ITHACA, N.Y. – No. 3 Cornell returns to regular-season action on Friday at Union after not playing a game since Dec. 3. The Big Red will be missing six players for the weekend games, as four forwards, a defender and a goalkeeper are in Germany with Canada's U-22 team.

GAME INFORMATION
Game 13: No. 3 Cornell at Union
GAME TIME: Friday, Jan. 6, 3 p.m.
GAME SITE: Messa Rink (Schenectady, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads 15-1
LAST MEETING: Cornell won 8-0 on Jan. 28, 2011
2011 RECORDS: Cornell (10-2, 6-1 ECAC Hockey); Union (3-14-2, 1-6-1 ECAC Hockey)
LIVE STATS: sidearmstats.com/union/whockey/index.htm
LIVE VIDEO:  unionathletics.com/showcase

Game 14: No. 3 Cornell at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
GAME TIME: Saturday, Jan. 7, 3 p.m.
GAME SITE: Houston Field House (Troy, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads 9-4
LAST MEETING: Cornell won 6-1 on Feb. 26, 2011 in the ECAC Hockey Tournament quarterfinals
2011 RECORDS: Cornell (10-2, 6-1 ECAC Hockey); Rensselaer (4-12-4, 1-5-2 ECAC Hockey)*
LIVE STATS: sidearmstats.com/rpi/whockey/index.htm
LIVE VIDEO:  b2livetv.com/partner_members.asp?id=27
*Before games on Jan. 6

ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell has not played a game since Dec. 3 – a 5-2 loss to then-No. 6 Mercyhurst – but the Big Red remain No. 3 in the country with a 10-2 record. Cornell has outscored opponents 69-25 and outshot them 495-250, a nearly two-to-one margin.

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 is one win away from the 100th in his career.

ABOUT UNION
The Dutchwomen's clash with Cornell will be its first since a weekend series with Maine on Dec. 9-10. Union lost the first of those two games in overtime and tied with Maine 2-2 in the second game. The Dutchwomen, based in Canton, come into the with an 3-14-2 record and a 1-6-1 mark in ECAC Hockey. Union had just one conference win in 2010-11, one conference win in 2009-10 and none in 2008-09. This year, the Dutchwomen are led by Bryanne Panchuk, who has eight points on four goals and four assists. Six different players on the team have seven points.
Claudia Barcomb, a 1999 graduate of Harvard, is now in her fourth year coaching Union.

THE SERIES WITH UNION
Cornell and Union have faced each other 16 times in their history, and the Big Red have a commanding 15-1 advantage in those games. Union's last and only win against the Big Red came in 2003 during the teams' second-ever clash. Cornell has not lost in 14 meetings. Most recently, Cornell won 8-0 last January and 4-2 two weeks earlier.

A WIN AGAINST UNION WOULD…
…extend Cornell's streak against Union to 15 wins…put the Big Red's winning streak in conference games to four games…give coach Doug Derraugh his 100th career win…improve the team's road record to 5-1.

ABOUT RENSSELAER
The Engineers, based in Troy, are entering the weekend's contests on a two-game losing streak. RPI has not played a game since Dec. 3, a 3-6 loss to league rival St. Lawrence. The team's last victory came against Syracuse on Nov. 26. RPI is led by Jordan Smelker's 16 points on six goals and 10 assists. Alisa Harrison isn't far behind with seven goals, seven assists and 14 points.
John Burke is the Engineers' head coach. He is now in his eighth year with the team and is a 1991 graduate of Bowling Green.

THE SERIES WITH RENSSELAER
Cornell and Rensselaer have faced off just 13 times in their short history, and the Big Red holds a 9-4 advantage. Most recently, the Big Red knocked off the Engineers on February 26 of last season in the ECAC Hockey Tournament quarterfinals. The Big Red defeated the Engineers four times last season. RPI's last win in the series was in February 2009, and Cornell has won seven consecutive games against Rensselaer.

A WIN AGAINST RENSSELAER WOULD…
…extend Cornell's streak against the Engineers to eight wins.

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 will be looking to make it two wins in a row this year.

GOALS, PERIOD.
Cornell has played 36 periods of hockey this season and has scored in 34. The only two periods where the Big Red came up short was the first 20 minutes against Princeton on Nov. 18 and the final frame against then-No. 6 Mercyhurst on Dec. 3.

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 last weekend and took one of two from then-No. 6 Mercyhurst in December and beat then-No. 10 Harvard in November.

NATIONAL PRIDE
As the team was against Harvard and Dartmouth back in November, the Big Red will once against be short-handed for two league games. Goalkeeper Amanda Mazzotta, forwards Chelsea Karpenko, Catherine White, Jessica Campbell and Jillian Saulnier and defenseman Hayleigh Cudmore are representing Canada at the 2012 Meco Cup in Füssen, Germany from Jan. 3-8. There, they are competing against national teams from Germany, Sweden, Finland, Russia and Switzerland. They have already contributed to two wins for Canada against Germany and Russia on Tuesday and Wednesday. Cornell will be down to eight forwards, four defensemen and two goalies while those six players are absent.

STANDING ON GUARD
Four Cornell women's ice hockey players spent part of early November 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 coach.

GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK
For her two wins against then-No. 5 Boston University in November, senior netminder Amanda Mazzotta was named ECAC Hockey's Goaltender of the Week for the eighth time in her career on Nov. 29. Mazzotta saved 40 of 42 shots she faced against a team that was averaging three goals per game entering the weekend.

This award is nothing new for the senior, who won it four different times last season. The weeks of Nov. 2, Nov. 9, Nov. 23 and March 8 all saw Mazzotta named ECAC Hockey's Goaltender of the Week. Mazzotta also took home this prize three times during her sophomore year.

ROOKIE OF THE MONTH
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, and she has also now won the league's Rookie of the Month Award for October and November. Through early December, Saulnier led Cornell and the ECAC in goals (14), points (25) and shooting percentage (.412).

NATIONAL POLLS
The Big Red remain at No. 3 in the most recent national polls behind No. 1 Wisconsin and No. 2 Minnesota. Cornell has been No. 3 since Nov. 14 after starting the year in the No. 2 spot.

LOFTY NUMBERS
Through 10 games this year, the Big Red's strong offensive and defensive numbers have placed it near the top of national statistical categories. Through last weekend's games, forwards Brianne Jenner and Rebecca Johnston are tied for third in the nation in points per game (2.50), with freshman Jillian Saulnier not far behind in fifth (2.40). Saulnier, who had topped that category nationally for the first three weeks for Cornell's season, still leads the country in goals per game (1.50) and points per game among freshmen. Jenner is tops in the nation at assists per game (1.75), while Lauriane Rougeau and Laura Fortino are No. 1 and 3 in points per game for defensemen (1.38 and 1.25, respectively). Goalkeeper Lauren Slebodnick's 1.25 goals against average puts her at fourth in the country, and her 4-0 record has her leading in winning percentage.

As a team, Cornell has the country's best offense (6.20 goals per game) and scoring margin (4.60 goals) to go along with the best power play (33.9 percent), fifth-best scoring defense (1.60 goals per game) and fourth-best penalty kill (88.7 percent).

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 1.25 goals against average that is fourth-best in the country. Mazzotta has five wins on the year, a shutout, and a .833 winning percentage.

LAST TIME OUT
Cornell played two tough games against then-No. 6 Mercyhurst, coming from behind twice on Dec. 2 to win 5-4 in Erie, Pa. The next day, the Lakers scored goals in the second period and added an empty-netter in the third to beat Cornell 5-2.

CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
Against Mercyhurst on Dec. 2/3
• Catherine White earned her 60th career goal and 150th point.
• Jillian Saulnier scored her 25th career point.
• Laura Fortino and Lauriane Rougeau played in their 75th career games.
• Rebecca Johnston scored her 75th career goal.
• Hayleigh Cudmore reached 20 career points.

Approaching career numbers:
• Head coach Doug Derraugh is one wins away from his 100th.
• Brianne Jenner is one goal short of her 30th career.
• Laura Fortino needs just one more goal to reach 25.
• Rebecca Johnston needs one more assist for her 75th and one more point for her 150th.
• Jessica Campbell is one shy of her 20th assist.

UP NEXT
Cornell hosts local and league rival Colgate at Lynah Rink on Tuesday before a weekend home series against Quinnipiac and Princeton on Friday and Saturday. Cornell beat all three of those teams by a combined 16-2 score earlier in the season.