Game 12: Cornell at Syracuse
Face Off: Tuesday, November 30 • 7 p.m.
Site: Tennity Ice Rink • Syracuse, N.Y.
2010-11 Records:
    Cornell - 10-1-0, 6-0-0 ECAC Hockey
    Syracuse - 6-6-2, 0-0-0 College Hockey America
Series Record: Syracuse leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: Syracuse won, 2-1 (ot), on Jan. 5, 2010, at Lynah Rink (Ithaca, N.Y.)
Media Information
Live Audio: www.SUAthletics.com/showcase
Live Stats: sidearmstats.com/syracuse/whockey

Game Notes in PDF Format

ITHACA, N.Y. -- On the last day of November, the Cornell women's hockey team will play its only road contest of the month when it travels north to Syracuse for a non-league contest against the Orange. Cornell will be making its first-ever appearance at Syracuse, in its third season of having a varsity program. Tuesday night's contest will begin at 7 p.m., with live stats and live streaming audio of the contest available.

HEAD COACH DOUG DERRAUGH
Now in his sixth season as head coach of the Cornell women's hockey team, Doug Derraugh has turned the program into a contender for the national championship. With a 68-82-15 overall record, Derraugh guided the Big Red to a 21-9-6 record last season and a berth in the national championship game. He led Cornell to its first-ever ECAC Hockey regular season and tournament championships and first appearance in the NCAA tournament, defeating traditional powers Harvard and Mercyhurst on the way to the national title game. He has led the Big Red to double-digit win totals in each of the past three seasons and set a program record for wins in a season with 21 last year. Derraugh took over the program prior to the 2005-06 season after a 13-year professional playing career in Europe and has transformed the Big Red into one of the top young programs in the country. He is assisted by fifth-year assistant coach Danielle Bilodeau, a former Cornell player and 2001 graduate, Edith Zimering, in her second season with the Big Red, and volunteer assistant coach Meredith Roth, in her first year with Cornell.

ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell rolled to its fifth and sixth straight wins last weekend, defeating Niagara twice by identical 6-0 scores at Lynah Rink. On Friday, it was Catherine White and Chelsea Karpenko highlighting the contest, with Karpenko leading all scorers with four points on a goal and three assists, while White notched a pair of goals and an assist to reach the 100-point mark for her career. Saturday, Rebecca Johnston and Brianne Jenner led the way, with Johnston potting five points on a hat trick and two assists and Jenner tallying two goals and two helpers. Freshman Alyssa Gagliardi had a strong weekend as well, tallying five assists in the two games from  her spot on the Big Red blue line. For the season, Jenner leads the squad in scoring with 17 points through nine games on nine goals and eight assists,w hile Johnston is one point back with six goals and a team-best 10 assists. In all, six different players are averaging at least a point per game this season. In goal, Amanda Mazzotta has been stellar this season, having posted a .949 save percentage and a 0.98 goals-against average with three shutouts. Mazzotta is also working on the second-longest scoreless streak of her career, having kept the opposition off the scoreboard in the last 210:45. Cornell, meanwhile, has not allowed a goal in the last four games, with freshman netminder Lauren Slebodnick playing 48:20 scoreless minutes in the two games against Niagara. Cornell's power play unit is tied for first in the country, having converted on 12-of-48 chances (25.0 percent) while the Big Red ranks second nationally in penalty killing percentage (32-of-34, 94.1 percent).

ABOUT SYRACUSE
Syracuse enters Tuesday's contest with a 6-6-2 overall record and has yet to play a game in College Hockey America this season. The Orange played a two-game set at home last weekend against Rensselaer, dropping the opener before scoring a 2-2 tie on Saturday. Syracuse has played seven games against ECAC Hockey foes this year, going 4-2-1 in those contests. Isabel Menard leads the Orange offense, tallying 23 points on nine goals and 14 assists in 14 games, while Julie Rising is also averaging better than a point per game, having scored seven goals and adding 10 assists for 17 points in 14 contests. In goal, the Orange have used primarily two goaltenders, with freshman Jenesica Drinkwater playing just over half the minutes this season and recording a .903 save percentage and a 2.49 goals-against average. Kallie Billadeau has played most of the remaining time, posting a .877 save percentage and a 3.44 goals-against average. Syracuse has converted on 11-of-70 power play chances this season (15.7 percent, 18th nationally), while killing off 56-of-68 opponents' power-play opportunities (82.4 percent, 24th nationally).

THE SERIES WITH SYRACUSE
Cornell and Syracuse have met just once, with the Orange winning a 2-1 overtime decision on Jan. 5, 2010, at Lynah Rink, against an out-manned Big Red squad. Cornell played that contest with just 13 skaters, as three players were with the Canadian U22 National Team at the MLP Cup in Ravensburg, Germany, for the game. In that contest, Karlee Overguard scored an unassisted goal in the first period to put the Big Red on top, but Syracuse's Holly Carrie-Mattimoe matched that tally with a short-handed goal five minutes into the third period, and scored the game-winner 1:49 into overtime. Amanda Mazzotta made 16 saves in that contest in taking the loss.

AT THE CENTURY MARK
Junior Catherine White became just the 13th player in program history – and the first since Erin Schmaltz in 1998 – to score her 100th career point when she reached that barrier on Nov. 26 against Niagara. White reached that mark in just 74 gameson 37 goals and 63 assists. Rebecca Johnston will likely become the next Cornell player to reach the 100-point plateau, as she enters the week just seven points shy of that mark.

NUMBER ONE
With Cornell's sweep over Niagara and Wisconsin splitting its series with Minnesota-Duluth last weekend, the Big Red moved up to first in the nation in this week's USCHO.com poll. The USA Today/USA Hockey poll is released on Tuesday afternoon. This marks the first time in program history that the Big Red has been ranked as the top team in the nation in either of the two polls.

DRAWING A BLANK
While Cornell's offense provides the headlines, it the Big Red's defense that is suffocating opponents and turning into victories. The Big Red has allowed just 10 goals in 11 games and has surrendered just three goals in six league games. Cornell has allowed more than two goals just once this season, giving up four goals in a 4-3 loss to Mercyhurst on Nov. 2, the only blemish of the season on Cornell's record. The Big Red has allowed just five goals during the entire month of November and enters Tuesday's contest having posted four straight shutouts.

GOING STREAKING
Junior goaltender Amanda Mazzotta carries her second-longest shutout streak of her career into Tuesday's contest at Syracuse, having kept the opposition off the scoreboard for the last 210:45. Mazzotta last allowed a goal at the 19:05 mark of the third period on Nov. 6 against Dartmouth at Lynah Rink. As impressive as that mark is, it's still more than a full game shy of Mazzotta's personal best mark of 286:54, set in Feb. 2010, a mark that stands as the fourth-longest streak in NCAA history. As a team, the Big Red has not conceeded a goal in 259:05.

GET IN THE GAME
Freshman Lauren Slebodnick saw her first career action last weekend, coming on in relief of the two contests against Niagara at Lynah Rink. Slebodnick stopped all 19 shots she faced in the two games, posting a scoreless 48:20 over the two nights.

REACHING A MILESTONE
Cornell's win on Nov. 19 against Princeton was the 400th victory in the history of the Cornell women's hockey program. Cornell now has 403 victories, the ninth-highest total among NCAA Division I programs. New Hampshire leads all programs with 695 victories.

ONE MORE
Cornell's win on Nov. 26 against Niagara marked the 100th victory for the Big Red since the NCAA officially recognized women's hockey as a championship sport prior to the 2000-01 season. Cornell is now 101-182-25 since women's hockey gained official status.

ANOTHER ONE FOR MAZZOTTA
Cornell has played only five weekends this season, but after three of them, Amanda Mazzotta has earned the ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week award. Most recently, she picked up the honor after posting a pair of shutouts against Princeton and Quinnipiac at Lynah Rink, stopping 33 shots in the two games combined. Mazzotta previously earned the honor after leading the Big Red to wins at Quinnipiac and Princeton on Oct. 29-30 and again after going 2-1 from Nov. 2 through Nov. 6, scoring wins over Harvard and Dartmouth in the process.

ON THE BREAK
Cornell's players had a rare week off on Nov. 12-13 due to a quirk in the league schedule. Rather than play a non-conference series that weekend, the Big Red elected to take the weekend off to evaluate the team's progress in the early part of the season. Cornell has not had a similar break in the schedule since taking off the weekend of Nov. 23-24, 2007.

WHILE YOU WERE GONE...
Two Cornell players weren't entirely off during the team's break on Nov. 12-13, as Rebecca Johnston and Brianne Jenner took part in the 4 Nations Cup in St. John's, Newfoundland. Competing with the Canadian National Team, the pair came home with the tournament's gold medal, defeating the United States in the championship game, 3-2, in overtime. Johnston was especially strong in that championship game, scoring a pair of goals including the overtime game-winner. Johnston finished with seven points on four goals and three assists, ranking her tied for third among all scorers in the tournament. The pair missed Cornell's weekend series against Harvard and Dartmouth on Nov. 5-6, but the Big Red still posted a pair of victories in their absence.

WHAT A WEEKEND
With Rebecca Johnston and Brianne Jenner on international duty with the Canadian National Team at the 4 Nations Cup on Nov. 5-6, senior Hayley Hughes stepped up with the best weekend of her career. Hughes potted a pair of goals and assisted on the third in Cornell's 3-0 victory against Harvard on Friday night, then tallied three assists in the 6-1 win against Dartmouth the following day. Hughes' six-point weekend equaled one-quarter of her career point total entering the 2010-11 season and earned her ECAC Hockey Player of the Week honors for the first time in her career. This season, Hughes has 10 points on five goals and five assists, just two points shy of her career best for a season of 12, set as a freshman in 2007-08.

FIRING BLANKS
Amanda Mazzotta became Cornell's all-time career leader in shutouts when she blanked Harvard, 3-0, on Nov. 5. With three shutouts this season, Mazzotta now has 15 shutouts in her Cornell career, surpassing the mark of 12 set by Kathryn LoPresti from 1985 through 1989. Mazzotta's 15 shutouts rank her tied for 14th all-time in NCAA history.

ONE BANNER YEAR
Cornell officially put the cap on the historic 2009-10 season on Nov. 6 against Dartmouth when the Big Red added three banners to the Lynah Rink rafters. Last year's four seniors – Laura Danforth, Melanie Jue, Kelly McGinty and Liz Zorn – were on hand for the unveiling of banners commemorating the program's ECAC Hockey championship, the Ivy League championship and national runner-up finish.

FOUR SQUARE
Cornell's wins on Oct. 29-30 at Quinnipiac and Princeton gave the Big Red victories in each of its first four games in a season for the first time since the 1978-79 season. That year, Cornell began the season with five straight wins on its way to a 13-5-1 overall record.

100 AND COUNTING
Senior Karlee Overguard's appeared in her 100th career game on Nov. 5 against Harvard, the most games of any player on the roster.  Overguard is on pace to become the school's career leader in games played, a mark that is currently held by 2010 graduate Laura Danforth. Danforth appeared in 124 games during her four-year career spanning 2006 through 2010. Two of Danforth's classmates, Liz Zorn (121) and Kelly McGinty (116), stand second and tied for third, respectively, in games played at Cornell. Overguard stands at 105 career games played, while fellow senior Hayley Hughes is 12 games away from the 100-games played mark herself.

LEAGUE OPENERS
Cornell won its ECAC Hockey opener for the second straight season with a 5-1 win at Quinnipiac on Oct. 29, and opened up 2-0 in league play for the second time in a row when it downed Princeton the following day by the same score. Last season, Cornell won its first five league games before falling to St. Lawrence. Prior to last season, the last time that Cornell won twice to begin the league campaign came during the 1998-98 season. Entering this weekend at 4-0 in league play, the Big Red will try to match its best start in league play in program history, set last season when Cornell won five straight games to begin the league campaign.

FRONTRUNNERS
Cornell has spent 75.0 percent of the total minutes of games this season with a lead, while trailing for just a total of 1:36, or 0.2 percent of the time. Cornell has been tied for 163:35 through 11 games, or 24.7 percent of the total minutes played.

TEAMMATES, ENEMIES
The Nov. 2 game against Mercyhurst featured a number of players who are teammates on the Canadian National Team that won the gold medal at the 4 Nations Cup from Nov. 9-13 in St. John's, Newfoundland. Cornell players Rebecca Johnston and Brianne Jenner skated against Mercyhurst's Meghan Agosta and Vicki Bendus at Lynah Rink before taking off to become teammates for Canada. Agosta and Johnston were teammates last year on the Canadian team that captured the Olympic gold medal at the Vancouver Olympics. Additionally, Bendus was a teammate of the eight Cornell players at the Canadian U22 National Team camp in mid-August.

BALANCING ACT
Through the first nine games, despite the Big Red having scored 39 goals, only Rebecca Johnston has collected at least one point in every game that she has appeared in. Johnston has 10 points this season on three goals and seven assists, with two multi-point games on the year. Johnston picked up an assist in both the Nov. 19 win over Princeton and the Nov. 20 victory against Quinnipiac to continue that streak.

EVERYONE IS CLUTCH
Cornell has shown a tremendous balance on the scoresheet this season, illustrated by the fact that only Rebecca Johnston and Amber Overguard have recorded more than one game-winning goal this season. With 10 victories this year, eight different players have scored a game-winning goal.

ANOTHER QUICK START
Brianne Jenner added her first career ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week award on Nov. 2 after her play in the league-opening weekend on Oct. 29-30. Jenner scored six points in the two games on two goals and four assists, scoring three assists against Quinnipiac and tallying two goals and an assist at Princeton.

AND THE WINNER IS...
Freshman Jessica Campbell scored four goals for the Big Red in a 9-1 victory against Robert Morris on Oct. 23, enough to earn her the ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week award in her first weekend. Campbell scored once in both the first and second periods and finished off her four-goal performance with a pair of markers in the third period. Campbell's four-goal outburst was the first for a Big Red player since Colette Bredin scored five against Colby on Feb. 28, 1998, in a 9-3 Cornell victory.

EVERYONE IN THE ACT
Cornell's 9-1 victory against Robert Morris on Oct. 23 came as a total team effort. Of the 15 skaters to dress for that contest, 14 of them recorded at least one point, with only freshman defenseman Alyssa Gagliardi not picking up a point. Gagliardi didn't finish the weekend empty-handed, however, as she picked up an assist in the season opener on Oct. 22.

GOOD GIRLS
Cornell leads the nation in fewest penalty minutes per game, averaging just 6.4 minutes in the box per contest. Cornell has been called for just 35 penalties in the 11 games this season.

ON THE BOARD
When junior Jenna Paulson recorded an assist on Oct. 23 against Robert Morris, it marked the first career point for the Toronto native. Paulson had played in 56 games through her first two seasons with the Big Red before collecting her first career point.

FROM THE START
The five skaters in Cornell's six-player freshman class each made their collegiate debut against Robert Morris on Oct. 22-23, with all five of them recording their first career points. Jessica Campbell picked up four goals on the weekend and leads the team in scoring, while Brianne Jenner tallied a goal and an assist and Hayley Cudmore picked up a pair of assists. The other two newcomers, Olivia Cook and Alyssa Gagliardi, both recorded one assist on the weekend.

OH CANADA!
Of the 20 members of the Cornell roster in 2010-11, nine were selected to participate in the Canadian U22 National Team Selection Camp in early August, and eight of those players were named to the select team that faced the United States in a three-game series later that month. The eight included goaltender Amanda Mazzotta, defensemen Laura Fortino and Lauriane Rougeau, and forwards Jessica Campbell, Brianne Jenner, Rebecca Johnston, Chelsea Karpenko and Catherine White. Also invited to the camp but not named to the select team was defenseman Hayleigh Cudmore. The nine players invited to the camp far surpassed any other collegiate program, with Boston University placing four players in the initial camp and Mercyhurst placing three.

EARLY PICKS
When the ECAC Hockey preseason coaches poll was released, it was no surprise to see the Big Red standing as the favorite among league coaches to repeat as champions. Cornell received all 11 possible first-place votes with Clarkson gaining the final vote, with coaches unable to vote for their own teams.

THE FIRST SIX
Along with the preseason coaches poll, the ECAC Hockey bench bosses selected the preseason all-league team, with four Big Red players named among the six spots. The Big Red placed defensemen Laura Fortino and Lauriane Rougeau and forwards Rebecca Johnston and Catherine White among the top six, with Quinnipiac goaltender Victoria Vigilanti and Harvard forward Kate Buesser rounding out the league's preseason selections.

EVERYBODY'S ALL-AMERICAN
Cornell returns four players who have previously earned AHCA All-America honors during their career, including the program's first First-Team selection in sophomore defenseman Laura Fortino, who was selected to the nation's top six in her freshman season. Joining in that group are 2010 second-team selections Catherine White and Lauriane Rougeau and 2009 second-team pick Rebecca Johnston.

GO FOR THE GOLD
Rebecca Johnston returns to the Big Red for her junior season after sitting out the 2009-10 campaign while centralized with the Canadian senior national team. Johnston was named to the Canadian team that captured the gold medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, playing in five of Canada's six games and scoring one goal with five assists and a +9 rating.

WORLD CHAMPIONS
Cornell's roster includes a pair of players who were a part of the Canadian team that won the IIHF U18 World Championship last spring. Freshmen Jessica Campbell and Hayleigh Cudmore were both members of that squad, with Campbell being named the most valuable player of the tournament for her play.

DRAWING A BLANK
Last season, opponents found it exceptionally hard to score on Cornell goaltender Amanda Mazzotta. The junior netminder set a Cornell record – men's and women's – by posting 11 shutouts last year, surpassing the total of 10 set by men's goaltender David McKee during the 2004-05 season. The previous best by a women's goaltender was six, set by Kathryn LoPresti in the 1988-89 season.

GOING STREAKING
Last season, Cornell goaltender Amanda Mazzotta recorded the fourth-longest shutout streak in NCAA history, recording four straight shutouts from Feb. 5 through Feb. 13. Her total time stretched for 286:54, the longest streak in ECAC Hockey history. Wisconsin alumna Jessie Vetter owns two of the three longest streaks in NCAA history, including the record of 448:39.

TREATY OF NEUTRALITY
Cornell's two games at the NCAA Frozen Four last season marked the 42nd and 43rd games the Big Red has played on neutral ice. Cornell holds a 23-17-3 record all-time when playing at a neutral venue. Prior to last season's national championship weekend, the Big Red's last neutral site game came on Jan. 21, 2001, when it lost to St. Lawrence, 4-1, at Lake Placid, N.Y.
The Big Red is not scheduled to play any neutral site contests this season, but could potentially play as many as four, should Cornell advance in postseason play.

PENALTY KILLING? NO PROBLEM
Cornell was exceptional at staying out of the penalty box last season, ranking 33rd among the 35 teams in Division I in penalty minutes per game. Even when the Big Red found itself shorthanded, however, Cornell still played outstanding defense. The Big Red ranked first in the nation in penalty-killing percentage, allowing just 10 goals in 131 opponents' power plays (92.4 percent). Cornell's 2009-10 percentage ranked eighth all-time in NCAA history.

TWO-WAY PLAYER
Sophomore forward Xandra Hompe gives new meaning to that term, as the New Cannan, Conn., native is a dual-sport athlete. Hompe spends her fall season with the Cornell women's soccer team, where she finished tied for third on the team in scoring and tied for the team lead in assists with four.

LYNAH LOCKDOWN
Cornell went 4-0 in postseason games at Lynah Rink last season. Prior to thiat, the Big Red had never won a postseason game, and had never played a postseason game at home.

UP NEXT
Cornell closes out the fall semester at home this weekend, playing host to St. Lawrence on Friday and Clarkson at Saturday, with both games beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday's game is a special promotion, with $1 from every ticket sold for the contest being donated the United Way of Tompkins County.