ITHACA, N.Y. – One week after Cornell fans showed up at Lynah Rink for the No. 3 women's hockey team clinching a share of the Ivy League title, Cornell will go back on the road for its final weekend of the regular season. The Big Red takes on Rensselaer on Friday at 7 p.m. and concludes the regular season at Union on Saturday at 4 p.m. with conference tournament seeding on the line.
GAME INFORMATION
GAME #28: No. 4 Cornell at Rensselaer
GAME TIME: Friday, February 22, 7 p.m.
GAME SITE: Houston Field House (Troy, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads 12-4-0
LAST MEETING: Cornell won 3-1 on Feb. 2, 2013
2012-13 RECORDS: Cornell (21-5-1, 16-3-1 ECAC Hockey | t-1st); Rensselaer (10-18-4, 8-10-2 | 7th)
LIVE STATS:
Rensselaer Live Stats
LIVE AUDIO:
Redcast
LIVE VIDEO:
Rensselaer Video (Free)
GAME #29: No. 4 Cornell at Union
GAME TIME: Saturday, February 23, 4 p.m.
GAME SITE: Messa Rink (Schenectady, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads 18-1-0
LAST MEETING: Cornell won 8-1 on Feb. 1, 2013
2012-13 RECORDS | LEAGUE STANDINGS: 2012-13 RECORDS: Cornell (21-5-1, 16-3-1 ECAC Hockey | t-1st); Union (7-21-4, 0-16-4 ECAC Hockey, 12th)*
LIVE STATS:
Union Live Stats
LIVE AUDIO:
Redcast
LIVE VIDEO:
Union Video
*Records before games on Feb. 22
ABOUT THE BIG RED
After dropping a contest at Quinnipiac two weekends ago, the Big Red is now on a three-game streak of picking up points. Cornell started its most recent weekend with a thrilling 3-1 win over No. 5 Harvard, taking care of business on home ice in front of a rowdy Lynah Rink crowd. More than 2,100 people showed up to watch
Jessica Campbell's two third-period goals, including a breakaway while shorthanded toward the end of the third period. The goalies stole the show the next day as
Lauren Slebodnick had a 65-minute shutout against Dartmouth. The game ended in a 0-0 tie despite an apparent Cornell goal in overtime being waved and not allowed after video review. The Big Red clinched a share of its fourth consecutive Ivy League title with the tie. Cornell current sits atop the ECAC Hockey standings, though Harvard tied with the Big Red and has one game in hand.
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 and is the winningest coach in program history. Taking a team 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 136th career win against Mercyhurst last week, breaking the previous school record for victories as a women's hockey coach (Bill Duthie, 135).
ABOUT RENSSELAER
The Engineers, based in Troy, have clinched the No. 7 seed in ECAC Hockey this season and currently have 18 points on the season. They will travel to the No. 2 seed for next weekend's conference quarterfinals. Rensselaer split its series at Yale and Brown last weekend, defeating the Bulldogs 4-2 before dropping a 5-2 contest against the Bears. Still on top of the team's offensive stats is Alexa Gruschow with her 12 goals and 13 assists for 25 total points. Taylor Horton, Eleeza Cox and Jordan Smelker are all close behind in points. Horton and Cox have double digit goals. Kelly O'Brien is the team's top goalie with a 2.41 goals against average and a .903 save percentage. She has nine of RPI's 10 wins this year.
John Burke is the Engineers' head coach, and he is in his 10th year with the team.
THE SERIES WITH RENSSELAER
Cornell's series with Rensselaer has been largely one-sided of late, as the Big Red has claimed 10 consecutive wins in the 16-game series. The Engineers' last win in the series came in February 2009. When the teams met in earlier this month, Cornell got first-period goals from
Brianne Jenner and
Cassandra Poudrier. Eleeza Cox made it a one-goal game in the second period, but a
Jessica Campbell strike early in the third added the insurance as Cornell won 3-1.
A WIN AGAINST RENSSELAER WOULD…
…give Cornell a 22-5-1 record overall this season… be Cornell's 11th consecutive against the Engineers…improve the team to four consecutive games without a loss…move Cornell to 10-1 this season against teams from New York...be Cornell's ninth win this year on the road...be Cornell's second consecutive victory on a Friday.
ABOUT UNION
The Dutchwomen, based in Schenectady, just broke a 10-game losing streak on Saturday when it tied Yale 1-1. Union is in last place in ECAC Hockey and is still without a conference victory. Included in that 10-game losing streak was a 8-1 loss at the hands of the Big Red, and the Dutchwomen have not scored three goals in a game this calendar year. Union has the lowest scoring offense in the country (1.25 goals per game) and the nation's fifth-worst penalty kill (76.2 percent). The Dutchwomen are led on offense by Courtney Turner's 13 points on five goals and eight assists. Jessica Kaminsky is tops on the team with six goals. In net, Shenae Lundberg handles most of the duties. She has a 2.88 goals against average and a .906 save percentage, and she has six of Union's seven wins this year.
Union is coached by Claudia Asano Barcomb, now in her sixth year with the Dutchwomen.
THE SERIES WITH UNION
The Big Red and Dutchwomen have a very lopsided history with one another. Cornell has only lost to Union once in 19 meetings, and Cornell has claimed 17 consecutive contests in the series. When they last met just three weeks ago, Cornell won 8-1 on the strength of a six-point game from
Brianne Jenner. Cornell gave up its only goal late in the contest on the penalty kill. The Dutchwomen's one victory against the Big Red came in February 2004.
A WIN AGAINST UNION WOULD…
…be Cornell's 18th consecutive against the Dutchwomen…be the team's fifth consecutive win in its regular season finale.
IVY LEAGUE CHAMPIONS
By earning three points in its games against Harvard and Dartmouth last weekend, the Big Red claimed at least a share of its fourth consecutive Ivy League championship. Cornell is the only school in Ivy League history to win the title four times in a row, also accomplishing this from 1976-80 when it won the league crown six consecutive seasons. Princeton came closest to matching this, winning the league three consecutive years from 1982-84. Cornell celebrated on the ice after tying Dartmouth on Saturday.
SENIOR NIGHT
Following the Dartmouth contest, Cornell also celebrated the careers of its three seniors.
Erin Barley-Maloney,
Laura Fortino and
Lauriane Rougeau were all recognized on the ice with their families after they celebrated with the Ivy League trophy. Fortino and Rougeau are already the winningest players in Cornell women's hockey history, claiming 103 wins and counting.
ECAC HOCKEY STANDINGS
The Big Red is now all alone atop the ECAC Hockey standings with just one weekend to go. If Cornell picks up all four points this weekend, it will clinch at worst the No. 2 seed in the ECAC Hockey Tournament. The team has already locked down home ice advantage for the first weekend. Harvard is currently tied with Cornell but has one extra game left to play. Cornell would need Harvard to drop at least one of its final three games to win the ECAC regular-season crown for the fourth consecutive season.
CORNELL IN REGULAR SEASON FINALES
The Big Red has excelled in the last game of the regular season for each of the final four seasons, claiming victories by a combined 21-6. Included in those four victories are two against Union, who Cornell will end the season with this year once again. Cornell's last regular-season finale defeat came in 2008 when it fell 4-2 to Harvard.
#PACKLYNAH
The Big Red fans came out in force last weekend, stuffing Lynah Rink like it has rarely seen for women's hockey. A total of 2,182 fans came out on Friday night for the Harvard game, while more than 1,300 showed up for Saturday's contest against Dartmouth. That two-day total of nearly 3,500 fans is the highest regular-season weekend draw in Cornell women's hockey history. Friday's fan attendance was the second-best showing in a regular-season game in school history.
PENALTY KILLERS
Friday's game against Harvard matched the top two penalty killing teams in the nation, and the result was a non-surprising zero power play goals scored. The Big Red is now an incredible 92.4 percent on the kill this year, stopping 121 of 131 opponent power plays. Cornell is just behind Harvard's 92.9 percent (78 of 84). The Big Red has not allowed a power play goal since it played Union on Feb. 1 and is currently on a streak of killing off its last 19 power plays against.
FINISHING TOUCH
Cornell junior forward
Jessica Campbell is having the best goal-scoring season of her career, and she seems to have a knack for scoring big goals lately. Campbell scored twice against Harvard on Friday and has the game-winning goals in Cornell's last two victories. The speedy junior has 15 goals already this season – four ahead of her previous career high 11 set as a freshman – and she already has triple her total goals from her sophomore season. She has goals in four of Cornell's last seven games, all wins.
NATIONAL POLLS
Cornell moved up in the national polls for the first time this calendar year, creeping up to No. 3 after spending the last two weeks at No. 4. The Big Red jumped over Boston University, while Harvard remains at No. 5. Undefeated, united Minnesota (32-0) remains No. 1, and Boston College is still No. 2. Also in the poll from ECAC Hockey is Clarkson at No. 7.
OUTRANKING THE COMPETITION
In its last 31 games against ranked opponents from the start of the 2009-10 season until now, the Big Red holds a 20-11 record, including a 3-1 win against No. 5 Harvard on Friday. Cornell was a very impressive 9-3 against ranked opponents in 2011-12.
A RARE TIE
Cornell's 0-0 tie against Dartmouth was the team's first draw since Feb. 4, 2011 against Clarkson, a span of more than two calendar years. Cornell went all of the 2011-12 season without a tie.
STREAKS SNAPPED
Entering the weekend, Cornell had a streak of scoring at least one goal in 107 games. Though the team extended that mark to 108 with three goals against Harvard, the Dartmouth game broke that streak after more than three years. Cornell was last shut out on Feb. 5, 2010 in a 0-0 draw against Quinnipiac.
Brianne Jenner was also working on a 13-game point streak, but she failed to tally a goal or assist against Harvard and Dartmouth, breaking the streak. The Harvard contest was the first time all season that Jenner played, failed to record a point and Cornell still won.
HOME-ICE ADVANTAGE
The Big Red, in its 14 home games this season, is averaging approximately three points per game as a team more than it is averaging on the road. Offensive leader
Brianne Jenner is earning 2.67 points per game in Lynah Rink as opposed to 1.61 points per game away from home. The Big Red has scored 170 points in its 12 home contests but just 119 in 13 games away from Lynah. In home games, all players on the roster are at least a +1, and Jenner leads that category with +27. On the road, though, three Big Red players have minus ratings and the team high is
Lauriane Rougeau's +9.
ALL-TIME NUMBERS
Cornell has multiple players moving up the career charts for assists, points and goals. In assists,
Laura Fortino is in fifth place all alone right now with 95. Just behind her is
Brianne Jenner and her 90 assists, tied for seventh all time.
Lauriane Rougeau is also in the picture with 84 assists, good for ninth-most in school history. Jenner has also entered the Cornell top 10 for goals and points. She is seventh in points, now just six points shy of
Catherine White's 167 for sixth. She is also eighth in goals with 71.
DO IT FOR DARON SERIES
Cornell's against Rensselaer and Union on Feb. 1-2 were 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. Close to 2,000 Cornell fans came out to the games, many wearing purple to support the charity.
MARKERS FOR MADISON
Brianne Jenner is participating in a goal drive this year for a young girl with brain cancer, Madison Primeau. For every goal Jenner scores, Jenner's sponsors will donate money to a charity to help pay Madison's medical bills. Jenner, now with 28 goals on the season, has raised more than $1,500 for Primeau plus more than $250 in extra donations. To sponsor Jenner's charity, e-mail her at
bj72@cornell.edu.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Another terrific week for the Cornell Big Red and
Brianne Jenner resulted in the junior receiving the ECAC Hockey Player of the Week Award for the second time this season on Feb. 5. Jenner had another double-digit point week, tallying 10 total points in three games against No. 7 Mercyhurst, Union and Rensselaer. She tied a season and career high with six points against the Dutchwomen, recording four goals and two assists. Jenner previously won Player of the Week on Jan. 21.
Lauren Slebodnick was named Goaltender of the Week on Jan. 21 as well, while
Taylor Woods (Nov. 20) and
Cassandra Poudrier (Nov. 6) have each earned an ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week honor this season.
MONTHLY HONORS
The Big Red women's hockey team went 7-1 in January, and ECAC Hockey has recognized two Cornell players as essential to that terrific month by giving them ECAC Hockey Women's Monthly Awards on Thursday night.
Brianne Jenner, the team's leading scorer, was named the ECAC Hockey Player of the Month, and goalie
Lauren Slebodnick was named the league's Goaltender of the Month. Jenner had a team-high 23 points in the month for Cornell while Slebodnick had seven victories and gave up just three goals in four conference games.
MECO CUP
Seven Big Red players won the Gold with the Canada Under-22 roster for the Meco Cup in January.
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.
NATIONAL NUMBERS
Cornell has multiple players near the top of the country in many categories.
Brianne Jenner has the nation's third-best points per game total with 2.12, while
Jillian Saulnier sits in 13th with her 1.48 points per game. Jenner's 1.12 goals per game put her third in the country in that category. Saulnier is fourth and Jenner is eighth in the nation with 1.15 and 1.00 assists per game, respectively.
Hayleigh Cudmore is 11th in points per game by defenseman (0.78).
Lauren Slebodnick has the country's sixth-best goals against average (1.41), its ninth-highest save percentage (.931) and its fifth-best winning percentage (.771).
As a team, the Big Red's 3.93 goals per game ranks it fourth in the country, and its 1.52 goals allowed per game is also third-best. Cornell has the nation's second-best penalty kill (92.4 percent).
CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
Against Harvard and Dartmouth
Approaching career numbers:
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.
UP NEXT
With the regular season concluded, Cornell now waits to see its opponent for the first round of the ECAC Hockey Tournament Quarterfinals. The Big Red could possibly host any one of eight league teams for a best-of-three series from Friday to Sunday at Lynah Rink.
