GAME INFORMATION
GAME #15: Cornell vs. Syracuse
DATE: Tuesday, January 5, 2010
TIME: 7 pm
SITE: Ithaca, N.Y.- Lynah Rink
2009-10 RECORDS: Cornell – 8-4-2 (7-1-2 ECAC Hockey); Syracuse  – 11-8-1 (4-2-0 College Hockey America)
SERIES RECORD: First meeting
LIVE VIDEO: http://www.cornellbigred.com/showcase/
LIVE STATS: http://sidearmstats.com/cornell/whockey

The Cornell women's hockey team returns from a month-long hiatus when it takes on Syracuse tonight in a 7 p.m. contest at Lynah Rink. The Big Red will be playing its first game since recording a 5-0 victory against Brown on Dec. 5.

ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell is ranked eighth in the latest USCHO.com poll and stands tied atop ECAC Hockey with an 8-4-2 overall mark and a 7-1-2 league record. The Big Red has gotten to that point by playing sound defense, allowing just 12 goals in league play, second-lowest total in the league. Sophomore goaltender Amanda Mazzotta has been the backstop of that defense, posting a .917 save percentage and a 1.57 goals-against average on the season to go along with five shutouts. Offensively, the Big Red is paced by sophomores Catherine White and Chelsea Karpenko, with White tallying five goals and 10 assists for 15 points and Karpenko tallying a team-best six goals to go along with six assists for 12 points. The pair are the only two in double figures for the Big Red, which has seen all but two skaters record at least one point and all but three tallying at least two. The Big Red enters the night with the nation's top penalty-killing unit, successfully killing off 44-of-45 penalties on the season (97.8 percent). The Big Red has also converted on 20 percent of its power play chances (11-of-55).

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 45-76-11, 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 SYRACUSE
The Orange roster features six NCAA Division I transfers for the second-year program, including Ithaca-native Lucy Schoedel, a transfer from New Hampshire. The Orange are led offensively by Stefanie Marty, who has 11 goals and 11 assists for 22 points on the year. Isabel Menard and Julie Rising both have scored at least a point per game, with Menard tallying eight goals and a team-best 13 assists for 21 points and Rising collecting 10 goals and 10 assists for 20 points. Schoedel has seen every minute in goal for the Orange, posting a 2.42 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage with two shutouts. Syracuse has converted on 25-of-100 power-play chances (25.0 percent) while killing off penalties at an 81.3 percent rate (87-of-107).

THE SERIES WITH SYRACUSE
Tuesday's game will mark the first-ever meeting between Cornell and Syracuse, in just its second year of having a varsity program.

SHORT-HANDED
The Cornell bench will be rather empty tonight, as the Big Red will be playing without three of its regulars against the Orange. Leading scorer Catherine White and freshmen defensemen Laura Fortino and Lauriane Rougeau will all miss this week's action as they will be representing Canada at the MLP Cup in Ravensburg, Germany. The tournament runs from Jan. 5-9, meaning the trio will miss both games this weekend at Providence.

CORNELL VS. COLLEGE HOCKEY AMERICA
Cornell will be playing its fifth game tonight against College Hockey America teams. Cornell opened the year with back-to-back losses to top-ranked Mercyhurst before garnering a split against Niagara on Thanksgiving weekend. All five of the games against CHA teams this season will take place at Lynah Rink.

WELCOME HOME
Tuesday's game will mark a homecoming for Syracuse goaltender Lucy Schoedel, a native of Ithaca. Schoedel played for the Ithaca High School boys team during her sophomore, junior and senior seasons before heading to play at New Hampshire. Schoedel transfered to Syracuse prior to the 2008 season.

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. Cornell has yet to trail in a road game this season. For the season, Cornell has led 47.3 percent of the time, while trailing just 20.6 percent.

NATURAL BORN KILLERS
Cornell has been exceptional at avoiding spending time on the penalty kill this season, averaging 6.9 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 44-of-45 penalties against for an astounding 97.8 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 86 points. This widespread scoring gives the Big Red a versatile offense that has shown an ability to score not only at even strength but also in special teams situations. 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 eighth in the nation in goals-against average (1.57). 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 48 points in 74 career games and senior Liz Zorn has 46 points in 99 career games.

UP NEXT
Cornell closes out the nonconference portion of the season this weekend when it takes to the road to face Providence in a pair of games. The Big Red and Friars will play on both Saturday and Sunday in a 2 p.m. start both days.