ITHACA, N.Y. — The No. 5 women's hockey team will be headed to the North Country this weekend for the semifinals of the ECAC Hockey Tournament, hosted by Clarkson. The three-seeded Cornell will square off with two-seeded Colgate for the right to play in the league's championship final.
 
This is the second year in a row that the Big Red has made an appearance in the semis. Last season, the team defeated the raiders 2-1 and 1-0 in the quarterfinals and topped St. Lawrence, 3-1, in the semifinal to advance to the championship match.

 Live stats will be provided on ClarksonAthletics.com and a live stream will be broadcast on ESPN3.

GAME INFORMATION
GAME #33: Cornell vs. Colgate
WHEN: 4 p.m., Saturday, Mar. 3, 2018
WHERE: Cheel Arena — Potsdam, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 21-8-3 (15-5-2 ECAC Hockey), Colgate 31-4-1 (19-3-0 ECAC Hockey)
LIVE STATS: ClarksonAthletics.com
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN3

Cornell Game Notes (PDF)
 
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 punched its ticket to the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals after taking the three-game series, 2-1, over Princeton at Lynah Rink. The Big Red took game one with a 2-1 decision. Maddie Mills scored short-handed late in the second, but just 30 seconds later, the Tigers equalized. Brianna Veerman notched the game winner 57 seconds after that to notch the first win for the team.
 
Princeton came back on Saturday to take a 5-4 overtime win in a back-and-forth battle. Cornell ran out with a 2-0 lead early in the game, but the Tigers scored three unanswered to make it 3-2. The Big Red recorded two more goals to once again take the lead, but Princeton sent it to overtime with a late goal in the third. Six minutes and 14 seconds into OT, the visitors got the win to send the series to game three.
 
Cornell stormed back on Sunday with a 4-0 shutout victory to earn a spot in the semis. Mills and Veerman both struck on power plays while Sarah Knee and Diana Buckley scored on even-handed opportunities.
 
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 COLGATE
Colgate advanced to the ECAC Hockey semifinals after defeating Harvard 6-4 and 6-1 at the Class of 1965 Arena. With a record of 31-4-1, the Raiders are in the midst of its winningest season in program history and have crossed the 20-win threshold for the third year in a row after managing just seven victories in 2014-15.
 
The team currently has the nation's longest unbeaten streak (8 wins), having last lost to Clarkson, 5-3, on Jan. 27 at home. Colgate was the team that snapped the Golden Knights' 24-game unbeaten streak back on Oct. 27 with a 4-3 overtime win.
 
The Raiders' scoring offense and defense are both ranked fifth in the country. The team averages 3.81 goals per game while only allowing 1.58 goals per game. The team also touts a win percentage of .865 which is tied for the second best mark.
 
Jessie Eldridge is the squad's top scorer with 41 points from 20 goals and 21 assists. Her game-winning goal tally of seven is the second most in the country.
 
Lauren Wildfang checks in at No. 6 in defenseman points per game with an average of .80. She has 28 points from six goals and 22 assists.
 
Goaltender Julia Vandyk has the fourth best win percentage (.865) and the 10th-ranked goals against average (1.65). Both she and Liz Auby have four shutouts this year.

THE SERIES WITH COLGATE
Cornell and Colgate first met during the 1973-74 season with the Big Red leading the all-time series, 39-14-4. Both teams each came away with a win and loss against each other on the year. On Dec. 1 at Lynah Rink, Cornell took the first game of the series, 2-1, but Colgate got the win in front of its home crowd the following day, 5-4.
 
ALL THEY DO IS WIN, NO MATTER WHAT
Kristin O'Neill's seven game winners on the year have her tied for first in program history in game-winning goals in a single season. She is joined by Rebecca Johnston (2011) and Brianne Jenner (2012) in that honor. O'Neill has 10 winning tallies in her two years at Cornell, tying her for ninth for the career record.
 
Goaltender Marlene Boissonnault is tied for second in most wins in a single season (21), only behind Lauren Slebodnick (24, 2012). In her three years at Cornell, she has 36 victories to rank seventh all-time for career wins.
 
ENVY THE IVY
With a 4-0 trounce of Yale on Feb. 9, Cornell officially became Ivy League champions for the second consecutive year. The Big Red closed out Ivy play with an 8-1-1 record, Princeton and Harvard finished tied for second with marks of 7-3-0 and 6-2-2, respectively. The program now has 14 Ivy titles to its name and sole possession of 12 of them.
 
BEST OF THE BEST
A quartet of players rank within the nation's top 10 of some major statistical categories. Kristin O'Neill is tied for first in short-handed goals (4) and tied for second in game-winning goals (7).
 
Maddie Mills is tied for fourth in power play goals (8), eighth in points per game for freshmen (1.03) and tied for ninth in game winners (5).
 
Goaltender Marlene Boissonnault is tied for fourth in shutouts (7), tied for eighth in win percentage (.750) with a record of 19-5-3 and ninth in goals against average (1.65).
 
MAD HATTER
Kristin O'Neill laid claim to the team's first hat trick of the year against Syracuse on Feb. 6. The sophomore struck twice in the first period and again in the second to notch the program's first hat trick since Hanna Bunton scored three against Brown on Nov. 11, 2016.
 
SHORTY GET DOWN
Kristin O'Neill, Erin O'Connor, Lenka Serdar, Paige Lewis and Maddie Mills are four of 75 players in the country who have recorded a short-handed goal this season, a category O'Neill is tied for first in nationally with four on the year. O'Neill broke the program record for career short-handed goals at Syracuse (1/9) and added in others against Harvard (1/13) and Union (2/16) to tally nine 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 12 defensemen to have a short-handed goal this year.
 
Serdar notched hers at Union (2/16) while Lewis' was at Rensselaer (2/17). Maddie Mills got hers against Princeton (2/23) in the opening game of the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals. Along with O'Connor, it was also the trio's first-career short-handed goals as well.
 
KILLIN' IT
The Big Red tops the nation in the penalty kill, only allowing eight goals out of the 113 total times that the opposition has been on a power play (92.9%).
 
STREAKIN'
Both Maddie Mills and Brianna Veerman are on four-game point streaks.

In that span, Mills has two goals and four assists – one in each game – with one score coming short-handed while the other was the game-winning power play tally in match three of the quarterfinals against Princeton. The freshman has scored in 12 of the team's past 16 games.

In that same time frame, Veerman has notched two goals and three assists, including the game winner against Princeton in the first game of the quarterfinals and one on the power play. She has registered at least one point in 10 of the last 12 matches.
 
FEEL THE POWER
Cornell has notched 20 power play goals on the season with Maddie Mills laying claim to eight of them. Her eight goals are tied for the fourth most nationally while tying for second all-time in program history for power play goals scored in a single season.
 
Kristin O'Neill (4), Diana Buckley (2), Brianna Veerman (2), Jaime Bourbonnais, Sarah Knee, Willow Slobodzian and Paige Lewis have scored the other 12.

TOP-10 TAKEDOWNS
Cornell has five top-10 victories on its resume: St. Lawrence (10/27, 1/27), Providence (11/25, 11/26) and Colgate (12/1).
 
Five of the Big Red's seven losses have come from the hands of the nation's top-three teams at the time. The team's first loss came at then-No. 2 Clarkson while then-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. While facing the Golden Knights for the second time this season, Clarkson would escape from Lynah Rink with a 4-3 overtime win.

DYNAMIC DEFENSEMEN
Sarah Knee and Jaime Bourbonnais are two of the most prolific-scoring defensemen in the nation. Bourbonnais is 11th in points per game amongst her fellow defensemen with 22 points from three goals and 19 assists (.73 points/game). Knee is 18th with 22 points from five goals and 17 assists (.69 points/game).
 
THE GANG'S ALL HERE
Following the team's game against Brown (2/10), every skater on the roster has registered at least one point this season. Hanna Mutschelknaus clinched an assist against the Bears to mark the occasion. All in all, 19 on the team have earned points this year as goaltender Marlene Boissonnault has been credited with two assists.
 
O CANADA
A quartet of Cornellians represented their native country of Canada at tournaments in January.

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.

FEED THE FRESHMEN
All six freshman skaters have scored at least one goal this season. Maddie Mills ranks second on the squad with 18 goals while Joie Phelps has six goals on the year. Defensemen Kendra Nealey and Willow Slobodzian have tallied of four and three, respectively and Finley Frechette has two. Devon Facchinato just notched her first-career goal in game two of the quarterfinals against Princeton (2/23).

LEADERS OF THE PACK
Kristin O'Neill leads Cornell in goals (19), assists (21) and points (40), shots (148) and plus/minus (+27).
Maddie Mills ranks first for the Big Red in power play goals (8). Senior captain Sarah Knee is first on the team in blocks (53).

FIRST GOAL WINS
The Big Red is 21-2-1 this season in games that they have scored first in. The only two matches that the team has dropped after scoring first in were Clarkson (1/26) and Princeton (2/24) in game two of the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals. The lone tie was at Harvard (2/2).

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 36-career points for the Big Red off of nine goals and 27 assists while O'Connor has accumulated 49 points from nine goals and 40 assists in her entire career thus far. Fellow senior Brianna VeermanBrianna Veerman played her 100th game on Dec. 1 in a thrilling 2-1 home victory over Colgate. Veerman has 53-career points from 17 goals and 36 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 21 players on the roster, 12 are from the United States while 9 call Canada home. The Americans have representatives from the Northeast region (6), Midwest (4) and South (2). The Canadians on the roster come from four different providences: Ontario (5), New Brunswick (2), Saskatchewan (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 578-506-70. 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
The championship final of the ECAC Hockey tournament will take place Sunday, Mar. 4 at 2 p.m. at Cheel Arena and will feature the two teams left standing after the semifinals