GAME INFORMATION
GAME #28: Rensselaer at Cornell
DATE: Friday, February 19, 2010
TIME: 7 pm
SITE: Ithaca, N.Y. - Lynah Rink
2009-10 RECORDS: Cornell - 13-8-6, 12-2-6 ECAC Hockey; Rensselaer - 14-11-6, 11-5-4 ECAC Hockey
SERIES RECORD: Rensselaer leads, 4-3
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 3-1, on Nov. 7, 2009, in Troy, N.Y.
LIVE VIDEO: www.CornellBigRed.com/showcase
LIVE STATS: www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/whockey

GAME #29: Union at Cornell
DATE: Saturday, February 20, 2010
TIME: 4 p.m.
SITE: Ithaca, N.Y. - Lynah Rink
2009-10 RECORDS: Cornell - 13-8-6, 12-2-6 ECAC Hockey; Union - 5-26-1, 1-18-1 ECAC Hockey
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 12-1
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 4-0, on Nov. 6, 2009, in Schenectady, N.Y.
LIVE VIDEO: www.CornellBigRed.com/showcase
LIVE STATS: www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/whockey

The final weekend of the regular season has arrived, but for the first time in program history, it won't mark the final home games of the season, as Cornell has clinched a first-round series for the ECAC Hockey playoffs. First, though, the Big Red will take on Rensselaer and Union to close out the regular season, with Cornell searching for the top overall seed in the upcoming league tournament and its first ever regular-season crown.

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 50-80-15, but has taken the Big Red to double-digit win totals in each of the last three seasons for the first time since Cornell had six straight double-digit win totals from 1995-96 through 2000-01. He has also guided the Big Red to its third straight berth in the ECAC Hockey playoffs. Derraugh is assisted by Danielle Biloudeau, in her fourth season, and Edith Zimmering, in her first year with the Big Red.

ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell went to Brown and Yale last weekend and came home with a pair of victories without conceeding a goal, downing Brown, 4-0, before beating Yale, 1-0. Amanda Mazzotta posted her third and fourth straight shutouts for the Big Red in the two wins, giving her 10 on the season to extend her own school record. Karlee Overguard had a pair of goals against the Bears, with Catherine White and Laura Fortino both tallying two assists in the win. On Saturday against Yale, it was Lauriane Rougeau scoring the game's only goal, with both White and Fortino picking up assists. White leads the Big Red in scoring with 30 points on seven goals and 23 assists in 24 games, while Fortino has 23 points on nine goals and 14 assists. Chelsea Karpenko leads the team with 13 goals to go along with nine assists for 22 points with Overguard tallying 10 goals with four assists. In goal, Mazzotta has been outstanding, posting a .924 save percentage and a 1.48 goals-against average. The Big Red has one of the nation's top special teams units, converting on 23-of-110 power-play chances (20.9 percent) while killing off 91-of-94 opponents' power plays (96.8 percent).

ABOUT RENSSELAER
The Engineers are in the midst of a four-way battle for one of the home playoff spots, entering the weekend tied with Harvard for third in the league standings, but just two points above sixth-place Princeton. The Engineers need at least one win on the weekend to clinch one of the top-four spots in the league standings and host a playoff series next weekend. RPI is led offensively by Whitney Naslund and Allison Wright, both of whom have 23 points in 31 games this season. Naslund has a team-best 14 goals, while Laura Gersten has a team-high 14 assists. In goal, Sonja van der Bliek has a 1.90 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage. RPI has converted on 18-of-155 power-play chances (11.6 percent) while killing off 129-of-148 opponents' power plays (87.2 percent).

THE SERIES WITH RENSSELAER
The Engineers hold a slim 4-3 lead in the all-time series, though Cornell cut into that with a 3-1 victory earlier this season in Troy. Cornell won last year's meeting at Lynah Rink, 3-2.

ABOUT UNION
Union is one of only two teams in the ECAC Hockey standings that know for certain that its season will end this weekend, as the Dutchwomen have just three points in league play this season. Union has dropped its last eight contests and 12 of its last 13 entering the weekend. One of Union's leading scorers is someone whose name might be familiar to Big Red hockey fans, in Molly Kate Devin, the younger sister of the Mike and Joe Devin from the Cornell men's hockey team. The youngest Devin has eight points on three goals and five assists to share team-high honors with Marissa Gentile (2-6--8) and Lauren Hoffman (2-6--8). Union goaltender Alana Marcinko has played most of the time in goal, posting a 3.01 goals-against average with a .911 save percentage and three shutouts. Union's special teams have struggled, converting on just 6-of-93 power-play chances (6.5 percent) while killing penalties at a 78.6 percent rate (121-of-154).

THE SERIES WITH UNION
Cornell has dominated the all-time series with Union, winning 12 of the 13 meetings, including each of the last 11. Cornell won by a 4-0 margin when the two teams first met earlier this season in Schenectady, N.Y. Cornell has never lost to Union at Lynah Rink.

BREAKING IT DOWN
As the Cornell women's hockey team enters the final weekend of the regular season tied with Clarkson atop the league standings, Cornell knows it can do no worse than second place in the conference, and controls its own destiny in the chase for a share of the regular-season title. With two wins this weekend, the Big Red could do no worse than a share of the title, while any combination of results that gives Cornell one more point than Clarkson this weekend would give the Big Red the title outright and make Cornell the top seed in the league tournament. If Cornell and Clarkson tie with the same number of points, Clarkson would win the league's top seed for the ECAC Hockey tournament based on the second tiebreaker criteria of more league victories. Cornell and Clarkson split the two meetings this season, with the home team winning each game.

BREAK OUT THE HARDWARE
After winning both games last weekend at Brown and Yale, Cornell clinched its first Ivy League title since 1996 with an 8-0-2 mark against Ivy League foes. The Big Red will be presented with the Ivy League championship trophy following Saturday's game against Union.

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
Cornell has also clinched a home series for the first round of the ECAC Hockey playoffs, something that the Big Red has never previously done. Cornell has made the post-season nine times, including both of the past two seasons, but has never finished the regular season higher than fifth. Additionally, in post-season play, the Big Red has never won a playoff game, going 0-14.

ONE LONG BLANK
Cornell goaltender Amanda Mazzotta enters the weekend with the fourth-longest shutout streak in NCAA history. Mazzotta, who has posted shutouts in each of the last four games, has not allowed a goal in the last 261:38, the longest streak in ECAC Hockey history. Wisconsin's Jessie Vetter owns two of the top three shutout streaks in NCAA history, including the first at 448:39. Mazzotta would need to post at least three more shutouts before Vetter's top mark would be in range.

HOW FAR WE'VE COME
Four seniors will be playing their final home regular season games this weekend, and they will truly have cause to celebrate. As freshmen in 2006-07, Cornell went just 4-23-2 and missed the ECAC Hockey playoffs. Cornell would make the playoffs in each of the next two seasons as the eighth and final seed, but this year, they'll be a part of one of the greatest seasons in program history. Cornell's four seniors - Laura Danforth, Melanie Jue, Kelly McGinty and Liz Zorn - can truly look back on their experience and know they helped usher in a new era of Big Red hockey.

A CROWN OF IVY
Cornell's 4-0 win over Brown on Feb. 12 gave Cornell the Ivy League title outright, the Big Red's first since the 1996 season. Cornell has now won the league championship 10 times, winning the title outright nine times.

DOUBLE VISION ONCE AGAIN
The Cornell women's hockey team has recorded double-digit wins this season, marking the third year in a row that Cornell has done so. The Big Red last won at least 10 games in three straight seasons during a stretch of six years with double-digit win totals from 1995-96 through 2000-01.

NO SOUP FOR YOU!
Cornell sophomore goaltender Amanda Mazzotta has posted 10 shutouts this season, becoming the Big Red's all-time single-season leader in that category. She surpassed Kathryn LoPresti's six shutouts from 1988 when she blanked Quinnipiac on Feb. 5, then added her eighth shutout the next night against Princeton. Mazzotta's 10 shutouts are the tied for the most all-time among Cornell goaltenders, male or female. Mazzotta is tied with David McKee, who had 10 shutouts in 2004-05.

DRAWING A BLANK
Cornell was held scoreless on Jan. 10 at Providence, the first time this season Cornell has failed to score at least one goal. Cornell was also held scoreless by Quinnipiac on Feb. 5, but picked up a tie in the 0-0 contest. By contrast, Big Red opponents have been shut out 10 times through the first 27 games. Cornell has also scored two or more goals 18 times through the first 27 games. When Cornell scores two or more goals, the Big Red is 11-2-5.

KAZMAIER WATCH
When the 45 nominees for the Patty Kazmaier Award were announced on Wednesday, a trio of Cornell players were among those up for the award. Sophomore Catherine White and freshmen Laura Fortino and Lauriane Rougeau were each nominated for the award, which will be handed out on March 20. The 45 nominees will be cut to 10 on March 2, with three finalists being announced a week later.

CATHERINE THE GREAT
Catherine White has become one of the nation's top playmakers, as evidenced by her ranking as fifth in the nation in assists per game. White has 23 assists in 24 games for an average of 0.96.

OFFENSIVE DEFENSEMEN
Cornell's two freshmen defensemen rank among the nation's elite in terms of scoring among defensemen. Laura Fortino leads the nation in points per game among defensemen, while Lauriane Rougeau is sixth in the nation. The two players have combined for 16 goals and 26 assists and rank second and fourth on the Cornell roster, respectively. Fortino also ranks fourth in the nation in scoring among all rookies, while Rougeau is ninth in that category.

ON A ROLL
Catherine White has scored at least one point in all but one of Cornell's games since the start of the new calendar year, collecting 15 points in the 10 games. She was only held scoreless during the Big Red's 0-0 tie against Quinnipiac on Feb. 5. Of her points over that span, 13 have been assists, boosting her season total in that category to a team-leading 23.

GOING STREAKING, TOO
Catherine White's not the only one who has been on a roll lately, as Laura Fortino has also scored in nine of the 10 games since the start of the new year. Fortino has 15 points over that span, including six goals and nine assists. Fortino has five multi-point games in her last 10.

CLUTCH IS EVERYTHING
When the Cornell women's hockey team has needed a goal in the closing minutes of games, Karlee Overguard has delivered. The junior has a pair of game-tying goals in the last several weeks, first knotting the score with four seconds left at Harvard on Jan. 15 for a 4-4 tie against the Crimson, then tallying the tying mark with 1:16 to play against St. Lawrence on Jan. 29.

WELCOME RETURNS
Cornell's lineup was boosted by the return of three players who missed three games due to their participation at the MLP Cup, representing Canada. Catherine White, Laura Fortino and Lauriane Rougeau each missed the games against Syracuse and Providence for the international competition in Ravensburg, Germany, where they claimed the gold medal. The trio, comprising three of the Big Red's top four scorers, combined to score 10 of Cornell's 17 points on the weekend. Fortino had four of those points (2-2--4), with Rougeau (1-2--3) and White (0-3--3) both tallying three. With the three players gone on international duty, the Big Red went 0-3.

OFFENSE AND DEFENSE
The formula for a winning hockey team is obvious - scoring plenty of goals and not giving up goals. The Cornell women's hockey team has followed that formula to perfection, ranking third in ECAC Hockey with 59 goals scored, trailing only Harvard's 64 and Dartmouth's 63. On defense, the Big Red is second in fewest goals allowed, conceeding just 24 goals, just three behind league-leading Clarkson.

SOMETHING REALLY SPECIAL
Cornell's penalty killing unit is on the verge of snapping the NCAA record for highest penalty-killing percentage in a season. The Big Red has killed off 96.8 percent of opponents' power plays this season, which is above the NCAA record of 95.7 percent, set by Harvard in 2003. That year, Harvard allowed just five goals in 117 chances. The Big Red this season has allowed just three goals in 94 opportunites.

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

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.

UP NEXT
Cornell will play host to the first round of the ECAC Hockey tournament next weekend. The Big Red's opponent will be determined after this weekend's play, while game times will be announced early next week.