ITHACA, N.Y. -- After clinching back-to-back ECAC Hockey regular season championships last weekend with a three-point weekend in New York's North Country, the Cornell women's hockey team returns to Lynah Rink for the final time in the regular season, taking on Yale and Brown this weekend. Cornell battles the Bears on Friday in a 7 p.m. contest before closing out the weekend with a 4 p.m. contest against Yale. Three points this weekend for the Big Red will also wrap up the program's second straight Ivy League championship. Live video of both games will be available through the Cornell Redcast system, with live stats also available through links posted at www.CornellBigRed.com.

HEAD COACH DOUG DERRAUGH

Now in his sixth season as head coach of the Cornell women's hockey team, Doug Derraugh has turned the program into a contender for the national championship. With an 81-82-16 overall record, Derraugh guided the Big Red to a 21-9-6 record last season and a berth in the national championship game. He led Cornell to its first-ever ECAC Hockey regular season and tournament championships and first appearance in the NCAA tournament, defeating traditional powers Harvard and Mercyhurst on the way to the national title game. Derraugh has led the Big Red to double-digit win totals in each of the past four seasons, including back-to-back 20-win campaigns in 2009-10 and 2010-11. Derraugh's clubs first set the school record for wins in a season last year with 21, then have surpassed that total in 2010-11 with 23 already on the season. Derraugh took over the program prior to the 2005-06 season after a 13-year professional playing career in Europe. He is assisted by fifth-year assistant coach Danielle Bilodeau, a former Big Red player and 2001 Cornell graduate, Edith Zimmering, in her second season with the Big Red, and volunteer assistant coach Meredith Roth, in her first year with Cornell.

ABOUT THE BIG RED

While Cornell saw its shot at a perfect regular season ended with a 3-3 tie last weekend at Clarkson, the Big Red was able to clinch its second straight ECAC Hockey regular season championship with the three-point weekend in the North Country. Cornell enters the final four games of the regular season with 35 points, nine ahead of second-place Harvard. The Big Red capped last weekend with a 2-1 victory at St. Lawrence, raising the season record to 23-1-1 overall and 17-0-1 in league play. On the year, Rebecca Johnston leads the team in scoring with 34 points on 18 goals and 16 assists in 23 games, while Brianne Jenner is a point back with 17 goals and 16 assists. Chelsea Karpenko and Laura Fortino also have crossed the 30-point mark this season, with Karpenko at 32 (14-18--32) and Fortino at 30 (7-23--30). In all seven different players are averaging at least a point per game this season, while every skater on the roster has recorded at least one point. In goal, Amanda Mazzotta and Lauren Slebodnick have split time in goal, with both netminders posting outstanding numbers. Mazzotta has a 0.91 goals-against average and a .953 save percentage and Slebodnick has a 0.61 goals-against average and a .968 save percentage. Mazzotta has been out since early December due to injury, with Slebodnick and Katie Wilson doing an outstanding job in her absence. Cornell's special teams units lead the nation, with the Big Red converting on 29-of-105 power-play chances (27.6 percent) and killing off 75-of-77 opponents' power-play opportunities (97.4 percent).

ABOUT BROWN

The Bears enter the weekend with an 18 game winless streak, going 0-16-2 over that span and being shut out nine times. Brown carries into the weekend a 1.25 goals-per-game scoring average, ranking 33rd in the country. Brown's offense is led by Laurie Jolin and Alena Polenska with 12 points each, with Jolin leading the team with eight goals and Polenska sharing the team lead in assists with Jennifer Nedow at six. In goal, Katie Jamieson has played most of the time this season, posting a 3.24 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage. Brown's special teams have converted on 10-of-74 power-play chances (13.5 percent, tied for 22nd in the nation) while the penalty-killing unit has struggled, successfully ending 67-of-94 opponents' chances (71.3 percent, 34th nationally).

THE SERIES WITH BROWN

Cornell claimed a 3-0 victory in the first meeting of the season between the two programs back on Jan. 8 in Providence, R.I., despite Cornell dressing just 11 skaters in the contest. The win edged the Big Red into the lead in the all-time series, 35-35-8, with Cornell stretching its winning streak in the series to six games. Cornell has not given up a goal to the Bears in the last four meetings between the two squads.

ABOUT YALE

The Bulldogs are on a three-game unbeaten streak heading into this weekend's action, defeating Brown and Union and tying Rensselaer to climb back into the hunt for a spot in the ECAC Hockey playoffs. Yale's offense, ranked 29th in the nation at 1.88 goals per game, is led by Jackie Raines and Bray Ketchum, who have 17 points each. Raines shares the team goal-scoring lead with Jenna Ciotti, while Ketchum has a team-best 10 assists. In goal, Jackee Snikeris has played most of the time, posting a 2.04 goals-against average and a .939 save percentage. Yale's power play ranks 32nd in the country at 9.2 percent (9-of-98), while the penalty-killing unit has successfully ended 78-of-91 opponents' power-play chances (85.7 percent, 16th nationally).

THE SERIES WITH YALE

Cornell claimed the first meeting of the season between the two Ivy League rivals, 5-0, despite dressing just 12 skaters for the contest. The win stretched the Big Red's lead in the all-time series to 45-13-1. Most of Cornell's wins in the series came in the pre-NCAA era, with Cornell winning 40 of the first 41 matchups. Since 2001-02, Yale leads the series, 12-4-1.

AN EYE ON THE PLAYOFFS

With four games left in the regular season, only Cornell and Harvard have clinched a berth in the upcoming ECAC Hockey playoffs, and only Cornell has assured itself a home weekend in the quarterfinal round. With just two weekends left to play, A total of five teams are within four points of the fourth and final home spot for the quarterfinals. 

POWER SURGE

Cornell scored four power play goals on the weekend of Feb. 4-5 at Clarkson and St. Lawrence, accounting for 80 percent of the total offensive output that weekend. Cornell finished the weekend 4-for-12 on the power play in the two contests and stretched its string of consecutive games with at least one power play goal to six. 

GOING STREAKING

Several players have a significant point-scoring streak heading into this weekend, led by Catherine White and Laura Fortino. Fortino has four multi-point games over that span and a total of 14 points, while White has nine points and a pair of multi-point games. Right behind those two are Lauriane Rougeau and Chelsea Karpenko with six-game point streaks. 

ON THE OTHER END

After beginning the season with a 16-game consecutive point streak, Rebecca Johnston has been held off the score sheet in each of the last three games. Johnston still leads the team in scoring with 34 points in 23 games.

INTO THE HISTORY BOOKS

Cornell's win on Jan. 29 against Rensselaer was the 22nd of the season for the Big Red, setting a new program record for the most victories in a season. The new mark snaps the old record of 21, set during last season's run to the national championship game.

18 TO LIFE

Cornell's season-long winning streak reached 18 games before being snapped on Feb. 4 at Clarkson with a 3-3 tie. That streak was just three wins away from tying the NCAA record for most consecutive victories. The record of 21 games is held by Harvard, set from Jan. 4 to March 15, 2008. The tie also snapped Cornell's road winning streak at 12 games, just three games shy of tying that NCAA mark as well. The NCAA record for road winning streak is held by Mercyhurst from Nov. 2, 2002, through Oct. 18, 2003.

NATURAL BORN KILLERS

Cornell leads the nation in penalty-killing percentage, having successfully ended 97.4 percent of the opposition's power play chances. Cornell has killed off each of the last 63 penalties against and is a perfect 58-of-58 in killing penalties in ECAC Hockey games. The last time the Big Red allowed a power-play goal came on Nov. 2 against Mercyhurst, while Robert Morris is the only other program to have scored a power-play tally against the Big Red this season. The Big Red also led the nation in penalty-killing percentage last season, and over the last season and a half, Cornell has killed off 196-of-208 opponents' power-play chances for a .942 success rate.

FRONT RUNNERS

One of the more amazing statistics with the Cornell women's hockey team this season has been the amount of time that Cornell has led in games this season. The Big Red has played with the lead for 70.2 percent of the minutes played. By contrast, Cornell has only trailed for a grand total of 31:48, or 2.1 percent of the total minutes. Cornell has only trailed in four games this season, with Quinnipiac scoring first on Oct. 29 and Syracuse doing the same on Nov. 30. Cornell also trailed in both games of the North Country trip on Feb. 4-5, the first time this season that Cornell played from behind in back-to-back games.

ROAD WARRIORS

After playing 11 of the first 14 games of the season at home, the Big Red spent most of January away from Lynah Rink. The road suits the Big Red just fine, however, as Cornell is 10-0-1 on the road this year, including a 2-0 mark in non-league games. The Big Red picked up a 4-1 win at Syracuse on Nov. 30 and a 3-0 victory at Mercyhurst on Jan. 18.

ONE IMPRESSIVE STREAK

Dating back to last season, Cornell has won 34 of its last 37 games, going 34-2-1 over that span and with the two losses over that stretch both coming as overtime defeats. Cornell closed out the 2009-10 season with an 11-game winning streak before falling in the national title game to Minnesota-Duluth in triple overtime, then began the 2010-11 season with wins in its first four games before losing in overtime to Mercyhurst, 4-3, at Lynah Rink on Nov. 2. Cornell's last loss in regulation came at Clarkson on Jan. 30, 2010, a 2-1 defeat.

ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL

Cornell's defense has allowed just 20 goals this season, and has allowed more than one goal just five times in 25 games. Minnesota has allowed the second-fewest goals in the nation, conceeding 45 goals for an average of 1.55 per game, nearly twice as many as Cornell's 0.80 goals allowed per contest. Cornell has allowed more than two goals just twice this season, giving up four goals in a 4-3 loss to Mercyhurst on Nov. 2, and allowing three goals to Clarkson in a 3-3 tie on Feb. 4.

NO SHOTS=NO GOALS

Cornell has taken nearly twice as many shots on goal as its opposition this season, taking 894 shots through 25 games compared to 462 shots for its opponents. Cornell has held its opposition to fewer than 10 shots three times (Oct. 23 vs. Robert Morris, Jan. 28 vs. Union and Jan. 29 vs. Rensselaer), while holding the opposition to 20 shots or fewer in 16 games. By contrast, the Big Red has a season low of 23 shots, set against Dartmouth on Nov. 6 in a 6-1 Cornell victory.

THE STREAK ENDS...

Freshman goaltender Lauren Slebodnick went the first 197:32 of her career without allowing a goal, spanning the first five appearances. Her streak came to a close with a goal at the 8:49 mark of the second period on Jan. 14 at Rensselaer. Slebodnick's streak is the seventh-longest such streak in ECAC Hockey history.

COUNTING TO 100

Junior Rebecca Johnston has joined teammate Catherine White in reaching the 100-point mark for their careers this season. White became the 13th player in Cornell history to score 100 points when she reached that mark on Nov. 26 against Niagara, while Johnston became the 14th player to reach that mark  with a hat trick on Jan. 7 at Yale. White took 74 games to reach 100 career points, while Johnston did so in her 65th career contest. White ranks ninth all-time at Cornell with 112 career points, while Johnston is one point back. The duo trail Kim Ratushny in eighth place with 133 career points. Next up in the chase to the 100-point mark is senior Karlee Overguard, who has 83 points in 118 career games, and junior Chelsea Karpenko, with 84 points in 86 games..

SHORT-HANDED? NO PROBLEM

Cornell was without five players for the weekend series at Yale and Brown on Jan. 7 and 8 due to their participation with the Canadian U22 National Team at the MLP Cup, but the Big Red didn't miss a beat. Cornell still blanked Yale, 5-0, and Brown, 3-0, to stretch its winning streak to 11 games. Complicating matters, starting goaltender Amanda Mazzotta was out of action due to injury, and senior captain Amber Overguard missed the Jan. 8 contest against Brown after suffering an injury the previous night at Yale.

HELPING HANDS

Cornell got contributions from a number of players on Jan. 7 and 8 at Yale and Brown, as the Big Red remained unbeaten in league play. At Yale, six of the 12 skaters recorded at least one point, with four players having a multi-point game. Against Brown, six of the 11 skaters scored at least one point, led by junior Karlee Overguard's two-assist night. For the weekend, nine of the 12 skaters to dress for at least one game picked up at least one point.

WELCOME HOME

Sophomore Xandra Hompe had a welcome homecoming of sorts on Jan. 7 at Yale. Hompe, a native of New Canaan, Conn., located about an hour west of New Haven, Conn., took the opportunity of playing near her hometown to score her first career points, picking up two assists in the 5-0 win at Yale. Hompe then capped her weekend by scoring her first career goal the following night in a 3-0 win at Brown.

READY THE UNDERSTUDY

With starting goaltender Amanda Mazzotta sidelined due to injury on Jan. 7 and 8 at Yale and Brown, freshman Lauren Slebodnick stepped into the crease and picked up where Mazzotta left off, posting 23 saves in a shutout at Yale and another 15 stops the following night at Brown in a 3-0 win.

A CAREER YEAR

Senior Hayley Hughes is enjoying her final season with the Big Red, as the Toronto, Ontario, native has posted a career best for points this season. Hughes has 12 goals and 10 assists for 22 points, surpassing the 12 points she scored as a freshman for her previous career best.

PACKING THEM IN

Cornell's win over Clarkson on Dec. 4 came in front of the largest crowd to ever see the Big Red women's hockey team play at Lynah Rink. That contest was played in front of 2,326 fans, easily surpassing the old mark of 1,528, set on March 7, 2010, when Cornell defeated Clarkson, 4-3, in overtime of the ECAC Hockey championship game. Cornell is averaging 603 fans per game this season at home, the seventh-highest average attendance in the nation.

900 AND COUNTING

Cornell's 3-1 victory on Dec. 3 against St. Lawrence marked the 900th game all-time in the history of the Cornell women's hockey program. The Big Red has a 416-445-51 all-time record for a .484 winning percentage. 

NUMBER ONE

With Cornell's sweep over Niagara on Nov. 27-28 and Wisconsin splitting its series with Minnesota-Duluth that same weekend, the Big Red moved up to first in the nation both the USA Today/USA Hockey and USCHO.com polls. This marked the first time in program history that the Big Red has been ranked as the top team in the nation in either of the two polls. Cornell slipped down to second in both polls after Wisconsin defeated Mercyhurst on Jan. 2 in St. Cloud, Minn.

GOING STREAKING

Junior goaltender Amanda Mazzotta saw the second-longest shutout streak of her career snapped on Nov. 30 at Syracuse. Mazzotta's streak, which spanned parts of six games, lasted 218:51 before Syracuse's Kelly Dimmen got the Orange on the scoreboard. As impressive as that mark is, it's still more than a full game shy of Mazzotta's personal best mark of 286:54, set in Feb. 2010, a mark that stands as the fourth-longest streak in NCAA history. The mark is also the second-longest in ECAC Hockey history, bested this season by Princeton's Rachel Weber, whose streak ended at 289:43.

REACHING A MILESTONE

Cornell's win on Nov. 19 against Princeton was the 400th victory in the history of the Cornell women's hockey program. Cornell now has 416 victories, the ninth-highest total among NCAA Division I programs. Cornell is just four wins behind Princeton for eighth place all-time.

OVER THE CENTURY MARK

Cornell's win on Nov. 26 against Niagara marked the 100th victory for the Big Red since the NCAA officially recognized women's hockey as a championship sport prior to the 2000-01 season. Cornell is now 113-182-26 since women's hockey gained official status in the eyes of the NCAA.

ON THE BREAK

Cornell's players had a rare week off on Nov. 12-13 due to a quirk in the league schedule. Rather than play a non-conference series that weekend, the Big Red elected to take the weekend off to evaluate the team's progress in the early part of the season. Cornell has not had a similar break in the schedule since taking off the weekend of Nov. 23-24, 2007.

WHILE YOU WERE GONE...

Two Cornell players weren't entirely off during the team's break on Nov. 12-13, as Rebecca Johnston and Brianne Jenner took part in the 4 Nations Cup in St. John's, Newfoundland. Competing with the Canadian National Team, the pair came home with the tournament's gold medal, defeating the United States in the championship game, 3-2, in overtime. Johnston was especially strong in that championship game, scoring a pair of goals including the overtime game-winner. Johnston finished with seven points on four goals and three assists, ranking her tied for third among all scorers in the tournament. The pair missed Cornell's weekend series against Harvard and Dartmouth on Nov. 5-6 as well, but the Big Red still posted a pair of victories in their absence.

WHAT A WEEKEND

With Rebecca Johnston and Brianne Jenner on international duty with the Canadian National Team at the 4 Nations Cup on Nov. 5-6, senior Hayley Hughes stepped up with the best weekend of her career. Hughes potted a pair of goals and assisted on the third in Cornell's 3-0 victory against Harvard on Friday night, then tallied three assists in the 6-1 win against Dartmouth the following day. Hughes' six-point weekend equaled one-quarter of her career point total entering the 2010-11 season and earned her ECAC Hockey Player of the Week honors for the first time in her career. 

FIRING BLANKS

Amanda Mazzotta became Cornell's all-time career leader in shutouts when she blanked Harvard, 3-0, on Nov. 5. With four shutouts this season, Mazzotta now has 16 shutouts in her Cornell career, surpassing the mark of 12 set by Kathryn LoPresti from 1985 through 1989. Mazzotta's 16 shutouts rank her tied for 13th all-time in NCAA history.

ONE BANNER YEAR

Cornell officially put the cap on the historic 2009-10 season on Nov. 6 against Dartmouth when the Big Red added three banners to the Lynah Rink rafters. Last year's four seniors – Laura Danforth, Melanie Jue, Kelly McGinty and Liz Zorn – were on hand for the unveiling of banners commemorating the program's ECAC Hockey championship, the Ivy League championship and national runner-up finish.

FOUR SQUARE

Cornell's wins on Oct. 29-30 at Quinnipiac and Princeton gave the Big Red victories in each of its first four games in a season for the first time since the 1978-79 season. That year, Cornell began the season with five straight wins on its way to a 13-5-1 overall record.

100 AND COUNTING

Senior Karlee Overguard appeared in her 100th career game on Nov. 5 against Harvard, the most games of any player on the roster.  Overguard is on pace to become the school's career leader in games played, a mark that is currently held by 2010 graduate Laura Danforth. Danforth appeared in 124 games during her four-year career spanning 2006 through 2010. Two of Danforth's classmates, Liz Zorn (121) and Kelly McGinty (116), stand second and tied for third, respectively, in games played at Cornell. Overguard stands at 118 career games played, while fellow senior Hayley Hughes reached the 100 career game mark on Jan. 29 against Rensselaer.

LEAGUE OPENERS

Cornell won its ECAC Hockey opener for the second straight season with a 5-1 win at Quinnipiac on Oct. 29, and opened up 2-0 in league play for the second time in a row when it downed Princeton the following day by the same score. Last season, Cornell won its first five league games before falling to St. Lawrence. Prior to last season, the last time that Cornell won twice to begin the league campaign came during the 1998-98 season. 

HAT TRICK PLUS ONE

Freshman Jessica Campbell scored four goals for the Big Red in a 9-1 victory against Robert Morris on Oct. 23, just her second career game. Campbell scored once in both the first and second periods and finished off her four-goal performance with a pair of markers in the third period. Campbell's four-goal outburst was the first for a Big Red player since Colette Bredin scored five against Colby on Feb. 28, 1998, in a 9-3 Cornell victory.

EVERYONE IN THE ACT

Cornell's 9-1 victory against Robert Morris on Oct. 23 came as a total team effort. Of the 15 skaters to dress for that contest, 14 of them recorded at least one point, with only freshman defenseman Alyssa Gagliardi finding her way onto the scoresheet. Gagliardi didn't finish the weekend empty-handed, however, as she picked up an assist in the season opener on Oct. 22.

GOOD GIRLS

Cornell is the least penalized team in the nation, averaging just 6.2 minutes in the penalty box per contest. Cornell has been called for just 78 penalties in 25 games this season.

ON THE BOARD

When junior Jenna Paulson recorded an assist on Oct. 23 against Robert Morris, it marked the first career point for the Toronto native. Paulson had played in 56 games through her first two seasons with the Big Red before collecting her first career point.

FROM THE START

The five skaters in Cornell's six-player freshman class each made their collegiate debut against Robert Morris on Oct. 22-23, with all five of them recording their first career points. Jessica Campbell picked up four goals on the weekend and leads the team in scoring, while Brianne Jenner tallied a goal and an assist and Hayley Cudmore picked up a pair of assists. The other two newcomers, Olivia Cook and Alyssa Gagliardi, both recorded one assist on the weekend. 

OH CANADA!

Of the 20 members of the Cornell roster in 2010-11, nine were selected to participate in the Canadian U22 National Team Selection Camp in early August, and eight of those players were named to the select team that faced the United States in a three-game series later that month. The eight included goaltender Amanda Mazzotta, defensemen Laura Fortino and Lauriane Rougeau, and forwards Jessica Campbell, Brianne Jenner, Rebecca Johnston, Chelsea Karpenko and Catherine White. Also invited to the camp but not named to the select team was defenseman Hayleigh Cudmore. The nine players invited to the camp far surpassed any other collegiate program, with Boston University placing four players in the initial camp and Mercyhurst placing three.

EARLY PICKS

When the ECAC Hockey preseason coaches poll was released, it was no surprise to see the Big Red standing as the favorite among league coaches to repeat as champions. Cornell received all 11 possible first-place votes with Clarkson gaining the final vote, with coaches unable to vote for their own teams. 

THE FIRST SIX

Along with the preseason coaches poll, the ECAC Hockey bench bosses selected the preseason all-league team, with four Big Red players named among the six spots. The Big Red placed defensemen Laura Fortino and Lauriane Rougeau and forwards Rebecca Johnston and Catherine White among the top six, with Quinnipiac goaltender Victoria Vigilanti and Harvard forward Kate Buesser rounding out the league's preseason selections.

EVERYBODY'S ALL-AMERICAN

Cornell returns four players who have previously earned AHCA All-America honors during their career, including the program's first First-Team selection in sophomore defenseman Laura Fortino, who was selected to the nation's top six in her freshman season. Joining in that group are 2010 second-team selections Catherine White and Lauriane Rougeau and 2009 second-team pick Rebecca Johnston. 

GO FOR THE GOLD

Rebecca Johnston returns to the Big Red for her junior season after sitting out the 2009-10 campaign while centralized with the Canadian senior national team. Johnston was named to the Canadian team that captured the gold medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, playing in five of Canada's six games and scoring one goal with five assists and a +9 rating.

WORLD CHAMPIONS

Cornell's roster includes a pair of players who were a part of the Canadian team that won the IIHF U18 World Championship last spring. Freshmen Jessica Campbell and Hayleigh Cudmore were both members of that squad, with Campbell being named the most valuable player of the tournament for her play.

GOING STREAKING

Last season, Cornell goaltender Amanda Mazzotta recorded the fourth-longest shutout streak in NCAA history, recording four straight shutouts from Feb. 5 through Feb. 13. Her total time stretched for 286:54, at the time, the longest streak in ECAC Hockey history. Wisconsin alumna Jessie Vetter owns two of the three longest streaks in NCAA history, including the record of 448:39.

TREATY OF NEUTRALITY

Cornell's two games at the NCAA Frozen Four last season marked the 42nd and 43rd games the Big Red has played on neutral ice. Cornell holds a 23-17-3 record all-time when playing at a neutral venue. Prior to last season's national championship weekend, the Big Red's last neutral site game came on Jan. 21, 2001, when it lost to St. Lawrence, 4-1, at Lake Placid, N.Y. 

The Big Red is not scheduled to play any neutral site contests this season, but could potentially play as many as four, should Cornell advance in postseason play.

TWO-WAY PLAYER

Sophomore forward Xandra Hompe gives new meaning to that term, as the New Cannan, Conn., native is a dual-sport athlete. Hompe spends her fall season with the Cornell women's soccer team, where she finished tied for third on the team in scoring and tied for the team lead in assists with four. 

LYNAH LOCKDOWN

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

UP NEXT

Cornell closes out the regular season next weekend with a road trip to Dartmouth and Harvard. Cornell will take on Dartmouth on Friday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. before battling Harvard the following afternoon in a 4 p.m. contest. The Big Red will then be home the following weekend for the ECAC Hockey quarterfinal round against an opponent to be determined.