NCAA Women's Hockey Semifinal
Cornell vs. Mercyhurst
Face Off: Friday, March 19 • 6 p.m. EDT
Site: Ridder Arena • Minneapolis, Minn.
2009-10 Records:
    Cornell    20-8-6, 14-2-6 ECAC Hockey
    Mercyhurst    30-2-3, 14-1-1 CHA
Series Record: Mercyhurst leads, 11-0-1
Season Series: Mercyhurst leads, 2-0-0
    Mercyhurst won, 4-1, on Oct. 23
    Mercyhurst won, 4-1, on Oct. 24

Media Information
Live Audio: cornellbigred.com/showcase
Live Video: http://www.uscho.com/women/
Live Stats: cornellbigred.com

Frozen Four Notes in PDF Format

ITHACA, N.Y. -- An already historic season continues for the Cornell women's hockey team, as it makes its first appearance in the NCAA Division I Women's Hockey Frozen Four. The Big Red will battle top-seeded Mercyhurst in the first of two national semifinals at 6 p.m. EDT on Friday at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, Minn. The winner of Friday's contest will face the winner of the other semifinal between Minnesota and Minnesota-Duluth in the national championship game at 1 p.m. EDT on Sunday. Live audio of Cornell's games will be available free of charge through the Cornell Redcast service, while live stats will also be available through links posted on CornellBigRed.com.

HEAD COACH DOUG DERRAUGH
While the list of accomplishments for the Cornell women's hockey team grows with each game, so too do the list of achievements for the Big Red's bench boss, Doug Derraugh. In his fifth season, he has guided the Big Red to its first league regular-season championship, first playoff and playoff series victories, first league tournament title and NCAA tournament appearance, and now, its first NCAA tournament win. Derraugh, a 1991 alumnus of Cornell University, has rebuilt the program from one that won just four games in the year prior to his arrival into one of the top young programs in the country. Derraugh has a career coaching record of 57-80-15, and has guided the Big Red to double-digit win totals in each of the last three seasons and a berth in the league playoffs for three straight years. Derraugh took over the program prior to the 2005-06 season after a 13-year professional playing career in Europe. Derraugh is assisted by fourth-year assistant Danielle Biloudeau, a former Cornell player and 2001 graduate, and Edith Zimering, in her first season with the Big Red.

ABOUT THE BIG RED
One of the nation's top young programs, Cornell earned its berth in the NCAA Division I Women's Hockey Frozen Four with a 6-2 victory over fourth-seeded Harvard on Friday, March 12, in Cambridge, Mass. Six different players scored a goal for the Big Red, with Chelsea Karpenko adding a pair of assists for a three-point game and Kendice Ogilvie and Catherine White both having a goal and an assist. Amanda Young chipped in a pair of assists for her first multi-point game of the season. Amanda Mazzotta stopped 34 shots on the night to earn the victory, her 20th of the year. On the season, Cornell is led by White's 41 points on 12 goals and 29 assists, while Karpenko and Laura Fortino are tied for second on the team in scoring with 31 points apiece. Karpenko has 17 goals to lead all players in that category, while five different players have scored 10 or more goals. In all, nine different players are scoring in double figures on the year. In goal, Mazzotta has played all but one game in between the pipes, posting a 1.52 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage with 11 shutouts. Cornell has one of the nation's top special-teams units, converting on 29-of-133 power play chances (21.8 percent) and successfully killing off 110-of-118 of its opponent's power play opportunities (93.2 percent).

ABOUT MERCYHURST
The nation's top-ranked team for most of the season, the Lakers enter the weekend with a 30-2-3 record, the nation's top scoring offense and the third-ranked scoring defense. Mercyhurst also boasts the top three scorers in the country in points-per-game in Jesse Scanzano, Vicki Bendus and Bailey Bram. The Lakers advanced to the national semifinals with a 4-1 victory over Boston University on Saturday afternoon in Erie, Pa. Bram had a pair of goals and Bendus had a goal and two assists, with Scanzano chipping in three assists in the victory. Goaltender Hillary Pattenden stopped 17 of the 18 shots she faced on the day for the Lakers. On the year, Bendus and Scanzano are tied for the team lead with 65 points apiece. Bendus has 28 goals and 37 assists, with Scanzano tallying 20 goals and 45 assists. Bram leads the team with 29 goals in just 32 games, while adding in 27 assists for 56 points. Pattenden has played the vast majority of time in goal, posting a 1.57 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage with five shutouts. Mercyhurst has excelled on special teams this season, ranking second in the nation in power play percentage (24.5 percent, 51-of-208), while ranking fourth in penalty killing (90.3 percent, 223-of-247).

THE SERIES WITH MERCYHURST
Friday's game will be the 13th time that Cornell and Mercyhurst will face off in women's hockey, and so far, the series has been all Lakers. Mercyhurst leads the all-time series, 11-0-1, with the lone tie coming on Feb. 26, 2006, in Ithaca, N.Y. The Lakers have won four straight meetings coming into Friday's national semifinal.

HOW WE GOT HERE
Cornell advanced to the national semifinals after dispatching fourth-seeded Harvard, 6-2, on March 12, in Cambridge, Mass. The Big Red qualified for the NCAA tournament after winning the ECAC Hockey tournament and garnering the league's automatic berth into the field of eight teams. Mercyhurst, meanwhile, earned an at-large bid as the top seed because its conference, College Hockey America, does not have enough teams to qualify for an automatic bid. The Lakers won the league tournament title anyway and eliminated the Hockey East champion, Boston University, by a 4-1 margin on March 13 in Erie, Pa.

FULL CIRCLE
The Cornell women's hockey team will open up the final weekend of the 2010 season the same way that it began the year: taking on Mercyhurst. Cornell met the Lakers in a two-game series at Lynah Rink on Oct. 23 and 24, the first two games of the year for the Big Red. Mercyhurst won both games, 4-1, though both contests were still in doubt during the second intermission. Mercyhurst led the opener, 3-1, after two periods before adding an empty-net goal. In game two, the Lakers led 1-0 after two periods before breaking the game open with a pair of goals in the first four minutes of the third period.

CALL IT PAYBACK
In both the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons, Cornell was the eighth seed in the ECAC Hockey tournament, and both times, Cornell had its season end at the hands of Harvard. Fast-forward to the 2009-10 season, and this time it was Cornell with an opportunity to end the season of the Crimson, but this time with much greater stakes on the line. The Big Red avenged the series losses from the two previous seasons with its 6-2 victory over the Crimson at the Bright Hockey Center, earning a spot in the national semifinals and, in the process, ending the season of its most heated rival.

MUST SEE CU
When the Cornell women faced off against Clarkson on March 7 in the ECAC Hockey championship game, 1,528 people were on hand to witness the Big Red's first league title. That number marked the highest official attendance on record for a Cornell women's game. Even more impressive was the fact that three game threes of the men's ECAC Hockey first round were played that same day, and the women's championship game out-drew two of the three men's games. The only men's game to surpass the women's attendance total that day was the game between Dartmouth and Quinnipiac in Hamden, Conn.; that game drew 1,745 fans.

GOTTA SEE IT TO BELIEVE IT
Boosted by the attendance during the ECAC Hockey tournament title run, the Cornell women's hockey team finished the year with an average of 473 spectators per game, good for 10th in the nation and the third-highest mark among ECAC Hockey teams. Only perennial league powers Dartmouth (821) and Harvard (661) drew more fans per contest among ECAC Hockey schools. Minnesota, site of this weekend's Frozen Four, ranked second in the country with more than 1,100 fans per game.

HOMEWARD BOUND
Cornell's appearance in the Frozen Four will mark a very special homecoming for senior co-captain Kelly McGinty, who hails from Long Lake, Minn., just over 15 miles west of downtown Minneapolis.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE FIELD
Cornell has played 15 games all-time against the three other teams in this weekend's NCAA Frozen Four, and is still looking for its first victory against the field. Cornell is 0-11-1 all-time against its semifinal opponent, Mercyhurst, and is 0-3 against the tournament host, Minnesota. The Big Red has never played Minnesota-Duluth in women's hockey. When the full field of eight teams is factored in, the Big Red only has a winning record against Clarkson (16-9-1). Cornell's record against the seven other teams in this year's national tournament field is 36-105-7.

THIS SEASON AGAINST THE FIELD
Cornell has gone 4-3-1 this season against the seven other teams in the NCAA tournament field, winning twice against Clarkson and three times against Harvard. The Big Red also tied the Crimson and lost twice to top-seeded Mercyhurst and once to Clarkson.

TREATY OF NEUTRALITY
When Cornell takes to the ice to face Mercyhurst on Friday, it will mark the first neutral site game for the Big Red since Jan. 21, 2001, when it lost to St. Lawrence by a 4-1 margin at Lake Placid, N.Y. In all, Cornell has played 41 games at neutral sites over the program's history, posting a 22-16-3 mark.

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Of the three teams to make their NCAA tournament debut this season, only the Cornell women's hockey team was able to pull off the first-round victory. Cornell downed Harvard, 6-2, while other newcomers Boston University and Clarkson were defeated in their quarterfinal contests.

WHEN DO WE GET ONE AT HOME?
When Cornell and Harvard met on March 12 in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament, it marked the 10th time that the two programs met in the postseason. All 10 of those meetings have come at Harvard's Bright Hockey Center, and the Crimson won each of the first nine games before the Big Red pulled off the 6-2 win to advance to the Frozen Four.

YOU BETTER RECOGNIZE
After knocking off Harvard in the NCAA quarterfinals on March 12, Cornell's players were recognized on the ice during the first intermssion of the Big Red men's team's ECAC Hockey quarterfinal game two against the Crimson. The Big Red women were given a standing ovation in recognition of their season's accomplishments by the sold-out Lynah Rink crowd.

GOING STREAKING
The nation's two longest unbeaten streaks will meet head to head on Friday when Cornell and Mercyhurst will meet in the national semifinals. Cornell's streak is at 11 games, going 10-0-1 over that span, including winning 10 straight games, while Mercyhurst is 10-0-0 over the last 10 games.

GOOD LUCK CHARM
Catherine White has been held scoreless in just five of the 31 games she has appeared in this season. When White scores at least one point, the Big Red has an 18-5-3 record. When the sophomore has suited up for a game and been held off the scoresheet, Cornell is just 2-2-1.

WHO WILL BE THE HERO THIS WEEK?
One reason Cornell has been so difficult to stop this season is because a different player seems to step up every time things get rough. Seven different players have tallied at least a pair of game-winning goals this season, led by sophomore Kendice Ogilvie's four and with Laura Fortino and Lauriane Rougeau tallying three apiece. Additionally, junior Karlee Overguard has two of the Big Red's three game-tying goals on the year.

SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST
Thoughtout the season, Cornell has excelled at preventing shots from reaching sophomore goaltender Amanda Mazzotta. Cornell's opponents are averaging just 20.6 shots on goal per game, second fewest among the Frozen Four participants. In the last two games, however, Mazzotta has posted her two highest save totals, stopping 35 shots in the ECAC Hockey championship game against Clarkson and another 34 shots in the NCAA quarterfinal at Harvard. Mazzotta has just three games this season in which she has recorded 30 saves or more, with Cornell going 2-1 when she has been called upon to stop 30 or more shots.

PRIME-TIME PLAYER
Freshman defenseman Lauriane Rougeau has stepped her offensive game up during the postseason, as she has tallied 10 points in the five post-season contests. Rougeau had a four-point game in game two against Colgate, then had a trio of assists in the win against Rensselaer in the ECAC Hockey semifinals. After picking up another two assists in the league title game against Clarkson, Rougeau chipped in another assist in the win over Harvard in the NCAA quarterfinals. Rougeau leads all Cornell players with 10 points in the postseason on two goals and eight assists.

STEPPING UP TO THE PLATE
Sophomore defenseman Amanda Young picked the perfect time to record her first multi-point game of the season, tallying a pair of assists in the NCAA quarterfinal victory over Harvard on March 12. Young has seven points on the year on two goals and five assists.

THE LEAGUE'S BEST
Sophomore Catherine White was named the ECAC Hockey Player of the Year on March 6, the first time a Cornell player has earned the league's top individual honor. White led the league with 24 assists in 22 conference games, the only player in the league to average more than one assist per game. She finished third in the overall scoring race with 31 points on seven goals and 24 assists, while also leading the league with 11 points on the power play. The 2009 ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Year, White also earned a spot on both the ECAC Hockey and Ivy League first teams this season.

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

ENJOYING POSTSEASON HOCKEY
Laura Fortino is the only Cornell player to have scored at least one point in all five of the postseason games this season. The freshman from Hamilton, Ontario, has five points on three goals and two assists in the five postseason games.

WE'RE NOT DONE YET
Cornell's four seniors have been a huge part of the program's resurgence, and the quartet has played a key role in making sure that the season continues on. Laura Danforth has five points in the five postseason games on two goals and three assists, while Liz Zorn has three points on a pair of goals and one assist. Both players had a pair of points in the league semifinal win over Rensselaer, with Zorn scoring the game-winning goal. In the championship game against Clarkson, both Danforth and Zorn picked up an assist, with Zorn's assist coming on Kendice Ogilvie's game-winning goal. As a class, the seniors have tallied 11 points in five games in the postseason, scoring five goals and adding six assists. On the year, the seniors have combined for 49 points, led by 17 points from Melanie Jue and 16 points from Liz Zorn.

HOW FAR WE'VE COME
Head coach Doug Derraugh has brought the Cornell program back from the depths in just five short seasons. The year before his arrival, under Melody Davidson, the Big Red went just 3-22-3, dropping all 10 Ivy League games and going 3-16-1 in ECAC Hockey play. Fast-forward to this year, and Cornell has set a record for the most wins in a season with 20, going 8-0-2 in Ivy Legaue play and winning the ECAC Hockey regular-season title with a 14-2-6 mark in league play.

18 AND OVER ONLY
Cornell won its 18th game of the season on March 5 against Rensselaer, setting a program record for the most wins in a single season. Cornell had previously won 17 games in 1979-80, 1977-78 and 1976-77.

WAIT, WAIT, DON'T GO SO SOON!
Forgive Cornell's players if they didn't want to flip their calendars to the month of March, as February was exceptionally kind to the Big Red. Cornell went 7-0-1 during the month, finishing with seven straight victories to claim the league's regular-season crown. Cornell also allowed only three goals during the entire month, posting five shutouts over that span.

RARE OCCURRENCE
Cornell has given up four power-play goals over the last three games, surrendering one against Rensselaer on March 5 in the ECAC Hockey semifinals and two against Clarkson on March 7. Cornell has only allowed eight power-play goals on the year.

JUMPING OUT IN FRONT
Cornell holds a 20-2-2 record when scoring the first goal of a game this season. The Big Red has yet to win a game in which its opponent scores first, going 0-6-3 in those games.

ONE SHORT BENCH
One of the more amazing things about the Big Red's success this season is that Cornell only has 16 skaters and two goaltenders on the roster. Often only filling out three full forward lines, the Big Red has not tired down the stretch of games, as Cornell holds a 15-2-2 record when leading after two periods. Factoring in Cornell's record when tied after two periods, the Big Red is 20-3-4.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
Cornell has had plenty of success in playing Friday night games this season, going 9-1-5 on Fridays. Catherine White has tallied 17 points in the 16 Friday games this season, with Karlee Overguard tallying 13 points on seven goals and six assists. Laura Fortino has also scored in double figures on Friday with five goals and seven assists for 12 points. Amanda Mazzotta has also been solid on Friday nights, posting a 1.44 goals-against average and a .928 save percentage. Six of Mazzotta's 11 shutouts this season have come on Friday nights.

ANOTHER TROPHY FOR THE COLLECTION
Cornell has won all three trophies it has been eligible for this season, adding plenty of new hardware to the trophy case. Cornell claimed the Ivy League trophy for the first time since 1996 with an 8-0-2 league mark and won the ECAC Hockey regular-season title for the first time in program history. The Big Red then added the 2010 ECAC Hockey tournament trophy to its collection when it defeated Clarkson, 4-3, in overtime, on March 7 at Lynah Rink.

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.

MISS CONSISTENCY
Sophomore Catherine White has been one of the most consistent scorers for the Big Red this season, as she has scored at least one point in 26 of the 31 games she appeared in this season. White also has 11 multi-point games this season and has scored at least one point in all but two games since the calendar turned to 2010.

OH, CANADA!
When Canada won the gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, that made more than two-thirds of the Cornell women's hockey team happy, as 13 of the 18 players on the Cornell roster are originally from Canada. The province of Ontario boasts six players, with four players calling Alberta home. Quebec, Manitoba and British Columbia each are home to one player on the Cornell roster. Additionally, all three of the members of the Cornell coaching staff are originally from Canada.

MORE OLYMPIC CONNECTIONS
Cornell had a pair of connections to the Canadian Olympic team that won gold at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Rebecca Johnston '12 played the last two seasons for the Big Red before taking a leave of absence to train with the Canadian program. The Canadian program was coached by Melody Davidson, who was coach of the Cornell program prior to Doug Derraugh.

TO THE VICTORS GO THE SPOILS
As the end of the season awards start being announced, Cornell has had a large number of honors go toward its players. Catherine White, Laura Fortino and Lauriane Rougeau were each named to the All-ECAC Hockey First Team, with Amanda Mazzotta earning third-team honors. White was also named the ECAC Hockey and Ivy League Player of the Year. Additionally, Rougeau garnered Ivy League honors, taking home the league's Rookie of the Year award. White, Rougeau, Fortino and Mazzotta were each named to the Ivy League first team, with Chelsea Karpenko earning second-team All-Ivy honors.

ONE LONG BLANK
Cornell goaltender Amanda Mazzotta posted four straight shutouts from Feb. 5 through Feb. 13, in the process setting the fourth-longest shutout streak in NCAA history. Stretching from the third period against Clarkson on Jan. 30 to the second period against Rensselaer on Feb. 19, Mazzotta was in net for 286:54 consecutive scoreless minutes, the longest streak in ECAC Hockey history. Wisconsin's Jessie Vetter owns two of the  three longest shutout streaks in NCAA history, including the record of 448:39.

DEFEND YOUR TURF
Cornell has done a good job of doing just that in league play this season, posting a stellar 10-1-2 at home this season against ECAC Hockey foes. The Big Red has allowed just 10 goals at Lynah Rink this season in league play, outscoring its opposition, 38-10. When non-league games and postseason games are factored in, Cornell holds an 13-5-2 mark at home, while outscoring the opposition by a 60-31 margin.

NO SOUP FOR YOU!
Cornell sophomore goaltender Amanda Mazzotta has posted 11 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 11 shutouts are the most all-time among Cornell goaltenders, male or female. Mazzotta surpassed David McKee, who had 10 shutouts in 2004-05, with her shutout win against Colgate on Feb. 27. For her career, Mazzotta has 12 shutouts, tying LoPresti's career total of 12 shutouts from 1985-88.

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.

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 11 times through the first 34 games. Cornell has also scored two or more goals 25 times through the first 34 games. When Cornell scores two or more goals, the Big Red is 18-2-5.

KAZMAIER WATCH
When the 45 nominees for the Patty Kazmaier Award were announced on Feb. 17, 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. Unfortunately, none of the three were among the 10 finalists that were announced on March 2.

CATHERINE THE GREAT
Catherine White has become one of the nation's top playmakers, as evidenced by her ranking as sixth in the nation in assists per game. White has 29 assists in 31 games for an average of 0.94 assists per game.

OFFENSIVE DEFENSEMEN
Cornell's two freshmen defensemen rank among the nation's elite in terms of scoring among defensemen. Laura Fortino is second in the nation in points per game among defensemen, while Lauriane Rougeau ranks third in the nation. The two players have combined for 22 goals and 39 assists and rank tied for second and fourth on the Cornell roster, respectively. Fortino also ranks tied for fourth in the nation in scoring among all rookies, while Rougeau is sixth in that category.

GOING STREAKING
Catherine White's not the only one who has been on a roll lately, as Laura Fortino has also scored in 15 of the 17 games since the start of the new year. Fortino has 23 points over that span, including nine goals and 14 assists. Fortino has six multi-point games in her last 16 and seven on the season.

CLUTCH IS EVERYTHING
When the Cornell women's hockey team has needed a goal in the closing minutes of a game, Karlee Overguard has delivered. The junior has a pair of game-tying goals on the year, 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 as part of Canada's U22 National Team. 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 immediately following their return from international duty. Fortino had four of those points (2-2--4), with Rougeau (1-2--3) and White (0-3--3) both tallying three. Without the three players in the lineup against Syracuse and Providence, the Big Red went 0-3, scoring four goals and allowing 11 while dressing just 12 skaters for the two games against Providence.

OFFENSE AND DEFENSE
The formula for a winning hockey team is obvious - putting the puck in the net and keeping it out of yours. The Cornell women's hockey team has followed that formula to perfection, ranking third in ECAC Hockey with 67 goals scored, trailing only Harvard's 69 and Dartmouth's 70. On defense, the Big Red allowed the fewest number of goals, conceeding just 26 goals in 22 league games. Clarkson and Quinnipiac tied for second-fewest goals allowed in the conference, with both teams conceeding 28 goals in league play.

SOMETHING REALLY SPECIAL
Cornell's penalty killing unit stands atop the national rankings in penalty killing percentage and is close to the NCAA record for highest percentage in a season. The Big Red has killed off 93.2 percent of opponents' power plays this season, which is just below 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 eight goals in 118 opportunites.

NON-LEAGUE NOT FRIENDLY
Cornell closed out the non-conference portion of the regular 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, while Hompe is a forward for the women's soccer team, tallying a pair of assists this fall for the Big Red.

UP NEXT
The winner of Friday's national semifinal will advance to the national championship game, which will be played at 1 p.m. EDT, against the winner of Minnesota and Minnesota-Duluth. The national championship game will be televised live on CBS College Sports.