ITHACA, N.Y. – After the longest break of any team in the country, No. 4 Cornell finally returns to action on Saturday and Sunday for battles against two top-10 teams. The Big Red plays at Northeastern and Boston College, renewing series against teams it has not seen in more than a decade.
 
GAME INFORMATION
GAME #13: No. 4 Cornell at No. 9 Northeastern
GAME TIME: Saturday, January 12, 2 p.m.
GAME SITE: Matthews Arena (Boston, Mass.)
SERIES RECORD: Northeastern leads 28-8-1
LAST MEETING: Northeastern won 2-1 in overtime on Jan. 19, 2002
2012-13 RECORDS: Cornell (10-3); Northeastern (11-7-2)
LIVE STATS: Northeastern Live Stats
LIVE AUDIO: Redcast
LIVE VIDEO: Northeastern Video
 
GAME #14: No. 4 Cornell at No. 3 Boston College
GAME TIME: Sunday, January 13, 2 p.m.
GAME SITE: Conte Forum (Chestnut Hill, Mass.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads 15-2-1
LAST MEETING: Boston College won 4-1 on Dec. 1, 2002
2012-13 RECORDS: Cornell (10-3); Boston College (14-3-2)*
LIVE STATS: Boston College Live Stats
LIVE AUDIO: Redcast
LIVE VIDEO: Boston College Video
 *Records before games on Jan. 12
 
ABOUT THE BIG RED
Forty-two days ago, Cornell ended the fall portion of its schedule with a 4-2 win at St. Lawrence to enter winter break on a high note. In that contest, the Big Red got goals from Brianne Jenner, Anna Zorn, Jessica Campbell and Erin Barley-Maloney to seal the victory in a game that was 3-2 until Barley-Maloney's empty netter. Cornell, ranked No. 4 in the country, split the North Country series that weekend by falling to Clarkson on Nov. 30. The Knights – then ranked No. 2 in the nation – held on for a tight 2-1 win. The series was full of penalties on both sides, with the Big Red seeing players go to the box a combined 19 times in the two games. Now ready to resume play, Cornell sits in third place in the ECAC Hockey standings (16 points) behind Harvard (18) and Quinnipiac (17).
 
HEAD COACH DOUG DERRAUGH
Now in his eighth season directing the Cornell women's hockey program, Doug Derraugh has quickly brought the Big Red women to their current 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-to-back NCAA Frozen Four appearances in 2010, 2011 and 2012, 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 his 120th career win at Boston University on Oct. 20 and is six wins away from tying the school record for victories as a women's hockey coach (Bill Duthie, 135).
 
ABOUT NORTHEASTERN
The Huskies, based in Boston, are 11-7-2 on the season and ranked No. 9 in the country. Northeastern has alternated losses and wins over its last seven games, with its most recent contest a 6-2 defeat at the hands of No. 3 Boston College on Wednesday night. The Huskies sit in fourth place in the Hockey East standings and are led on offense by Kendall Coyne's 16 goals and 15 assists. Casey Pickett also has double-digit goals with 12. In goal, Chloe Desjardins leads the way with a 2.62 goals against average and all 11 wins for the Huskies. Northeastern's offense ranks eighth in the nation, and its penalty killing is fifth in the country.
Northeastern is coached by Dave Flint, now in his fifth year leading the team.
 
THE SERIES WITH NORTHEASTERN
The Huskies have complete control in the lifetime series with Cornell, winning 28 of 37 contests between the two sides. But the teams have not met since January 2002, when the Huskies came away with a 2-1 overtime victory. The teams met every year from 1988-2002 and have not played since. Cornell last defeated Northeastern in February 2001.
 
A WIN AGAINST NORTHEASTERN WOULD…
…improve the Big Red's record to 11-3, keeping it on top of the league standings…improve Cornell to 3-1 in non-conference play…give the Big Red a 2-1 record against Hockey East competition…be Cornell's first win against the Eagles since 2001…be the team's third consecutive victory in its first game of the calendar year…be the 96th consecutive game with a goal for Cornell.     
 
ABOUT BOSTON COLLEGE
The Eagles, from Chestnut Hill, Mass., are ranked No. 3 in the nation thanks to a stellar 14-3-2 record. Currently first in Hockey East, Boston College most recently defeated league rival Northeastern 6-2 on Wednesday night. The Eagles are getting huge offensive contributions from Alex Carpenter (13 goals, 17 assists) and Haley Skarupa (14-16). Eight other players on the roster have double digit points. In the net, Corinne Boyles has played the majority of BC's minutes, earning a 1.70 goals against average and an 11-1 record. Boston College tops Hockey East in offense, defense and power play while ranking second, 10th and second in those categories nationally.
Katie King Crowley is the Eagles' coach, now in her sixth year leading Boston College.
 
THE SERIES WITH BOSTON COLLEGE
The Big Red holds a dominant 15-2-1 lead against the Eagles all time, though the sides have not faced off since 2002 when the Eagles defeated the Big Red 4-1. Cornell's last victory against Boston College came in January 2001. Before this long hiatus in the series, Cornell and BC played at least once every season from 1994 to 2002.
 
A WIN AGAINST BOSTON COLELGE WOULD…
…give Cornell first win over the Eagles since 2001…improve Cornell to 6-1 on Saturdays this season.
 
CORNELL VS. HOCKEY EAST
Though Cornell has not faced this weekend's opponents in more than a decade, Cornell has squared off against multiple teams from Hockey East in the last few years. The Big Red's most notable rivalry has been with Boston University, who it has played every year since over the last three years with a combined 4-2 record. The Big Red also played a two-game set at Providence in 2009-10, losing both of those games to the Friars while splitting a weekend series in 2008-09. Cornell also opened the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons with two-game series against Vermont, winning all four contests.
 
LONG LAYOFF
The Big Red's game on Saturday against Northeastern will be its first since Dec. 1, a span of 42 days. No Division 1 team in the country went longer than the Big Red without playing a game. Cornell did not play in Dec. 7-8 because of Cornell's exams, and the team did not resume play last weekend as it was missing a third of its roster to the Canadian Under-22 Meco Cup team. Cornell has played just 13 games all season, tied for fewest in ECAC Hockey with Harvard and Brown. Five ECAC Hockey teams have played at least 20 games.
 
NATIONAL POLLS
The Big Red, idle since Dec. 1, dropped one spot in the latest national polls to No. 4, its lowest ranking since the end of the 2010-11 season. Harvard, undefeated in ECAC Hockey play, moved up to No. 2 while Boston College moved to No. 3. Clarkson dropped down to No. 5. Minnesota, undefeated in the 2012 calendar year and 20-0 this season, is the unanimous No. 1.
 
MECO CUP
Seven Big Red players won the Gold with the Canada Under-22 roster for the Meco Cup earlier this month. Laura Fortino, Lauriane Rougeau, Hayleigh Cudmore, Cassandra Poudrier, Jillian Saulnier, Brianne Jenner and Jessica Campbell all traveled Germany to compete for their country and came away with Canada's ninth gold in 11 years.
 
USA CAMP
Cornell junior alternate captain Alyssa Gagliardi spent some of her winter break participating in the 2012 U.S. Women's National Team Winter Camp in Blaine, Minn. Thirty-six total players were selected for the Winter Camp, and they were divided into two teams of 18 for three intrasquad scrimmages. Gagliardi was on the camp's White Team with three other current ECAC Hockey rivals.
 
DO IT FOR DARON SERIES
Cornell's games on Feb. 1-2 against Rensselaer and Union will be played as the “Do It For Daron Series.” Do It For Daron is a charity founded by friends and family of Daron Richardson to raise awareness and inspire conversations about youth mental health. To show support for the Big Red and freshman Morgan Richardson – the sister of Daron Richardson – the team asks that fans wear purple to the Do It For Daron Series games.
 
ROAD STRETCH
After a six-game home streak, Cornell is at the tail end of a seven-game road swing this weekend. The Big Red will return to Lynah Rink on Tuesday for its first home contest since Nov. 16.
 
HOME COOKING
Cornell remains undefeated this season in Lynah Rink and is currently on a seven-game undefeated run in Ithaca dating back to last season's NCAA Tournament win against Boston University. The team's last home defeat was in the ECAC Hockey Tournament final against St. Lawrence in March. Cornell has not lost a regular-season home game since Nov. 11, 2011.
 
MARKERS FOR MADISON
Brianne Jenner is participating in a charity this year for a young girl with brain cancer, Madison Primeau. For every goal Jenner scores, Jenner's sponsors will donate $1 to a charity to help pay Madison's medical bills. Jenner erupted for six goals last weekend, bringing her total on the year to eight. That means her 54 sponsors from before the long break will donate a combined $432 to Primeau so far. To sponsor Jenner's charity, e-mail her at bj72@cornell.edu.
 
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Jenner, who racked up a career-high six points on Nov. 16 and added three more on Nov. 17 was named the ECAC Hockey Player of the Week on Nov. 20. Freshman Taylor Woods, who had five points in those two games against Colgate, was named the league's Rookie of the Week. Jenner is the first Cornell Player of the Week this season while Woods is the second Rookie of the Week (Cassandra Poudrier, Nov. 6).
 
NO SHUTOUTS
Cornell scored a goal in every game last year, something only it can say. Cornell was also the only team playing a full Division I schedule to not have a tie last year. The Big Red's streak of scoring at least one goal in a game is now 95 games long, dating back all the way to a 0-0 tie against Quinnipiac on Feb. 5, 2010.
 
REPRESENTING HER COUNTRY
Brianne Jenner missed the Princeton and Quinnipiac games in November as she competed with the Canadian National Women's Team at the 4 Nations Cup in Finland. Jenner and Rebecca Johnston '12 each had an assist in Canada's four games as the Canadians wound up losing 3-0 to the United States in the gold medal game. Jenner returns to Ithaca with a silver medal from one of the top women's hockey competitions in the world.
 
HOLDING A LEAD
The Big Red is now undefeated in its last 62 games when holding a lead after two periods. This streak dates all the way back to the national title game in 2010, which Cornell was leading 1-0 in the third period but lost 2-1 in triple overtime. The Big Red was 28-0 in 2010-11, 27-0 in 2011-12 and is 7-0 this season when leading after two periods.
 
GAME-SAVER
Sophomore goalie Katelyn Pippy was on a roll in November, starting her first career games and coming away with three victories. After playing only 10 minutes her entire freshman season, Pippy has racked up 153 minutes over the last three weeks. She earned her first career shutout against Colgate on Nov. 16.
 
FRESHMEN SCORERS
All seven of the Big Red's freshmen forwards and defensemen have at least one collegiate point. Taylor Woods is the team's fourth-leading scorer with 10 points, while Victoria Pittens got her first point when she scored a goal at Colgate on Nov. 17.
 
TUESDAY SUCCESS
With the victory against St. Lawrence on Oct. 23, Cornell has now claimed eight consecutive contests on Tuesday nights. Cornell's last loss Tuesday night came on Nov. 2, 2010 against Mercyhurst in a 4-3 overtime defeat.
 
SHORT-HANDED OFFENSE
The Big Red scored two shorthanded goals against Boston University on Oct. 20, marking the first time the team has tallied two short-handed goals in a game in at least nine years. Taylor Woods scored the first to tie the game at 2-2, and Emily Fulton struck about a minute later to give Cornell a 3-2 lead it would hold for a 5-2 victory.
 
HELPING GLOVE
Goalie Lauren Slebodnick got her first career assist on Oct. 20, passing the puck to Hayleigh Cudmore who found Emily Fulton for Cornell's third goal. The assist was Cornell's first from a goalie in more than three years. Jenny Niesluchowski had the last goalie assist on Jan. 4, 2009 against Providence College.
 
OUTRANKING THE COMPETITION
In its last 26 games against ranked opponents from the start of the 2009-10 season until now, the Big Red holds a 16-10 record. Cornell was a very impressive 9-3 against ranked opponents in 2011-12.
 
NATIONAL NUMBERS
Cornell has multiple players near the top of the country in many categories. Brianne Jenner has the nation's eighth-best points per game total with 1.73, while Jillian Saulnier is at No. 19 with her 1.38 points per game. Jenner's 0.82 goals per game also puts her ninth in the country while Saulnier is tied for eighth with 1.00 assist per game. Freshman Taylor Woods is excelling on special teams, tied for seventh in the nation 0.31 power play goals per game. Saulnier is tied for 10th in the country with three game-winners, and Lauriane Rougeau is ninth in points per game by defenseman (0.92).
 
As a team, the Big Red's 3.85 goals per game ranks it fifth in the country, and its 1.77 goals allowed per game is also fifth-best. Cornell has the nation's third-best penalty kill (90.5 percent).

CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
At Clarkson and St. Lawrence:
• Jessica Campbell and Erin Barley-Maloney scored their 20th career goal.
• Alyssa Gagliardi notched her 40th assist.
• Lauriane Rougeau scored her 100th career point and 80th assist.
• Brianne Jenner earned her 75th assist.
Approaching career numbers:
• Laura Fortino is three assists away from a tie for sixth in team history (90).
• Alyssa Gagliardi will hit 50 points with two more.
• Jillian Saulnier is five points away from 75.
 
UP NEXT
The Big Red plays its first game in Lynah Rink in nearly two months on Tuesday night when Syracuse comes to town for a 7 p.m. puck drop.