ECAC Hockey Women's Semifinal
Rensselaer at Cornell
Face Off: Friday, March 5 • 7 p.m.
Site: Lynah Rink • Ithaca, N.Y.
2009-10 Records:
    Cornell: 17-8-6, 14-2-6 ECAC Hockey
    Rensselaer: 16-14-6, 11-7-4 ECAC Hockey
Series Record: Series tied, 4-4
Season Series: Cornell leads, 2-0-0
    Cornell won, 3-1, on Nov. 7, in Troy, N.Y.
    Cornell won, 2-1, on Feb. 19, in Ithaca, N.Y.

Media Information
Live Video: cornellbigred.com/showcase
Live Stats: sidearmsports.com/cornell/whockey

Game Notes in PDF Format

ITHACA, N.Y. -- With the first round of play in the ECAC Hockey tournament in the books, the Cornell women's hockey team will next face Rensselaer in the league semifinals on Friday. The top-seeded Big Red will play host to the Engineers in a 7 p.m. contest at Lynah Rink, with the winner advancing to the league championship game on Sunday. If Cornell wins, it would host the championship game, while a Rensselaer win would send the Engineers to either Clarkson or Harvard, pending the outcome of the other league semifinal. Live streaming video of Friday's game is available through the Cornell Redcast subscription service.

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 led the Big Red to its first-ever ECAC Hockey regular-season championship and its first Ivy League title since 1996. With a career coaching record of 52-80-15, Derraugh has guided the Big Red to double-digit win totals in each of the last three seasons, the first time that has happened since Cornell won six straight from 1995-96 through 2000-01. He has also led the Big Red to its third straight berth in the league playoffs for the first time since reaching the post-season from 2002 through 2004. Derraugh, a 1991 graduate of Cornell, was named the program's head coach prior to the 2005-06 season following a 13-year professional playing career in Europe. He is assisted by Danielle Bilodeau, a 2001 Cornell graduate and former Big Red player, in her fourth season, and Edith Zimmering, in her first year with the Big Red.

ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell advanced to the league tournament semifinals for the first time in school history after winning a quarterfinal series against Colgate at Lynah Rink, two games to none. Cornell claimed a tight 2-1 victory in the opener on Friday afternoon before turning around and skating away with a 5-0 victory on Saturday to ease into the semifinals. The Big Red got goals from Laura Fortino and Kendice Ogilvie on Friday, with goaltender Amanda Mazzotta stopping 25 shots in taking the victory. Saturday, the big guns came out as Lauriane Rougeau and Catherine White both had a pair of goals, with Rougeau adding two assists and White chipping in another in the 5-0 win to send Cornell to the semifinals. Mazzotta stopped all 19 shots she faced in picking up her 11th shutout of the season. For the year, White leads all scorers with 34 points on nine goals and 25 assists in 28 games, while Laura Fortino has 28 points on 10 goals and 18 assists in 28 games. Rougeau and Chelsea Karpenko are both over 20 points on the year, with Rougeau tallying 10 goals and 14 assists for 24 points and Karpenko picking up a team-best 15 goals and 10 assists for 25 points. Mazzotta has played all but one game in between the pipes for the Big Red, posting a sparkling 1.38 goals-against average and a .928 save percentage and 11 shutouts. The Big Red has been exceptional on special teams this season, ranking among the nation's leaders in both power-play and penalty killing percentage. The Big Red ranks first in the league and third in the country in power play, converting on 22.2 percent of its chances (28-of-126). The Big Red is also first in the nation in penalty-killing percentage, allowing just four goals in 108 opportunities (96.3 percent).

ABOUT RENSSELAER
The Engineers earned their way into the ECAC Hockey semifinals the hard way, dropping the series opener at Quinnipiac on Friday night before rebounding to win the next two games to claim the series, two games to one. Quinnipiac won the opening game of the series, 2-1, in double overtime, but Rensselaer responded with a 1-0 win in game two to force a decisive game three... or should that be games three and four and part of five? The two teams needed a whopping five overtimes, coming just 1:03 short of the longest game in women's college history, before Rensselaer's Laura Gersten roofed a shot past Quinnipiac freshman goaltender Victoria Vigilanti to end the marathon contest. Goaltender Sonja van der Bliek stopped 98 of the 101 shots she faced on the weekend for the Engineers. On the season, Rensselaer boasts an experienced and balanced offensive attack, with four players recording 20 points or more on the season. Three of those four are seniors, including forwards Allison Wright (12-13--25) and Whitney Naslund (14-10--24) and defenseman Gersten (7-14--21). Also above the 20-point threshhold is sophomore Alisa Harrison (12-11--23). In goal, van der Bliek has played more than 90 percent of the minutes, posting a .927 save percentage and a 1.76 goals-against average with seven shutouts. Rensselaer is converting on 12.6 percent of its power-play chances (21-of-167) and has killed off 86.6 percent of its short-handed situations (149-of-172).

THE SERIES WITH RENSSELAER
Cornell and Rensselaer will be meeting for just the ninth time in women's hockey history, and it's easy to state that none of the previous eight matchups had as much riding on them as Friday night's game will have. The two teams have split the first eight meetings, 4-4, with Cornell riding a two-game winning streak into this weekend. The Big Red has claimed both of the first two contests this season, winning 3-1 on Nov. 7, 2009, in Troy, N.Y., and claiming a 2-1 victory on Feb. 19, 2010, in Ithaca. Even the record at Lynah Rink is tied at two wins for both teams over the past four seasons. Friday's game marks the first time that Cornell and Rensselaer will be meeting in the post-season, as all of the first eight contests have come during the regular season.

UNCHARTED TERRITORY
Cornell is truly venturing into new ground, as the Big Red will be making its first-ever appearance in the ECAC Hockey semifinals. The Big Red won its first two league playoff games in program history last weekend, claiming 2-1 and 5-0 victories over Colgate at Lynah Rink.

UNBEATEN AT HOME
Cornell can officially say that it has never lost a home playoff game, as the Big Red improved to 2-0 in league postseason action at Lynah Rink with the series sweep over Colgate on Feb. 26-27. The Big Red had played each of the first 14 postseason games in program history on the road prior to last weekend's series, and will play at Lynah Rink for as long as Cornell remains alive in the tournament.

ONE MORE FOR THE RECORD
Cornell enters this weekend with 17 wins on the season, tying for the most wins in a season with three other teams. Cornell has won the most games in a single season since the 1979-80 season, when Cornell claimed 17 victories on the way to a 17-6 overall record. The Big Red also had 17 wins in 1976-77 and 1977-78.

WAIT, WAIT, DON'T GO SO SOON!
Forgive Cornell's players if they don't want to flip their calendars to the month of March, as February has been 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.

SHUT DOWN DEFENSE
Cornell's defense has posted a shutout in five of its last eight games and has not allowed more than two goals since Clarkson scored twice on Jan. 30. After that contest, Cornell goaltender Amanda Mazzotta had a 1.75 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage, both respectable numbers. Since then, however, she has recorded a 0.37 goals-against average and a .979 save percentage.

TOURNAMENT CHANGES
This season marks the first season under a new format for the women's ECAC Hockey championship. Like years past, the top eight teams qualify for the tournament, with the tournament re-seeded after the quarterfinal round. Unlike prior seasons, however, the top two seeds will play host to the semifinal round on Friday, March 5, with the championship being played at the home of the highest remaining seed on Sunday, March 7. Previously, the semifinals and final were played on back-to-back days at the highest seed entering the semifinals.

POST-SEASON HISTORY
The 2010 season marks the 10th time that the Big Red has qualified for the ECAC Hockey playoffs, and Cornell is playing at home for the first time. Prior to the 2001-02 season, the tournament was a single-elimination tournament for each round, with the best-of-three format being adopted for the quarterfinals from that point forward. Cornell qualified for the post-season four times under the old format (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999) and fell to Providence twice and Brown and Harvard once each. Under the new format, the Big Red has been swept each of the first five times, including each of the last four as the eighth seed, and each time playing at Harvard. Following the Big Red's sweep against Colgate, Cornell is now 2-14 all-time in post-season play.

BREAK OUT THE HARDWARE
The ECAC Hockey regular-season trophy isn't the only hardware captured by the Big Red women this season. Cornell also claimed the Ivy League trophy for the first time since 1996 with an 8-0-2 record against the other five Ivy League schools. Cornell was presented with both trophies after the regular-season finale against Union on Feb. 20 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.

OUT IN FRONT EARLY
Cornell has been extremely difficult to beat this season when it scores the first goal of the game, as the Big Red has a 17-2-2 record when scoring first. On the other hand, the Big Red has yet to win a game this season when the opposition scores first, going 0-6-3 when forced to come from behind.

SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER
Perhaps the most disappointed person that the semifinals are being played on Friday is freshman Lauriane Rougeau, based on recent results. Rougeau has been held scoreless in each of the last five Friday contests, though Cornell has gone 4-0-1 over that span. By contrast, Rougeau has collected eight points over the last five Saturday games, including four last weekend against Colgate.

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 Big Red's 31 games. White also has nine multi-point games this season and has scored 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.

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 towards 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. In the Ivy League, White was named the league's player of the year and Rougeau was named the top rookie by the league's coaches. White, Rougeau, Fortino and Mazzotta each were named to the first team, with Chelsea Karpenko earning second-team All-Ivy honors. Additional ECAC Hockey honors will be announced over the coming days.

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.

HOW FAR WE'VE COME
The four seniors on this year's team - Laura Danforth, Melanie Jue, Kelly McGinty and Liz Zorn - have truly seen it all over the course of their Cornell careers. As freshmen in 2006-07, the Big Red went just 4-23-2 and missed the ECAC Hockey playoffs. The Big Red made the playoffs as the eighth seed in each of the next two seasons, building up to winning the first league regular-season championship in school history. They have a chance to be a part of the first Cornell women's hockey team to advance to the NCAA tournament with two wins this weekend.

DEFEND YOUR TURF
Cornell has done a good job of doing just that in league play this season, posting a stellar 8-1-2 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 11-5-2 mark at home while outscoring the opposition by a 51-24 mark.

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 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 her with LoPresti's career total of 12 shutouts from 1985-88.

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 31 games. Cornell has also scored two or more goals 22 times through the first 31 games. When Cornell scores two or more goals, the Big Red is 15-2-5.

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 fifth in the nation in assists per game. White has 27 assists in 28 games for an average of 0.96  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 seventh in the nation. The two players have combined for 20 goals and 32 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.

GOING STREAKING
Catherine White's not the only one who has been on a roll lately, as Laura Fortino has also scored in 12 of the 14 games since the start of the new year. Fortino has 20 points over that span, including seven goals and 13 assists. Fortino has six multi-point games in her last 14 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 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 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.

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 is on the verge of snapping the NCAA record for highest penalty-killing percentage in a season. The Big Red has killed off 96.3 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 four goals in 108 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
The winner of Friday's semifinal will advance to the championship game, to be played on Sunday. If Cornell wins, it will play host to either Clarkson or Harvard, pending the outcome of the other semifinal on Friday night, while a Rensselaer win would send the Engineers to face either the Golden Knights or the Crimson.