ITHACA, N.Y. – Three days after taking down intrastate rival Colgate, the No. 3 Big Red women's hockey team is back in action against Quinnipiac and Princeton. On the line this weekend: first place in ECAC Hockey.

GAME INFORMATION
Game 16: No. 3 Cornell vs. Quinnipiac
GAME TIME: Friday, Jan. 13, 7 p.m.
GAME SITE: Lynah Rink (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads 8-3-5
LAST MEETING: Cornell won 7-1 on Nov. 19, 2011
2011 RECORDS: Cornell (13-2, 9-1 ECAC Hockey), Quinnipiac (13-8-2, 9-3-2 ECAC Hockey)
LIVE STATS: sidearmstats.com/cornell/whockey/index.htm
LIVE VIDEO:  cornellbigred.com/showcase

GAME INFORMATION
Game 17: No. 3 Cornell vs. Princeton
GAME TIME: Saturday, Jan. 14, 4 p.m.
GAME SITE: Lynah Rink (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Princeton leads 41-32-4
LAST MEETING: Cornell won 3-1 on Nov. 18, 2011
2011 RECORDS: Cornell (13-2, 9-1 ECAC Hockey), Princeton (7-9-4, 6-6-2 ECAC Hockey)*
LIVE STATS: sidearmstats.com/cornell/whockey/index.htm
LIVE VIDEO:  cornellbigred.com/showcase
*Records before games on Jan. 16

ABOUT THE BIG RED
Winter break lasted more than a month for the Big Red, but the team has emerged in 2012 with three consecutive wins and two shutouts in those three games. After a weekend sweep at Union and Rensselaer, Cornell knocked off Colgate midweek. Lauren Slebodnick is on fire in net, improving her record to 7-0 with three shutouts, and the Big Red offense continues to lead the country in goals per game (5.60).

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. He earned the 100th win in his career on Friday against Union and his 101st Saturday.

ABOUT QUINNIPIAC
The Bobcats, based in Hamden, Conn., come into the weekend as the top team in ECAC Hockey with 20 points to second-place Cornell's 18. The team had a disappointing weekend against Harvard and Dartmouth, tying with the Crimson after dropping a 3-2 game with the Big Green. Goalkeeper Victoria Vigilanti has won the league's Goalie of the Week award twice this year and has a goals against average of 2.12. Kelly Babstock leads Quinnipiac with 26 points on 12 goals and 14 assists, numbers that put her tied atop the conference for points as well.
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 Big Red and Bobcats have a relatively young rivalry dating back to just 2003, and Cornell has controlled the matchups in recent years. The Big Red holds an 8-3-5 advantage all time but has now won four consecutive games against the Bobcats. The teams last met in November when the Big Red struck for seven goals. Brianne Jenner and Catherine White each had three points (two assists, one goal) in that game.

A WIN AGAINST QUINNIPIAC WOULD…
…extend Cornell's winning streak against Quinnipiac to five…sweep the regular season matchup against the Bobcats…bring Cornell into a tie in points (20) for first place in ECAC  Hockey…be the second time this season Cornell has beaten the top team in the conference.

ABOUT PRINCETON
The Tiger, who hail from Princeton, N.J., are on an impressive run that sees them atop the Ivy League standings and in third place in ECAC Hockey behind Quinnipiac and Cornell. Princeton is coming off a big weekend with a win against No. 10 Harvard and a tie against Dartmouth. After a brutal November with six consecutive losses, the Tigers are 3-2-3 in their last eight games. Sally Butler leads all Tigers with eight goals and seven assists for 15 points. Goalie Rachel Weber has played every minute for Princeton and boasts a 2.17 goals against average.
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
The Big Red and Tigers are long-time Ivy League rivals, and their series stretches back 77 games. Princeton holds a nine-game lead in the all-time series, but Cornell has controlled the rivalry lately. The Big Red have won five in a row against the Tigers, including a 3-1 victory in November. Emily Fulton, Alyssa Gagliardi and Rebecca Johnston scored in that game, though Johnston's goal was an empty-netter that put some insurance on what was a tight 2-1 contest. Lauren Slebodnick saved 17 shots in a near shutout.

A WIN AGAINST PRINCETON WOULD…
…be the sixth consecutive win for the Big Red against the Tigers…sweep the season series with Princeton for the second year in a row…put Cornell one point behind Princeton for the Ivy League lead in points.

LONG TIME (HOME)COMING
Tuesday's win against Colgate was the Big Red's first game in Lynah Rink since the weekend after Thanksgiving when it swept then-No. 5 Boston University by a combined 10-2 margin. With the 3-0 victory against the Raiders, Cornell improved to 7-1 in Ithaca this season.

CONSISTENT SCORERS
The Big Red has two players who have scored a point in all but two of their games this season. Rebecca Johnston and Catherine White have scored in 11 of their 13 appearances this year. Brianne Jenner, though, has scored in 12 of her 13  games this year and currently leads the team in points. Jenner is also working on a team-high eight-game scoring streak

HELPING HAND
With her three assists in the last four games, Jenner brought her career average over one assist per game. She has tallied 49 helpers in 46 career contests.

MAKING A POINT
Six current members of the Cornell roster are averaging more than a point per game over their career. Freshman Jillian Saulnier, with the smallest sample size, has a points-per-game average of 2.00. Brianne Jenner (1.72), Rebecca Johnston (1.57), Catherine White (1.38), Laura Fortino (1.16) and Chelsea Karpenko (1.06) are also on that list. Freshman Emily Fulton is right on the line with 15 points in 15 games.

STARTING A NEW STREAK
Cornell won its first game after winter break last season – a 5-0 rout of Yale – for the first time since 2002. After dropping its first contest of January from 2003-2010, the Big Red have started a new winning streak after winter break, winning its first January game for the second consecutive season.

AWARD WINNERS
Since the beginning of this season, Cornell's players have been awarded with ECAC Hockey weekly honors seven times, more than any other team in the league. Discounting the first three weeks of the year – during which only the six ECAC Hockey teams not in the Ivy League were playing games – no team has more than four weekly awards.

Freshman Jillian Saulnier won Rookie of the Week twice, while freshmen Emily Fulton and Monika Leck each won that honor once. Senior Kendice Ogilvie and sophomore Brianne Jenner have earned Player of the Week honors, while Amanda Mazzotta took home Goaltender of the Week once.

GOALS, PERIOD.
Cornell has played 45 periods of hockey this season and has scored in an impressive 41, or 91.11 percent of its periods.

OUTRANKING THE COMPETITION
In its last 15 games against ranked opponents from the start of the 2009-10 season until now, the Big Red holds a 10-5 record. The team won two games against then-No. 5 Boston University in November and took one of two from then-No. 6 Mercyhurst in December. The Big Red also topped then-No. 10 Harvard in November.

NATIONAL PRIDE
Cornell saw six players participate in the Meco Cup in Germany last week, playing for Canada's under-22 national team. All five Cornell skaters scored at least one point in the five-game tournament. Jillian Saulnier led the way with two goals and four assists, while Catherine White and Jessica Campbell notched three points each. Chelsea Karpenko had a goal and an assist, Hayleigh Cudmore earned an assist, and goalie Amanda Mazzotta got two wins and a shutout. Canada won the bronze.

NATIONAL POLLS
Cornell remains at No. 3 in this week's USCHO.com national poll, though the team picked up two first-place votes. The Big Red last earned a first-place vote in the Nov. 7 poll. No. 1 Minnesota leapfrogged No. 2 Wisconsin after the Gophers tied and beat the Badgers in a weekend series.

LOFTY NUMBERS
Forward Brianne Jenner currently sits at fourth in the nation in points per game (2.23), with Rebecca Johnston not far behind in sixth (2.08). Freshman Jillian Saulnier, who had topped that category nationally for the first three weeks of Cornell's season, is third in the country in goals per game (1.08) and is best in points per game among freshmen. Jenner is tops in the nation at assists per game (1.69), while Laura Fortino is No. 1 points per game for defensemen (1.31). Goalkeeper Lauren Slebodnick's 1.12 goals against average puts her at second in the country, and her 7-0 record has her leading in winning percentage.

As a team, Cornell has the country's best offense (5.60 goals per game) and scoring margin (3.87 goals) to go along with the second-best power play (31.5 percent) and fourth-best scoring defense (1.73 goals per game).

LAST TIME OUT
Cornell got two goals from Rebecca Johnston and a second consecutive shutout by Lauren Slebodnick as Colgate came to Ithaca on Tuesday night. The game was Cornell's first at home in more than a month, but the team played excellent defense and  killed off nearly two minutes of five-on-three penalties during the game to win 3-0.

CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
Against Colgate:
• Lauriane Rougeau got her 75th career point.
• Lauren Slebodnick made the 400th save of her career.
• Catherine White played in her 110th game at Cornell.

Approaching career numbers:
• Rebecca Johnston is two away from her 100th career game and three points shy of fifth all-time in school history.
• Jessica Campbell is one shy of her 20th assist.
• Hayleigh Cudmore needs just one assist to get to 20.
• Alyssa Gagliardi needs two points for her 30th.
• Brianne Jenner is one assist shy of 50 and one point away from 80 in her career.
• Kendice Ogilvie is one point away from 40 in her career.

UP NEXT
After three games at home, Cornell takes to the road for five straight games. The team starts its away stretch with a Tuesday-night game at Syracuse before a weekend conference trip to Harvard and Dartmouth.