ITHACA, N.Y. – No. 2/3 Cornell takes to the road for its first weekend trip of the season, facing off against ECAC Hockey rivals Princeton and Quinnipiac on Friday and Saturday. Coming off a 1-1 weekend where it was missing four of its players, the Big Red will be at full strength when it arrives at its conference opponents' rinks.

GAME INFORMATION
GAME #7: No. 2/3 Cornell at Princeton
GAME TIME: Friday, Nov. 18, 7 p.m.
GAME SITE: Baker Rink (Princeton, N.J.)
SERIES RECORD: Princeton leads 41-31-4
LAST MEETING: Cornell won 1-0 on Nov. 19, 2010
2011 RECORDS: Cornell (5-1, 4-1 ECAC Hockey); Princeton (4-3-1, 3-2-1 ECAC Hockey)
LIVE STATS: Princeton Athletics
LIVE VIDEO:  Princeton Athletics  (subscription required)

GAME #8: No. 2/3 Cornell at Quinnipiac
GAME TIME: Saturday, Nov. 19, 4 p.m.
GAME SITE: TD Bank Sports Center (Hamden, Conn.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads 7-3-5
LAST MEETING: Cornell won 4-3 on March 3, 2011 in the ECAC Hockey Semifinals
2011 RECORDS: Cornell (5-1, 4-1 ECAC Hockey); Quinnipiac (5-6-1, 4-1-1 ECAC Hockey)*
LIVE STATS: Quinnipiac Live Stats
LIVE VIDEO:  Quinnipiac Video (subscription required)
*Records through games of Nov. 18

ABOUT THE BIG RED
In the last two years, Cornell has evolved into one of the country's top teams. The 2010 season saw the Big Red advance to the NCAA championship game before losing in triple overtime to Minnesota-Duluth, and the team returned to the Frozen Four last year. With the core returning this season, hopes and expectations are again high for the Big Red. Last year's team went 31-3-1 and won its second consecutive ECAC Hockey tournament.

Early in this season, Cornell has won five of its six games, has outshot the competition 42-12 and is tops in the country in goals per game.

HEAD COACH DOUG DERRAUGH
Now in his seventh season directing the Cornell women's hockey program, Doug Derraugh has quickly brought the Big Red women to their place among the nation's elite. Taking a program that won just four games in the season prior to his arrival, Derraugh guided the Big Red to the national title game in his fifth season and back-to-back NCAA Frozen Four appearances in 2010 and 2011, completely turning around the culture of the women's hockey program at Cornell. Derraugh, a 1991 graduate of Cornell, was the last Big Red men's hockey player to score 30 goals in a season.

ABOUT PRINCETON
The Tigers, based in Princeton, N.J., come into Friday night's contest on a two –game losing streak, dropping contests to St. Lawrence and Clarkson last weekend. The Tigers were outscored 5-1 in the two games and were shut out by Clarkson. Princeton opened the season with huge win against then-No. 8 Northeastern but has not faced a ranked team since. Sally Butler and Olivia Mucha lead Princeton with eight.
Princeton is coached by Jeff Kampersal, who graduated from Princeton in 1992. He is in his 15th year of leading the Tigers.

THE SERIES WITH PRINCETON
Princeton and Cornell go way back, with Princeton holding a 41-31-4 edge in the series. In the last three years, though, Princeton has one just once as Cornell has narrowed the all-time gap. The Big Red have won the last four games in the series, and the Tigers' last win came near the start of the 2008 season. In two contests last year, the Big Red outscored the Tigers 6-1 with sophomore Brianne Jenner notching three goals.

A WIN AGAINST PRINCETON WOULD…
…give the Big Red six wins in the season's first seven games for the second consecutive year and the fifth time in team history…extend Cornell's winning streak over Princeton to five…be the 95th career victory for head coach Doug Derraugh.

ABOUT QUINNIPIAC
The Bobcats, based in Camden, Conn., enter the weekend having won four of its last six games. Quinnipiac split its most recent weekend series with Clarkson and St. Lawrence, beating St. Lawrence 3-2 but dropping the Clarkson game 3-0. The Bobcats have played four games against ranked teams this season and is 1-3 in those contests. Sophomore forward Kelly Babstock is the team leader with 12 points on six goals and six assists.
The Bobcats are coached by Rick Seeley, now entering his fourth season in charge. He is a 1987 graduate of Elmira College.

THE SERIES WITH QUINNIPIAC
The rivalry between Cornell and Quinnipiac is a relatively new one and only dates back to 2003. Since that time, Cornell has a narrow 7-3-5 lead in the series. The Big Red have won the last three games of the series — all three of which came last season — and the teams tied the four games before that. The Bobcats' last win in the series came on Nov. 18, 2006. Most recently, Cornell knocked Quinnipiac out of the ECAC Hockey Tournament in the semifinal round last year with a 4-3 victory.

A WIN AGAINST QUINNIPIAC WOULD…
…extend the team's winning streak against the Crimson to five games…improve Cornell's record to 2-0 against non-Ivy League teams…keep the Big Red undefeated this season (2-0) against teams from Connecticut…extend its winning streak against Connecticut teams to seven games and its unbeaten streak against Connecticut teams to 11.

STANDING ON GUARD
Four Cornell women's ice hockey players spent last weekend competing for Canada's National Women's Team in the 4 Nations Cup in Nykoping, Sweden. Junior defensemen Laura Fortino and Lauriane Rougeau, sophomore forward Brianne Jenner and senior forward Rebecca Johnston all made the trip for the six-day tournament from and won the silver medal, falling to Team USA in a shootout in the gold medal game. Big Red head coach Doug Derraugh has was also present as an assistant for the competition.

NATIONAL PRIDE
Six members of the Cornell women's hockey team have also been named to Hockey Canada's Under-22 national team. Goalkeeper Amanda Mazzotta, forwards Chelsea Karpenko, Catherine White, Jessica Campbell and Jillian Saulnier and defenseman Hayleigh Cudmore will represent their home country at the 2012 Meco Cup in Füssen, Germany from Jan. 3-8. There, they will compete against national teams from Germany, Sweden, Finland, Russia and Switzerland.

TWO-TIME ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Freshman Jillian Saulnier won the ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week Award the first two weeks of Cornell's season after starting her career with a terrific 15 points in four games. In one game last week against Syracuse, Saulnier scored two goals and had three assists. That was enough to give her the award for the second consecutive week.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
For her 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in three games in the Big Red's opening weekend, center Brianne Jenner was named ECAC Hockey's Player of the Week on Nov. 1. Jenner has since scored three more points and sits in second on the team behind Saulnier.

NATIONAL POLLS
The Big Red dropped to No. 3 this week in the USCHO.com national poll and lost its first-place vote but is still well ahead of No.4 Boston College. In the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll, Cornell remains No. 2.

LOFTY NUMBERS
Through its first six games, the  Big Red's gaudy numbers have placed it ahead of many in national statistics. Jillian Saulnier still holds for the national lead in points per game (3.00) and  goals per game (2.00), while Chelsea Karpenko is third in that  category (1.33). Catherine White, Saulnier and Karpenko are all tied for 12th in the country in power play goals (three), and Saulnier's two short-handed goals are second-best the country. Goalkeeper Lauren Slebodnick is sixth in goals-against average (1.51) and first in winning percentage (1.000).

As a team, Cornell has the country's best offense (7.00 goals per game) and scoring margin (5.00 goals) to go along with the second-best power play (35.0 percent).

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAINS
Four players have been named captains for the 2011-12 women's hockey season. Seniors Rebecca Johnston, Catherine White, Chelsea Karpenko and Amanda Young will all be wearing 'C's on their uniforms this year.

PRESEASON HONORS
Cornell was picked by the ECAC Hockey coaches to once again finish first in the league this season. The Big Red received 11 of the 12 first-place votes — coach Derraugh was not allowed to vote for his own team — for a total of 121 points.

ECAC Hockey also put out its Preseason All-League Team in September, and four Cornell student-athletes made the list. Jenner and Johnston join an all-Big Red blue line of Fortino and Rougeau on the All-League Team. Cornell's players are joined by Quinnipiac goalie Victoria Vigilanti and forward Kelly Babstock.

GREAT GOALIES
Calling senior Amanda Mazzotta and sophomore Lauren Slebodnick the best goaltending tandem in the country last season is not a stretch. They had the stats to back it up. Mazzotta, during her fantastic junior campaign, recorded the country's lowest goals against average of 1.12. Right behind her? Slebodnick, who rocketed onto the scene as a freshman with a 1.15 goals against average. Both are back this year, and Cornell should have a solid netminder every night.

Slebodnick earned a shutout in her first start against Brown and has a 1.51 goals against average that is sixth in the country. Mazzotta has three wins on the year, a shutout, and a .750 winning percentage that puts her seventh in the country.

LAST TIME OUT
Cornell split its weekend series against Dartmouth and Harvard, falling in a tight 5-4 contest to the Big Green before rebounding with a win against the Crimson. Cornell dealt with depth issues throughout as four regular players were in Sweden playing with Team Canada. Despite playing with only three natural defensemen, the Big Red was able to hold off No. 10 Harvard for a 5-3 win.

CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
Against Harvard and Dartmouth:
• Jillian Saulnier scored her 10th career goal.
• Chelsea Karpenko scored her 110th career point.
• Alyssa Gagliardi notched her 25 career point.

Players approaching career numbers:
• Laura Fortino needs one more assist for 60.
• Jillian Saulnier is two points shy of 20.
• Amanda Young needs one more point for her 40th and four more games for her 100th.
• Chelsea Karpenko needs two more goals for her 60th.
• Jessica Campbell and Erin-Barley Maloney are one point shy of their 30th.
• Lauren Slebodnick is one win away from 15.

BRING IN THE YOUNG GUNS
The 2011 Cornell team features five new players including four freshmen and one transfer. Freshmen forwards Jillian Saulnier, Monika Leck and Emily Fulton are joined by goalkeeper Katelyn Pippy and senior transfer Erin Barley-Maloney. Barley-Maloney, also a forward, is a senior coming from the University of Vermont.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Cornell women's ice hockey is the best team on campus to follow on social media. With updates daily including pictures and direct responses to fan inquiries, you can get all your Cornell women's ice hockey information on Twitter @CornellWHockey. Or, find the team on Facebook by searching for Cornell University Women's Hockey.

UP NEXT
The Big Red faces its toughest challenge of the season as No. 5 Boston University comes to Ithaca for a two-game set over Thanksgiving weekend. The teams will play Friday at 7 p.m. and again on Saturday at 4 p.m.