorer, tallying 15 goals and 37 assists for 52 points. Her 2.17 points per game is good for fourth in the nation, just behind Cornell's
Brianne Jenner. Emily Janiga is also up there with 34 points. In goal, Stephanie Ciampa and Amanda Makela have split time, with Ciampa picking up 11 wins and holding a 1.17 goals against average.
Mercyhurst is coached by Michael Sisti, now in his 13th year with the team.
THE SERIES WITH MERCYHURST
Cornell and Mercyhurst have become non-conference rivals of late, with the teams meeting eight times in the last three years. The series has been perfectly even, with each team taking four wins. Cornell claimed the last meeting by a 5-1 margin at Lynah Rink in February, though the teams split a weekend series in Erie two months before that. In the February, game, Mercyhurst scored first before the Big Red rattled off five consecutive scores on local television.
Hayleigh Cudmore had the game-winner and an assist. The teams' biggest matchup came in March 2010 when the Big Red stunned the Lakers in the Frozen Four to reach the national championship game.
A WIN AGAINST MERCYHURST WOULD…
…give Cornell a 17-4 record overall this season…be Cornell's second consecutive against the Lakers…be Cornell's 103rd consecutive game with a goal…give
Doug Derraugh the school record for wins as a head coach…give Cornell a 10-0 record at Lynah Rink.
CORNELL VS. CHA
Since the start of the 2009-2010 season, the Big Red has faced opponents in College Hockey America 19 times. Cornell holds a 13-6 record in those games including a 4-4 record against Mercyhurst. The Big Red is also 4-1 against Syracuse in that time frame, 2-0 against Robert Morris and 3-1 against the now-defunct Niagara women's hockey team.
RECORD BREAKER?
Cornell coach
Doug Derraugh earned his 135th career victory at Brown on Saturday evening, and he is now tied for first place in Cornell women's hockey coaching history. His next victory will give him 136 wins and sole possession of first place in the Cornell annals.
MOVING UP THE WINS LIST
Goalie
Lauren Slebodnick got two more wins last weekend and is now inching closer to third place in school history. She has 40 victories now, and her next win will place her in a tie for third with Alanna Hayes. She is only 13 wins away from tying
Amanda Mazzotta's all-time record of 53 wins.
DO IT FOR DARON SERIES
Cornell's games this weekend against Rensselaer and Union will be played as the “Do It For Daron Series.” Do It For Daron is a charity founded by friends and family of Daron Richardson to raise awareness and inspire conversations about youth mental health. To show support for the Big Red and freshman
Morgan Richardson – the sister of Daron Richardson – the team asks that fans wear purple to the Do It For Daron Series games.
TUESDAY SUCCESS
With the victory against Syracuse on Jan. 15, Cornell has now claimed nine consecutive contests on Tuesday nights. Cornell's last loss Tuesday night came on Nov. 2, 2010 against Mercyhurst in a 4-3 overtime defeat.
TOURNAMENT CLINCHED
Thanks to its two victories last weekend, the Big Red clinched at worst a berth in this year's ECAC Hockey Tournament. With 24 points in league play, the Big Red is tied for second. As the standings are now, Cornell would need 33 points to clinch home-ice advantage in the first round, which goes to the top four seeds. Cornell can currently finish no worse than eighth in the league.
IVY LEAGUE UPDATE
The Big Red's wins over Yale and Brown also moved it into a tie for first place in the Ivy League standings, equaling Harvard's 12 points. The Crimson does have a game in hand over the Big Red, though Cornell can even things up by defeating Harvard in Lynah Rink next month.
CENTURY MARK
The Big Red's streak of scoring at least one goal in a game is now 102 games long, dating back all the way to a 0-0 tie against Quinnipiac on Feb. 5, 2010. Cornell scored a goal in every game last year, something only it can say. Cornell was also the only team playing a full Division I schedule to not have a tie last year.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Brianne Jenner was named the ECAC Hockey Player of the Week on Jan. 21 for the second time this year as she earned 11 points in three games the week before. Also earning recognition from the conference was
Lauren Slebodnick, named the ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week after picking up three victories and a shutout. Jenner previously won Player of the Week on Nov. 20, while this is Cornell's first Goaltender of the Week Award this season.
Taylor Woods (Nov. 20) and
Cassandra Poudrier (Nov. 6) have each earned an ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week honor this season.
PENALTY KILLERS
The Big Red has the nation's third-best penalty killing percentage at 91.0 percent. The Big Red at one point until the Brown game on Saturday had killed off 19 consecutive penalties, an important skill considering Cornell has the fifth-most penalty minutes per game (11.1) of any team in the country.
CAREER DAY
Jillian Saulnier had a career high in points on Jan. 15 against Syracuse, scoring two goals and assisting on four others for a total of six. Her four assists were also a career high, and she reached and then passed 75 career points on the night. She now stands at 86 career points and is averaging 1.62 points per game in her Big Red career, the second-highest number on the team behind
Brianne Jenner's 1.76.
HAT TRICK NUMBER TWO
Brianne Jenner also had a terrific night against Syracuse on Jan. 15, recording her second hat trick of the season after scoring a career-high four goals against Colgate on Nov. 16. Her only other career hat trick came against Brown on Feb. 11, 2011 during her freshman season.
HELPING HANDS
Freshman
Morgan Richardson picked up her first career assist just 2:27 into the Jan. 15 contest against Syracuse. Then she did it again a mere two minutes later, adding her second ever assist on a goal by
Brianne Jenner. Richardson also tripled her career points output on the night, going from one career point to three. Her lone goal came against Princeton on Nov. 2.
HOME-ICE ADVANTAGE
The Big Red, in its nine home games this season, is averaging nearly four points per game as a team more than it is averaging on the road. Offensive leader
Brianne Jenner is earning 2.44 points per game in Lynah Rink as opposed to 1.63 points per game away from home. The Big Red has scored 121 points in its nine home contests but just 104 in the same 11 games away from Lynah. In home games, all but one player on the roster is at least a +1, and Jenner leads that category with +18. On the road, though, three Big Red players have minus ratings and the team high is
Lauriane Rougeau's +10.
NATIONAL POLLS
Cornell dropped in the USCHO.com national poll this week, sliding only slightly to No. 5 after spending the last few weeks at No. 4. Cornell was passed by Boston University, though the Terriers are only one point ahead of Cornell in the voting. Harvard also fell from No. 2 to No. 3, and Minnesota remains No. 1 after sweeping another weekend series to move to 26-0 on the season. The only other ECAC Hockey rival in the picture is No. 6 Clarkson.
MECO CUP
Seven Big Red players won the Gold with the Canada Under-22 roster for the Meco Cup earlier this month.
Laura Fortino,
Lauriane Rougeau,
Hayleigh Cudmore,
Cassandra Poudrier,
Jillian Saulnier,
Brianne Jenner and
Jessica Campbell all traveled Germany to compete for their country and came away with Canada's ninth gold in 11 years.
USA CAMP
Cornell junior alternate captain
Alyssa Gagliardi spent some of her winter break participating in the 2012 U.S. Women's National Team Winter Camp in Blaine, Minn. Thirty-six total players were selected for the Winter Camp, and they were divided into two teams of 18 for three intrasquad scrimmages. Gagliardi was on the camp's White Team with three other current ECAC Hockey rivals.
MARKERS FOR MADISON
Brianne Jenner is participating in a goal drive this year for a young girl with brain cancer, Madison Primeau. For every goal Jenner scores, Jenner's sponsors will donate money to a charity to help pay Madison's medical bills. Jenner, now with 19 goals on the season, has raised more than $1,000 already for Primeau plus more than $250 in extra donations. To sponsor Jenner's charity, e-mail her at
bj72@cornell.edu.
NATIONAL NUMBERS
Cornell has multiple players near the top of the country in many categories.
Brianne Jenner has the nation's third-best points per game total with 2.22, while
Jillian Saulnier sits at No. 13 with her 1.60 points per game. Jenner's 1.06 goals per game also put her fifth in the country in that category. Saulnier is fourth and Jenner is fifth in the nation with 1.20 and 1.17 assists per game, respectively.
Lauriane Rougeau is ninth in points per game by defenseman (0.85).
Lauren Slebodnick has the country's ninth-best goals against average (1.66), its 13th-highest save percentage (.923) and its eighth-best winning percentage (.765).
As a team, the Big Red's 4.15 goals per game ranks it fourth in the country, and its 1.65 goals allowed per game is also sixth-best. Cornell has the nation's third-best penalty kill (91.0 percent).
CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
Against Yale and Brown:
Approaching career numbers:
-
Brianne Jenner needs four assists and Lauriane Rougeau needs six to tie for seventh all-time in school history.
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Jessica Campbell's next assist will be her 30th.
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Jenner is two points shy of 150 for her career.
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Slebodnick's next win will tie her for third all-time at Cornell.
REPRESENTING HER COUNTRY
Brianne Jenner missed the Princeton and Quinnipiac games in November as she competed with the Canadian National Women's Team at the 4 Nations Cup in Finland. Jenner and
Rebecca Johnston '12 each had an assist in Canada's four games as the Canadians wound up losing 3-0 to the United States in the gold medal game. Jenner returns to Ithaca with a silver medal from one of the top women's hockey competitions in the world.
OUTRANKING THE COMPETITION
In its last 29 games against ranked opponents from the start of the 2009-10 season until now, the Big Red holds a 18-11 record. Cornell was a very impressive 9-3 against ranked opponents in 2011-12.
UP NEXT
Cornell is back to work this weekend against conference opponents when it squares off with Union and Rensselaer in the Do it For Daron Series this weekend.
