NCAA Women's Hockey Championship
Cornell vs. Minnesota-Duluth
Face Off: Saturday, March 21 • 1 p.m. EDT
Site: Ridder Arena • Minneapolis, Minn.
2009-10 Records:
    Cornell: 21-8-6, 14-2-6 ECAC Hockey
    Minnesota-Duluth: 30-8-2, 20-6-2 WCHA
Series Record: First Meeting

Media Information
TV: CBS College Sports
        Dave Ryan (play-by-play),
        Angela Ruggerio (color)
Live Stats: cornellbigred.com

Tournament Supplement In PDF Format

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- At the beginning of the season, the Cornell women's hockey team set the lofty goal of winning a national championship, an achievement few outside the Big Red locker room thought possible. On Sunday, the Big Red will play for a national title, facing second-seeded Minnesota-Duluth at 12 p.m. CDT at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, Minn. Sunday's title tilt will be televised nationally by CBS College Sports with Dave Ryan and Angela Ruggerio providing the call of the action.

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 wins and first berth in the national title game. 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 58-80-15, 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
Cornell continues to be the surprise of the postseason among outside observers, as the Big Red has knocked off a pair of seeded teams on its way to the national title game. The Big Red's latest victim was the top-seeded Mercyhurst Lakers, as Cornell scored a 3-2 win in overtime in the national semifinals on Friday night at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, Minn. Sophomore Catherine White scored the game-winning goal at the 13:14 mark of overtime as the Big Red moved into the national title game in its first appearance in the NCAA tournament. Freshman Laura Fortino and junior Karlee Overguard both added goals for the Big Red in the victory, with Overguard recording a multi-point game with an assist on Fortino's first-period goal. The Big Red also got 28 saves from sophomore goaltender Amanda Mazzotta, who remained unbeaten in post-season play this year. The Big Red went 0-for-6 on the power play against the Lakers, but also held Mercyhurst scoreless in five power-play chances. On the year, White leads the team offensively with 42 points in 32 games on 13 goals and 29 assists. Sophomore Chelsea Karpenko leads the team with 17 goals on the year while adding in 14 assists for 31 points. In all, five players have more than 10 goals this season, while nine players have scored double-digits in points. In goal, Mazzotta has played all but one game, posting a .925 save percentage and a 1.53 goals-against average. The Big Red's power play unit has converted on 20.9 percent of its chances (29-of-139) to rank first in ECAC Hockey and fourth in the nation. The penalty-killing unit, meanwhile, has successfully ended 93.5 percent of the opposition's power plays (115-of-123), tops in the nation.

ABOUT MINNESOTA-DULUTH
The WCHA tournament champion, the Bulldogs advanced to the national championship game with a 3-2 victory over third-seeded Minnesota in the second of two semifinal games on Friday night. The Bulldogs got a three-point game from senior forward Emmanuele Blais, who scored a pair of goals and added an assist, and from junior linemate Laura Fridfinnson, picking up one goal and two assists. UMD got 27 saves from goaltender Jennifer Harss to advance to the title game for the third time in the last four seasons. Blais leads the team in scoring with 31 goals and 33 assists for 64 points in 40 games this season, while just four players are in double figures in goals and 10 have reached double digits in points. Harss has played most of the season in between the pipes for the Bulldogs, posting a 2.06 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage. Minnesota-Duluth has a 15.7 percent power-play conversion rate (35-of-223), good for 16th in the nation, while killing off penalties at an 89.1 percent rate (171-of-192), seventh in the country.

THE SERIES WITH MINNESOTA-DULUTH
Cornell and Minnesota-Duluth will be meeting for the first time ever in women's hockey in Sunday's national championship game. Cornell is 3-6-1 all-time against teams from the state of Minnesota, posting a 2-1-1 mark against Bemidji State, a 1-1 record against St. Cloud State and an 0-3 record against Minnesota.

CINDERELLA AGAINST THE DYNASTY
Sunday's championship game will mark a contrast in history, as Cornell will be making its first appearance in the national championship game in its first NCAA tournament appearance. Minnesota-Duluth, meanwhile, will be appearing in the championship game for the sixth time in the 11 years the NCAA has held a women's hockey championship. The Bulldogs have qualified for the Frozen Four eight times, winning the championship four times, most recently in 2008. UMD will be making their third appearance in the national title game in the last four seasons.

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
Cornell's women's hockey team is vying to become the first women's program in school history to win an NCAA championship. This year's women's hockey team is just the second team to advance to the Final Four in their respective sport, joining the 2002 women's lacrosse team. Other teams have won national championships at their respective levels (gymnastics, rowing, polo), but no Cornell women's team has ever won an NCAA championship.

CHALK UP ANOTHER FIRST
Cornell keeps adding to its list of program firsts this season, adding in its first berth in the national championship game. The Big Red also scored its first-ever victory over Mercyhurst, as Cornell had gone 0-11-1 all-time against the Lakers prior to Friday's national semifinal contest.

COMEBACK KIDS
The Big Red showed its resiliency on Friday night against Mercyhurst, coming from behind to score its first victory of the season when trailing after two periods. The Big Red has trailed at the second intermission eight times this year, going 1-5-2 on the season.

SHUT IT DOWN
One of the reasons the Big Red was able to put away Mercyhurst was Cornell's defense against the Lakers' top three scorers - Vicki Bendus, Bailey Bram and Jesse Scanzano. The trio, the three highest-scoring players in the NCAA this season, were each held off the scoresheet on the day, and were limited to just 10 shots combined. In fact, the two goal scorers for the Lakers on the day have scored just eight goals combined on the season.

PLAYING FOR THE EAST COAST
Cornell has an opportunity to be the first Eastern team to win an NCAA Division I Women's Hockey championship. In each of the first nine championships, a Western team has claimed the crown. Minnesota-Duluth has won four championships, with Wisconsin claiming three and Minnesota winning twice. An Eastern team has been the runner-up six times in the first nine seasons, including Harvard three times and Mercyhurst last season.

BALANCED ATTACK
Cornell has had a balanced offensive attack through the first two games of the NCAA tournament, with six different players accounting for the nine goals tallied. In all, 12 of the 15 skaters to have dressed for both tournament games have recorded at least one point in the tournament, led by three points each from Karlee Overguard, Catherine White and Chelsea Karpenko.

AMERICA' S SWEETHEARTS
When the 2010 RBK Hockey AHCA Women's Division I All-America lists were announced on Thursday, a trio of Cornell players found themselves listed among the nation's elite. Freshman Laura Fortino became the first Cornellian named to the first-team, while sophomore Catherine White and freshman Lauriane Rougeau were both placed on the second team. Cornell led all teams in the nation with three honorees, with the Big Red's opponent in the national championship game, Minnesota-Duluth, only placing senior forward Emmanuele Blais on the first team. Cornell has now had just four All-Americans in program history, with Rebecca Johnston earning second-team honors in 2009.

WHO'S NOT HERE
Prior to the season, the biggest posed by program outsiders was how would the Big Red respond after the team's top player from 2009, Rebecca Johnston, would miss the entire season due to being centralized with the Canadian Olympic Team. Additionally, one incoming player, Brianne Jenner, deferred her first season at Cornell as she was also centralized with Team Canada, though she was one of the last few players released prior to the Olympics. Both players are expected to join the Big Red for the 2010-11 season.

ONE FINE DAY
Friday might have been arguably the greatest day in the history of Cornell athletics. The men's basketball team scored its first ever victory in the NCAA tournament with a 78-65 victory over Temple in Jacksonville, Fla., and the wrestling team moved into second place in the NCAA tournament in Omaha, Neb. Not to be outdone, the men's hockey team advanced to the ECAC Hockey championship game with a 3-0 win against Brown in Albany, N.Y.

HOMEWARD BOUND
Cornell's appearance in the Frozen Four marks 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 16 games all-time against the three other teams in this weekend's NCAA Frozen Four, and picked up its first victory with the win on Friday in the semifinals against Mercyhurst. Cornell is now 1-11-1 against the three other teams in this year's Frozen Four. 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 37-105-7.

GOOD LUCK CHARM
Catherine White has been held scoreless in just five of the 32 games she has appeared in this season. When White scores at least one point, the Big Red has an 19-5-3 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.

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

JUMPING OUT IN FRONT
Cornell holds a 21-2-2 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.