GAME INFORMATION
GAME #18: Cornell at Harvard
DATE: Friday, January 15, 2010
TIME: 7 pm
SITE: Cambridge, Mass. - Bright Hockey Center
2009-10 RECORDS: Cornell – 8-7-2 (7-1-2 ECAC Hockey); Harvard  –
SERIES RECORD: Harvard leads, 50-18-2
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 4-3, on Oct. 31, 2009, at Lynah Rink
LIVE VIDEO: gocrimson.com
LIVE STATS: gocrimson.com

GAME #19: Cornell at Dartmouth
DATE: Saturday, January 16, 2010
TIME: 4 p.m.
SITE: Hanover, N.H. - Thompson Arena
2009-10 RECORDS: Cornell - 8-7-2, 7-1-2 ECAC Hockey; Dartmouth - 6-8-2, 4-6-1 ECAC Hockey
SERIES RECORD: Dartmouth leads, 39-21-6
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 3-0, on Oct. 30, 2009, at Lynah Rink
LIVE VIDEO: dartmouthsports.com
LIVE STATS: dartmouthsports.com

With six weeks remaining in the 2009-10 regular season, the Cornell women's hockey team returns to league play, opening up with a series at Harvard and Dartmouth this weekend. The Big Red will face the Crimson on Friday, Jan. 15, at 7 p.m., in Cambridge, Mass., before battling Dartmouth the following afternoon at 4 p.m. in Hanover, N.H. The two games are part of a season-long five-game road trip for the Big Red women.

ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell dropped three non-conference games last weekend while playing short-handed against Syracuse and twice against Providence. In the first-ever meeting between the Big Red and the Orange, Syracuse rallied with a third-period goal and won the game in overtime to overcome Karlee Overguard's first-period goal. Over the weekend in Providence, R.I., Cornell dressed just 12 skaters and fell, 6-3, in the opener on Saturday and 3-0 on Sunday. The three losses hurt Cornell slightly in the national polls, as Cornell fell from eighth to the highest team receiving votes in the USCHO.com poll and from eighth to 10th in the USA Today/USA Hockey poll. Cornell's offense is led by Catherine White, who has five goals and 10 assists for 15 points, and Chelsea Karpenko, who has a team-best seven goals and six assists. The pair are the only two players in double figures in scoring on the season for the Big Red. In goal, Amanda Mazzotta has played all but one game in net, posting a 1.68 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage with five shutouts.The Big Red enters the weekend with the nation's top penalty killing unit, successfully ending 54-of-55 opponents' power plays (98.2 percent). The Big Red also has converted on 18.2 percent of its own power plays, scoring 12 goals in 66 chances.

HEAD COACH DOUG DERRAUGH
In his fifth season behind the Big Red bench, Doug Derraugh has turned the Cornell women's hockey program into one of women's college hockey's top young programs. Derraugh has a career record of 45-79-11, but has taken the Big Red to a back-to-back double-digit wins in each of the last two seasons, the first time the Big Red has done that since the 1999-2000 and 2000-01 seasons. He has also led Cornell to the ECAC Hockey playoffs in each of the last two years. Derraugh is assisted by Danielle Biloudeau, in her fourth season, and Edith Zimmering, in her first year with the Big Red.

ABOUT HARVARD
The Crimson come into the weekend off a tie at Princeton and a loss to Quinnipiac last weekend to fall to 8-4-3 overall and 6-4-1 in league play. Harvard was without top goaltender Christina Kessler, who was with Team Canada at the MLP Cup. The Crimson are led offensively by Kate Buesser, who has 17 points on six goals and 11 assists in 15 games, while Jillian Dempsey joins her in double figures with a team-best seven goals and six assists for 13 points. Kessler has a 1.23 goals-against average and a .950 save percentage with four shutouts. On the season, Harvard has converted on just 9-of-71 power plays (12.7 percent) and killed off 55-of-61 opponents' power plays (90.2 percent).

THE SERIES WITH HARVARD
Cornell claimed a 4-3 victory in the first meeting of the season with Harvard, though the Crimson holds a 50-18-2 lead in the all-time series. The win on Oct. 31 marked the first Cornell win at Lynah Rink against the Crimson since the 1996-97 season.

ABOUT DARTMOUTH
Dartmouth has struggled this season, winning back-to-back games just once on the year as the Big Green enters the weekend with a 6-8-2 overall record and 4-6-1 mark in ECAC Hockey play. Dartmouth has gone 0-3-1 since the calendar has turned to 2010. Sarah Parsons leads the Big Green offense with 10 goals and 10 assists for 20 points, while Amanda Trunzo and Jenna Cunningham are both averaging at least a point per game. Goaltender Mariel Lacina has played most of the time in net, posting a 2.59 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage. The Big Green has converted on 18-of-89 power plays (20.2 percent) but killed off just 71-of-86 opponents' power plays (82.6 percent).

THE SERIES WITH DARTMOUTH
Cornell won the season's first meeting with Dartmouth, 3-0, on Oct. 30, to cut the Big Red deficit in the all-time series to 39-21-6. Cornell has a win and a tie in its last two meetings with Dartmouth after the Big Green had won each of the previous 19 meetings.

DRAWING A BLANk
Cornell was held scoreless in its last game on Sunday at Providence, marking the first time this season that Cornell was shut out. By contrast, Big Red opponents have been shut out five times through the first 17 games.

BACK TO FULL STRENGTH
The Big Red should be back to full strength this weekend, boosted by the return of three of the team's top five scorers. Sophomore Catherine White and freshmen Laura Fortino and Lauriane Rougeau each missed the last three games while competing for Canada at the MLP Cup in Ravensburg, Germany. Cornell was also without junior Karlee Overguard during the two games at Providence.

GOING FOR THE GOLD
Many college students use the time during the semester break to lay back and relax. That's not what Catherine White, Laura Fortino and Lauriane Rougeau did, as each garnered a gold medal after winning the MLP Cup in Ravensburg, Germany, on Jan. 9. The trio helped Canada to a perfect 4-0 mark in the tournament, including a 9-0 win over Switzerland in the gold medal match.

NON-LEAGUE NOT FRIENDLY
Cornell closed out the non-conference portion of the season with a 1-6 record after dropping three games last week. The Big Red went 1-4 against College Hockey America foes at Lynah Rink while dropping a pair against Providence of Hockey East.

LEADING THE WAY
Through 10 ECAC Hockey games this season, the Big Red has led for 374:21, or an astonishing 61.4 percent of the time. The Big Red has only trailed for a total of 37:55 (or 6.2 percent of the time) in its 10 league games. For the season, Cornell has led 42.3 percent of the time, while trailing just 26.2 percent.

NATURAL BORN KILLERS
Cornell has been exceptional at avoiding spending time on the penalty kill this season, averaging 6.8 minutes per game, fewest in Division I. When they do get sent to the box, Cornell's players have been exceptional at killing off those penalties. The Big Red leads the nation in penalty killing percentage, successfully ending 54-of-55 penalties against for an astounding 98.2 percent success rate.

EVEN FLOW
Despite the loss of last year's leading scorer and Patty Kazmier Award nominee Rebecca Johnston, the Big Red has shown the ability to record points by utilizing a well-balanced attack; 14 players on the 16-skater roster have contributed to the team's 94 points. The only skaters on the roster who have yet to find the scoring column are sophomore Jenna Paulson and freshman Xandra Hompe.

BRICK WALL
Borrowing a page from the men's hockey program, which has a history of producing outstanding goaltenders, sophomore Amanda Mazzotta has been outstanding in ECAC Hockey action this year. After allowing seven goals in the first two games of the season against Mercyhurst, Mazzotta now ranks 10th in the nation in goals-against average (1.68). In league play, she is allowing just 1.19 goals per game, ranking third in league games and earning ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week once so far this season for her play against Dartmouth and Harvard.

TWO-WAY PLAYERS
Cornell's women's hockey team has a pair of players who give new meaning to the term two-way player, as senior Melanie Jue and freshman Xandra Hompe are dual-sport athletes. Jue is a goalie for the field hockey team, and is ranked fourth in the nation in save percentage this season. Hompe, meanwhile, is a forward for the women's soccer team, tallying a pair of assists this fall for the Big Red.

HALFWAY TO THE CENTURY MARK
With the assist on Chelsea Karpenko's goal in the third period of the Harvard game on Nov. 7, Catherine White scored her 50th career point. In just her second year with the Big Red, White has the highest point total of any player on the Cornell roster and is leading scoring this season with 15 points. Two others are nearing the 50 point mark, as junior Karlee Overguard has 49 points in 75 career games and senior Liz Zorn has 47 points in 102 career games.

UP NEXT
Cornell will play a two-game, home-and-home series against its travel partner, Colgate, next weekend. The Big Red opens the series at Colgate on Friday in a 3 p.m. contest before the scene shifts to Ithaca for the second day, another 3 p.m. start.