ITHACA, N.Y. — No. 5/6 women's hockey is back at Lynah Rink once again this weekend, hosting Rensselaer and Union on Friday, Jan. 19 and Saturday, Jan. 20. Both games are slated to begin at 3 p.m.
 
GAME INFORMATION
GAME #19: Cornell vs. Rensselaer
WHEN: 3 p.m., Friday, Jan. 19, 2018
WHERE: Lynah Rink — Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 11-6-1 (8-4-0 ECAC Hockey), Rensselaer 7-12-5 (4-6-2 ECAC Hockey)
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
LIVE VIDEO: Ivy League Network
 
GAME #20: Cornell vs. Union
WHEN: 3 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018
WHERE: Lynah Rink — Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 11-6-1 (8-4-0 ECAC Hockey), Union 6-15-3 (4-8-0 ECAC Hockey)
LIVE STATS:  CornellBigRed.com
LIVE VIDEO: Ivy League Network
 
ABOUT HEAD COACH DOUG DERRAUGH '91
Now entering his 13th season directing the Cornell women's hockey program in 2017-18, Doug Derraugh has brought the Big Red women to their place among the nation's elite. Derraugh has a 222-135-33 record in his first 12 seasons as the head coach of the Big Red, with his 200th win coming in the form of a 4-2 win in 2016 against Yale. Cornell has made the ECAC Hockey Tournament each of the last 10 seasons, won the tournament four of the last eight years and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in six of those seasons. The 2017 ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year 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. He led the team to five consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time in program history in 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-2014.
 
ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell is looking to build upon its successful 2016-17 season that saw the team return to the ECAC Hockey playoffs for the 10th straight year, get back to the conference championship game for the eighth time in nine years and make it to the NCAA playoffs for the first time since 2014. The team returns Kristin O'Neill who was second on the team in points with 26 after recording 14 goals and 12 assists. The sophomore was also second on the team in shots, tallying 98. O'Neill is joined by seniors Sarah Knee and Erin O'Connor as tri-captains. Goaltender Marlene Boissonnault is poised to make an impact after playing in 13 games last season, earning two shutouts.
 
RINK RECALL
Cornell earned the weekend sweep in its first games at Lynah Rink in 2018, shutting out Dartmouth 2-0 and topping Harvard 4-3. Maddie Mills and Kristin O'Neill scored against the Big Green while Marlene Boissonnault earned the shutout and her first-career assist on O'Neill's goal. Jaime Bourbonnais, Mills, O'Neill and Brianna Veerman all lit the lamp against the Crimson.
 
BIG RED REWIND
Cornell finished the 2016-17 season with a 20-9-5 record that led them to the ECAC Hockey championship and the NCAA tournament, falling in both games to eventual national champion Clarkson. Hanna Bunton led the team in scoring with 29 points (10G, 19A) while Kaitlin Doering and Micah Hart were third and fourth, respectively. Paula Voorheis had a standout senior season between the pipes, posting the second-best single season save percentage in program history (.944) while going 10-8-3 in 21 games with two shutouts.

ABOUT RENSSELAER
Rensselaer is 7-12-5 on the year with wins over RIT (3-1, 4-1), Brown (4-1, 2-1), Princeton (2-1), Mercyhurst (4-3) and Yale (3-1).
 
The win over Mercyhurst is one to pay attention to as the Lakers received a vote in the latest USCHO.com Division I women's poll.
 
Clarkson and St. Lawrence swept RPI last weekend, with the Golden Knights emerging with a close 3-2 victory in OT while the Saints won with a 5-1 decision.
 
The Engineers are the second-least penalized squad in the nation, only averaging 5.2 penalty minutes per game.
 
RPI returned four of its top five scorers from last year including Shayna Tomlinson and Sabrina Repaci who scored 17 and 16 points for the Engineers during the 2016-17 season. This year, Tomlinson is tied for first on the team in points (16) along with Jaimie Grigsby. Repaci is third with 12 points.
 
Grigsby is tied for seventh in the nation in power play goals, notching five on the season and is tied for 11th in goal scoring in ECAC Hockey play with six.
 
Grigsby and Josefine Hansen are tied for seventh in conference play in power play points with both notching four points from one goal and three assists. Both are also tied for first in the league in power play goals (3).
 
Goaltender Lovisa Selander is 10th in the nation in save percentage (.930) and is first in conference play in that same category as well (.935). Selander is responsible for the team's lone shutout of the season, stopping all 28 shots sent her way to lead the team to a 0-0 draw against UConn.
 

THE SERIES WITH RENSSELAER
The series between Cornell and Rensselaer has been in existence since the 2006-07 season with the Big Red holding an 18-7-0 advantage. Last year, Cornell split the season with the Engineers, dropping a 1-0 decision in Troy on Oct. 28 before bouncing back with a 3-2 win at home on Feb. 4.
 
ABOUT UNION
Union has a 6-15-3 overall record, notching victories over Brown (6-3, 5-1), Yale (3-1), Merrimack (2-0), RIT (2-1) and Harvard (3-1).
 
Last weekend, the Dutchwomen were swept by St. Lawrence and Clarkson at home, 4-0 and 7-3.
 
Cheyenne Harris is tied for first in ECAC Hockey play in power play points. Harris has six from two goals and four assists. Harris is also tied for first on the team in points (15) with four goals and 11 assists.
 
Arianna Kosakowski is the other leader on the squad in points, recording five goals and 10 assists. Kosakowski is tied for ninth in the league in defenseman scoring (7).
 
Haley Shugart is the team leader in goals with nine and is tied for sixth in the conference with seven. Katelynn Russ is right behind Shugart with eight goals on the season for the Dutchwomen. Russ is one of 52 players in the nation to have at least one short-handed score.
 
Hannah Schultz ranks fifth in the conference in power play goals, notching two against other league foes. Both of those scores came against Brown (10/27).
 
Goaltender Coco Francis has been responsible for all but one of Union's wins, touting a 5-9-2 record. Kate Spooner earned the other victory for the Dutchwomen. Francis also earned the team's lone shutout of the year over Merrimack.
 
THE SERIES WITH UNION
Cornell and Union first met during the 2003-04 season with the Big Red leading the all-time series, 26-1-1. Last season, Cornell swept the Dutchwomen 3-1 and 5-1. The program's lone loss against Union occurred on Feb. 28, 2004 in a 3-1 decision in Schenectady.
 
SHORTY GET DOWN
Kristin O'Neill and Erin O'Connor are two of 52 players in the country who have recorded a short-handed goal this season, a category O'Neill is tied for first in nationally with three on the year. O'Neill broke the program record for career short-handed goals at Syracuse (1/9) and added in another against Harvard (1/13) to tally eight in her time here at Cornell. Her other short-handed goal this season came versus Quinnipiac (11/3). The sophomore also holds the single-season record for short-handed scores, recording five last season as a freshman.
 
O'Connor's goal also came against the Orange, marking her first-ever short-handed goal and first score of the season. She is just one of seven defensemen to have a short-handed goal this year.
 
STREAKIN'
Three players are currently on point streaks. Kristin O'Neill is on a three-game goal and point streak. Against Syracuse (1/9) and Dartmouth (1/12), she netted a goal and notched an assist and versus Harvard (1/13), O'Neill had one score and two assists.
 
Sarah Knee is on a three-game point streak as well after recording an assist in each of the past three matches. Maddie Mills is riding a two-game goal and point streak after scoring goals versus Dartmouth and Harvard as well as adding in an assist against the Crimson. Mills previously was on a six-game point streak from Quinnipiac (11/3) through Yale (11/18) earlier in the season.
 
FEEL THE POWER
Cornell has notched nine power play goals on the season with Maddie Mills laying claim to four of them. Her four goals are tied for the 13th most nationally while her three power play goals in ECAC Hockey play are tied for first in the conference.
 
Kristin O'Neill, Jaime Bourbonnais, Sarah Knee, Diana Buckley and Willow Slobodzian have scored the other five.

TOP-10 TAKEDOWNS
Cornell has four top-10 victories on its resume: Then-No. 7 St. Lawrence (10/27), then-No. 10 Providence (11/25, 11/26) and then-No. 3 Colgate (12/1).
 
Four of the Big Red's six losses have come from the hands of the nation's top-three teams at the time. The team's first loss came from No. 2 Clarkson while No. 1 Wisconsin would go on to hand them two more defeats in a weekend sweep. After falling to Cornell at home, then-No. 3 Colgate would rebound and top the Big Red in Hamilton.

DYNAMIC DEFENSEMEN
Sarah Knee and Jaime Bourbonnais are two of the most prolific-scoring defensemen in ECAC Hockey play. Both are tied for seventh in the conference with nine points apiece. Knee has four goals and five assists while Bourbonnais has tallied three goals and six assists.
 
THE GANG'S ALL HERE
Following the team's game against Princeton (1/5), every skater on Cornell's roster has scored at least one point in their collegiate careers. Freshman Joie Phelps notched her first-career goal against the Tigers while classmates Devon Facchinato and Finley Frechette both recorded an assist apiece.
 
O CANADA
A quartet of Cornellians represented their native country of Canada at tournaments this month.

Freshman Willow Slobodzian was selected to Hockey Canada's 23-player roster for the IIHF U18 World Championship in Dmitrov, Russia.
Kristin O'Neill, Jaime Bourbonnais and Marlene Boissonnault were also chosen to represent Canada at the 2018 Nations Cup. Both O'Neill and Bourbonnais were on Hockey Canada's silver-medal squad at last year's Nations Cup.
 
KILLIN' IT
The Big Red is third in the nation in penalty killing, only allowing five goals out of the 55 total times that the opposition has been on a power play (90.9%).

FEED THE FRESHMEN
Four freshmen on the team have recorded at least one goal this season.

Maddie Mills had scored at least one point in 12 out of the 18 games that Cornell has played. She is third in freshman scoring in conference play (11).
 
Joie Phelps recently scored her first goal at Princeton (1/5) and notched another just two games later at Syracuse (1/9). Kendra Nealey earned the game winner at Syracuse and Willow Slobodzian notched a power-play goal at Brown (11/17).
 
LEADERS OF THE PACK
Maddie Mills leads Cornell in goals (11) and power play goals (4). Kristin O'Neill ranks first for the Big Red in assists (15), points (24), shots (68) and plus/minus (+15). Senior captain Erin O'Connor is first on the team in blocks (36).
 
FIRST GOAL WINS
The Big Red has won every game this season that they have scored first in. Most recently, Jaime Bourbonnais struck three minutes and 58 seconds into the clash with Harvard to kick start the team to a 4-3 victory.

ECAC AWARDS
For the month of November, Kristin O'Neill and Maddie Mills were named the ECAC Player and Rookie of the Month.
 
Mills was voted the Rookie of the Month after registering 11 points in November off of seven goals and four assists. Three of those goals were big ones, with two coming on the power play while one was a game winner. Of the nine games played in November, the freshman logged at least one point in eight of those contests.

O'Neill garnered Player of the Month honors after notching 14 points from six goals and eight assists during the 30-day time frame. The sophomore's scores included a pair of game winners and a short-handed goal. Additionally, O'Neill emerged from November with a stellar +13 rating and recorded at least one point in seven of nine matches.
 
For the week of November 27th, Marlene Boissonnault and O'Neill earned weekly recognition from ECAC Hockey after a weekend sweep of No. 10 Providence. Boissonnault was Goaltender of the Week and O'Neill was Player of the Week.

Cornell swept the ECAC Hockey Weekly Awards for the week of November 20th following its dominating weekend with wins over Brown (5-1) and Yale (3-0). Boissonnault was designated with Goaltender of the Week honors, Maddie Mills was voted as Rookie of the Week and O'Neill was Player of the Week. In addition, O'Neill earned national recognition as she was named the NCAA's Second Star of the Week.

RIGHT OUT OF THE GATE
This year's opener against St. Lawrence was the first time since 2011 that Cornell had begun the year against an ECAC Hockey team. The Big Red came away with a 6-2 win at Colgate six years ago. The season-opening series against the Saints and Clarkson marked the first time since 2005 that the team has begun its season with back-to-back games against league foes. Doug Derraugh was in the interim coach that year when Cornell took on Yale and Brown in its opening weekend.

FASHIONABLY LATE
As the puck dropped against St. Lawrence in October, Cornell officially became the last Division I women's team to begin its regular season. Despite not playing a single game before then, the Big Red was ranked in the top 10 for four out of the first five weeks that the USCHO.com poll had been active this year. The team began the season being ranked seventh in the preseason poll.
 
REMEMBER THE BIG RED
Before Clarkson's 4-3 OT loss against Colgate earlier this season, Cornell was the last team to defeat the reigning NCAA champions as the Big Red battled to a 2-1 victory in Potsdam on Jan. 20, 2017. The Golden Knights had been 22-0-2 before falling to the Raiders.
 
THE TRIFECTA
The team has a tri-captainship this year with Sarah Knee, Erin O'Connor and Kristin O'Neill donning the 'C' on their sweaters. As seniors, Knee and O'Connor bring veteran leadership to the table. The duo played in all 34 games last year with Knee scoring one goal and adding in five assists while O'Connor recorded one goal and four assists while earning a +6 rating. Sophomore O'Neill completes the trio after an explosive freshman campaign that saw her be named the Ivy League Rookie of the Year while also earning spots on the ECAC Hockey All-Rookie Team and the All-Ivy Second Team. O'Neill ended the season with the second-highest point total (26) on the team after notching 14 goals and 12 assists. 
 
THE 100
Senior captains Sarah Knee and Erin O'Connor played their 100th-career games for Cornell in a 6-0 loss to Clarkson earlier in the season. Knee has 24-career points for the Big Red off of eight goals and 16 assists while O'Connor has accumulated 45 points from nine goals and 36 assists in her entire career thus far. Fellow senior Brianna VeermanBrianna Veerman just played her 100th game on Dec. 1 in a thrilling 2-1 home victory over Colgate. Veerman has 40-career points from 13 goals and 27 assists.

ROOKIES AT THE RINK
The Class of 2021 makes up just over a third of the Big Red roster this year and consists of three forwards, three defenders and two goaltenders. Joie Phelps, Maddie Mills and Finley Frechette will play up front, while Kendra Nealey, Devon Facchinato and Willow Slobodzian will be on the blue line. Lindsay Browning and Ally Dalaya will be standing strong between the pipes. Nealey, Phelps, Mills, Frechette, Browning and Dalaya all hail from the states while Facchinato and Slobodzian are Canadian natives. 

BORDER BATTLE
Out of the 22 players on the roster, 12 are from the United States while 10 call Canada home. The Americans have representatives from the Northeast region (6), Midwest (4) and South (2). The Canadians on the roster come from five different providences: Ontario (5), New Brunswick (2), Saskatchewan (1), Quebec (1) and Newfoundland and Labrador (1).

46TH SEASON
With the start of the 2017-18 season, the women's hockey program is embarking on its 46th season of intercollegiate play and currently holds an all-time record of 560-499-67. Cornell, which began play with the 1972-73 season, is the second-oldest Division I women's program in the country still in existence. Brown began play in 1967-68.

UP NEXT
For the third weekend in a row, Cornell is back at Lynah Rink, hosting Clarkson and St. Lawrence. The game against the Golden Knights is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 26 at 6 p.m. while the team will square-off with the Saints on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 3 p.m.