ITHACA, N.Y. – The Big Red women's hockey team, fresh off claiming its third ECAC Hockey Tournament title in the last four seasons, once again advances to the NCAA Tournament. This year, second-seeded Cornell will take on Mercyhurst with a trip to the Frozen Four on the line. The Lakers and Big Red drop the puck at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Lynah Rink.

GAME INFORMATION
NCAA QUARTERFINALS: No. 2 Cornell vs. No. 8 Mercyhurst
GAME TIME: Saturday, March 16, 1 p.m.
GAME SITE: Lynah Rink (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Mercyhurst leads 13-5-1
LAST MEETING: Cornell won 4-0 on Jan. 29, 2013
2012-13 RECORDS: Cornell (27-5-1); Mercyhurst (28-6-1)
LIVE STATS: Cornell Live Stats
LIVE VIDEO: Cornell Video (free)

ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell had two more nail-biting victories over the weekend, knocking off St. Lawrence 4-2 and Harvard 2-1 in the ECAC Hockey Tournament Semifinal and Final, respectively. In the first game of the weekend, the Big Red and Saints entered the third period tied at 2-2 before freshman Taylor Woods recorded a hat trick goal with 1:38 left in the game. Brianne Jenner added an empty-net goal (assisted by Woods), advancing Cornell to the championship game for the fourth consecutive year. Once there, the Big Red and the No. 7 Crimson exchanged first-period goals and entered the third period knotted at 1-1. Jessica Campbell was the hero this time, scoring on the power play off a rebound of an Emily Fulton shot with 1:40 left. Cornell won its third ECAC Hockey Tournament championship and claimed the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Cornell earned the two seed for the tournament, equaling its highest seed ever (2011).

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 at the end of January, breaking the previous school record for victories as a women's hockey coach (Bill Duthie, 135).

ABOUT MERCYHURST
The Lakers, based in Erie, Pa., are a consistent national power that once again claimed the College Hockey America tournament and regular-season championship this season. Mercyhurst finished the year with a 28-6-1 mark record and has won its last seven games – the nation's fourth-longest unbeaten streak. Mercyhurst has the country's third-best offense (4.23 goals per game), its sixth-best defense (1.66 goals allowed per game), and its sixth-best penalty kill (87.1 percent). Leading the offense for the Lakers is junior Christine Bestland, who has 28 goals and 41 assists for 69 points. Freshman Jenna Dingledein is scoring at a high rate in her first season, adding 41 points on 14 goals and 27 assists. In net, Stephanie Ciampa has a 1.37 goals against average and a .937 save percentage.

THE SERIES WITH MERCYHURST
Cornell and Mercyhurst have become non-conference rivals of late, with the teams meeting nine times in the last three years. The series has been nearly even, with Cornell winning five and Mercyhurst taking four. Cornell claimed the only regular-season meeting this year by a 4-0 margin, shutting out the Lakers at Lynah Rink in January. In that game, Brianne Jenner scored twice in the first period and Hayleigh Cudmore opened the scoring just 2:27 in. Jessica Campbell added a third-period goal as Lauren Slebodnick earned the shutout. The teams have met once previously in the NCAA Tournament. In that March 2010 Frozen Four game, the Big Red stunned the top-ranked Lakers to reach the national championship game. 
 
A WIN AGAINST MERCYHURST WOULD…
…advance Cornell to the NCAA Frozen Four for the fourth consecutive season…improve Cornell to 5-3 in the NCAA Tournament……give the Big Red a 2-0 season sweep of the Lakers…improve the team to 18-0-1 at Lynah Rink this year…be Cornell's third consecutive win against Mercyhurst.
 
CORNELL IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
This is the fourth consecutive season the Big Red has made the NCAA Tournament. The Big Red holds a 4-3 record in the tournament overall. Cornell has never lost in a first-round game, defeating Harvard 6-2 in 2010, knocking off Dartmouth 7-1 in 2011 and defeating Boston University 8-7 in triple overtime last season thanks to a Lauriane Rougeau goal with 10 seconds left in the third extra period.

CORNELL VS. CHA
Since the start of the 2009-2010 season, the Big Red has faced opponents in College Hockey America 20 times. Cornell holds a 14-6 record in those games including a 5-4 record against Mercyhurst. The Big Red is also 4-1 against Syracuse in that time frame, 2-0 against Robert Morris and 3-1 against the now-defunct Niagara women's hockey team.

CORNELL IN THE ECAC HOCKEY TOURNAMENT
With its win against Harvard on Sunday, the Big Red improved to 14-1 in the ECAC Hockey Tournament over the last four seasons. Cornell began its postseason history losing its first 14 consecutive ECAC Hockey Tournament games, but the team has excelled in the postseason lately. Cornell's 14 wins in the ECAC Hockey playoffs have all come at Lynah Rink with Cornell as the top seed.

OUT OF THE WOODS
The Big Red got a humungous performance from a freshman in the ECAC Hoceky Tournament Semifinal against St. Lawrence on Saturday as freshman Taylor Woods scored the first three goals for Cornell. Her hat trick finisher was the game-winning goal and saw multiple fans' hats fall onto the ice in celebration. Woods had a career-best four points in that game, also assisting on Brianne Jenner's empty netter as the game wound down.

CRIMSON KILLER
Junior forward Jessica Campbell is Cornell's second-leading goal scorer with 16, and three of those goals have come in games against Harvard. Her championship-winning goal against Harvard on Sunday was her third goal against the Crimson as she also tallied two against Harvard on Feb. 15 including the game-winner.

ECAC HOCKEY YEAR-END AWARDS
Cornell earned multiple honors at the ECAC Hockey banquet on March 8. Brianne Jenner was named the league's Player of the Year while Lauriane Rougeau earned her second consecutive Best Defensive Defenseman honor. Doug Derraugh earned the ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year Award. Jenner and Rougeau were named to the league's First Team, Jillian Saulnier made the Second Team, Laura Fortino and Lauren Slebodnick made the Third Team and Cassandra Poudrier was on the All-Rookie Team.

IVY LEAGUE AWARDS
The Big Red also had multiple players earn special honors from the Ivy League at the conclusion of the season. Brianne Jenner was named the Player of the Year while also earning First-Team All-Ivy honors with Jillian Saulnier and Lauriane Rougeau. Jessica Campbell, Laura Fortino and Lauren Slebodnick were named to the second team, while Erin Barley-Maloney and Alyssa Gagliardi were on the Honorable Mention All-Ivy team.

PATTY KAZMAIER TOP-10 FINALIST
Brianne Jenner's amazing season has resulted in her being named a Patty Kazmaier top-10 Finalist. Cornell has had at least one player reach the final 10 of the Patty Kazmaier nominations four of the last five years: Rebecca Johnston (2009, 2011, 2012), Laura Fortino (2011, 2012) and Jenner (2013).

JENNER GAME WINNERS
Brianne Jenner's two game winners in the ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals give her a combined seven on the season. That total, the highest on the Cornell roster, is good for a tie for fourth in the nation. Jenner is only behind Clarkson's Jamie Lee Rattray (nine), North Dakota's Jocelyne Lamoreux (nine), and Minnesota's Amanda Kessel (eight).

MAKING A POINT
Brianne Jenner didn't just score both game-winning goals in Cornell's series win against Colgate on March 1-2. She also assisted on or scored every other tally for the Big Red. With eight points over the weekend, Jenner took over the offense for the Big Red. She leads the country with 3.00 points per game and 12 points overall in the postseason. Jenner's 67 points this season now surpasses Rebecca Johnston's team-leading 61 from 2011-12 and is Cornell's best offensive season by any player in the modern era. The last Cornell player to tally 67 points in a year was Cheryl Hines in 1978.

WINNING WAYS
Lauren Slebodnick now has 51 wins in her Cornell career, and she sits all alone in second in team history. She passed Sarah Mott with the March 1 win against Colgate and is now just two wins behind the school record of 53 set by Amanda Mazzotta '12 last year.

EVENLY SPREAD
Cornell has scored 126 goals during regulation this year, and the team has spread them out almost perfectly evenly through the game's three periods. The Big Red has struck 41 times in the first period, 44 times in the second period and 41 times in the final period. Last season, Cornell was much less even, as it scored 13 more goals in the second period than in any other.

HELPING HAND
Lauren Slebodnick had no assists entering her junior season, but the goaltender now has three alone this year. Slebodnick got her third helper of the year on March 1 against Colgate, assisting on Brianne Jenner's power play goal in the third period. In the last 14 seasons, Cornell goalies have only tallied four total assists, and Slebodnick has three of them this year.

FOUR IN A ROW
When the final buzzer sounded at Union on Feb. 23, Cornell still had to wait five minutes before the good news was confirmed. When Clarkson's 3-1 victory at Harvard was completed, the Big Red claimed the ECAC Hockey regular season trophy for the fourth consecutive season. This is first time in league history that a team has ever won four straight regular season crowns.

MOVING ON UP
After scoring four more points over the weekend, Brianne Jenner continued her slide up the Big Red's career lists. She is now the seventh-leading goal scorer in program history with 77, and she is now just 13 points behind Rebecca Johnston '12 for the most points in the NCAA era.

IVY LEAGUE CO-CHAMPIONS
By earning three points in its games against Harvard and Dartmouth in mid-February, the Big Red claimed 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.

U.S. TRAINING CAMP
Cornell junior defenseman Alyssa Gagliardi was named to the roster of the U.S. Women's National Team training camp in late February. Gagliardi is one of 28 players invited for the camp, which will take place in Lake Placid from March 25-31. From there, USA Hockey will cut the group down to 23 players who will compete with the U.S. Women's National Team at the Women's World Championship in April in Ottawa, Ontario. Gagliardi also attended the Women's National Team Winter Camp in Minnesota over winter break.

NATIONAL POLLS
After dropping one spot last week, the Big Red is back up to No. 2 in the country in the USCHO.com national poll, coinciding with Cornell receiving the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. In the USA Today poll, Cornell is also at the No. 2 spot. Undefeated Minnesota (38-0) remains No. 1 in both polls while Harvard and Clarkson are in the picture at No. 5 and No. 6 in the USCHO.com poll, respectively.

HOME-ICE ADVANTAGE
Based on Cornell's regular-season performance, having home ice for the conference tournament would appear to be a significant advantage. In its 18 home games this season, Cornell is averaging 2.3 points per game as a team more than it is averaging on the road. Offensive leader Brianne Jenner is earning 2.75 points per game in Lynah Rink as opposed to 1.53 points per game away from home. The Big Red has scored 207 points in its 18 home contests but just 138 in 15 games away from Lynah. In home games, all players on the roster are at least +1 in the plus/minus, and Jenner leads that category with +33. On the road, though, two Big Red players have minus ratings and the team high is Lauriane Rougeau's +12. Cornell's win-loss record is also much better at home. Cornell is 17-0-1 at Lynah Rink but 10-5-0 on the road.

OUTRANKING THE COMPETITION
In its last 32 games against ranked opponents from the start of the 2009-10 season until now, the Big Red holds a 21-11 record, including a 2-1 win against No. 7 Harvard in the ECAC Hockey Tournament Championship. Cornell was a very impressive 9-3 against ranked opponents in 2011-12 and is 6-4 this season.

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 34 goals on the season, has raised nearly $3,000 for Primeau. To sponsor Jenner's charity, e-mail her at bj72@cornell.edu.

NATIONAL NUMBERS
Cornell has multiple players near the top of the country in many categories. Brianne Jenner has the nation's second-best points per game total with 2.16, while Jillian Saulnier sits in 14th with her 1.45 points per game. Jenner's 1.10 goals per game put her second in the country in that category. Saulnier is fifth and Jenner is sixth in the nation with 1.14 and 1.06 assists per game, respectively. Lauriane Rougeau is eighth in points per game by defenseman (0.79). Lauren Slebodnick has the country's fifth-best goals against average (1.47) its ninth-highest save percentage (.930) and its fifth-best winning percentage (.827). Jessica Campbell is tied for third with three short-handed goals.

As a team, the Big Red's 3.88 goals per game ranks it fourth in the country, and its 1.55 goals allowed per game is also fourth-best. Cornell has the nation's third-best penalty kill (90.4 percent).

CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
Against St. Lawrence and Harvard
• Lauren Slebodnick earned her 50th career win.
• Emily Fulton notched her 40th career point.
• Hayleigh Cudmore saw game action for the 100th time.
• Brianne Jenner scored her 175th point.
Approaching career numbers:
• Laura Fortino is three assists away from 100 and Brianne Jenner is two shy of that number.
• Lauren Slebodnick will tie Amanda Mazzotta '12 atop the Cornell wins list with two more victories (53).
• Alyssa Gagliardi is two points shy of 60 and three assists away from 50.

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.

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
If the Big Red defeats Mercyhurst, it will advance to the Frozen Four in Minneapolis next weekend against either No. 3 Boston University or No. 6 Clarkson in the national semifinals.