Game Notes (PDF)

ITHACA, N.Y.—The No. 4 Cornell women's ice hockey team brings the action back to Lynah Rink this weekend as it hosts Yale for a 7 p.m. matchup on Friday, Jan. 31 and Brown at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 1. Freshman goaltender Paula Voorheis and the Big Red came back to tie St. Lawrence, 1-1, on Jan. 24 and dropped a hard-fought match against No. 6 Clarkson, 3-1, the following day. Freshman Hanna Bunton scored the tying goal against St. Lawrence, unassisted, and junior Emily Fulton netted the Big Red's lone goal against Clarkson, with help from Jillian Saulnier and Alyssa Gagliardi. The loss dropped Cornell to No. 6 in the USCHO.com poll.



ABOUT THE NO. 6 BIG RED
Cornell struggled on the road this past weekend, tying St. Lawrence 1-1 in overtime on Jan. 24 and losing 3-1 to No. 6 Clarkson on Jan. 25. The Big Red was held to just two goals in a two-game series for the first time since October 2009, when it was defeated by Mercyhurst 4-1 on Oct. 23 and 4-1 on Oct. 24. Freshman forward Hanna Bunton scored the game-tying goal against St. Lawrence, unassisted, with less than six minutes left to play in regulation to send the game into overtime.  Junior forward Emily Fulton had Cornell's lone goal at Clarkson when she capitalized on a power-play opportunity in the second period off assists from Jillian Saulnier and Alyssa Gagliardi. Freshman goaltender Paula Voorheis had a combined 48 saves on 52 shots.

Cornell is currently in third place in the ECAC Hockey standings and four points behind Ivy League rival Harvard with 21 points and just one behind second place Clarkson.

HEAD COACH DOUG DERRAUGH '91
Derraugh returned to his alma mater before the 2005-06 campaign to coach a team that the season before had tallied only four victories. Now in his ninth season, Derraugh has transformed the women's hockey program at Cornell into one that continues to be ranked among the nation's elite year after year. Derraugh's record at the helm of the program is an impressive 160-97-20 record; every ECAC championship and NCAA tournament appearance Big Red women's hockey has to its credit has come during his tenure. He earned his second ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year honor after leading the team to both a regular season and tournament championship in 2012-13. Returning as his assistants this season are Danielle Bilodeau '01 (eighth season) and Edith Racine (fifth season).

ABOUT YALE
The Bulldogs, 7-10-1 on the season and 5-5-4 in ECAC Hockey play, will be back on the ice after a two-game series with Brown, where they tied the Bears, 1-1, at Yale on Jan. 24 and handed them a 3-1 loss the following day on the road. The Bulldogs are averaging 2.4 goals per game on the season and have converted on 9.2 percent of its power-play attempts while killing off 80 percent of opponents' chances. Freshman Phoebe Staenz leads the team in scoring with nine goals, 14 assists and 23 points in her 17 games, while sophomore Janelle Ferrara has four goals and 12 assists to also hit double figures in the scoring column. In goal, junior Jaimie Leonoff has a 7-10-4 record with a 2.74 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage. Head coach Joakim Flygh is in his fourth year directing the Bulldog program.

THE SERIES WITH THE BULLDOGS
Cornell has a large lead in the lifetime series against Yale, holding a 51-13-1 record against the Bulldogs. The Big Red has not lost to Yale since Jan. 23, 2009, and its last six games against Yale have been by a combined 38-4.

ABOUT BROWN
Brown enters the weekend with a 2-14-5 record and is looking for its second ECAC Hockey win (1-10-3). The Bears last played on Jan. 25, losing 3-1 at home to Yale. The Bears have scored an average of just 1.38 goals in their 13 conference contests and are scoring on seven percent of their power-play attempts overall. Junior Sarah Robson leads the Bears in scoring with four goals and eight assists for 12 points, while freshman Erin Conway has three goals and eight assists. Senior goalkeeper Aubree Moore has played a majority of the time in goal, posting a 2.70 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage while starting 20 of the team's 21 games. Head coach Amy Bourbeau is in her third season directing the Bears' program. She is just the third head coach in Brown's 47-year history.

THE SERIES WITH THE BEARS
Cornell extended its lead in the lifetime series against Brown to 43-34-8 and has won 14 in a row dating back to the 2005-06 season when the Bears earned a 3-2 win at Lynah Rink. The Big Red handed the Bears a 3-1 loss when they played earlier this year, after being tied up 1-1 going into the third period.
DO IT FOR DARON AND CORNELL ATHLETE ALLY
The Big Red women's hockey team will be teaming up with the Do It For Daron organization to help support mental health awareness. Fans are asked to wear purple to show their support at 7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 31 at Lynah Rink during the game against Yale and their brightest colors at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 1 to help the team in supporting LGBT inclusion with the You Can Play Project and Cornell Athlete Ally.

2014 HOCKEY HUMANITARIAN AWARD
Senior defenseman Alyssa Gagliardi has been nominated as one of 18 hockey players, both male and female, for the Hockey Humanitarian Award. The award recognizes hockey's finest citizen and includes players from Division I, II, and III. Finalists will be announced in February and the winner will be named at the Frozen Four in Philadelphia on Friday, April 11. On the men's side, Andy Iles was also nominated. Union College was the only other school to have both a male and female nominee.

THE HUNT FOR 500
Cornell picked up its 495th program win Jan. 17 against Dartmouth and will look to hit the 500-win milestone in one of the eight remaining regular-season games.

NATIONAL POLLS
Cornell dropped in the national polls for the second straight week, moving down to No. 6 after losing to then-No. 6 Clarkson. Clarkson shot up to the No. 4 spot while Harvard stayed at No. 5. Minnesota remains the country's top team with a record of 24-1-1.

LAST TIME OUT
Freshman forward Hanna Bunton scored her fourth goal of the season, unassisted, against St. Lawrence on Jan. 24 and junior forward Emily Fulton scored her 14th of the season in the Big Red's 3-1 loss to No. 6 Clarkson on Jan. 25. Sophomore defender Cassandra Poudrier and senior defender Alyssa Gagliardi had one assist each on the weekend as the Big Red women's hockey team split a pair of hard-fought games against ECAC Hockey opponents.

BIG RED SPECIAL TEAMS
The Big Red sits behind No. 1 Minnesota and No. 2 Wisconsin on the national leaderboard at 26.0 percent with the man-advantage. The combined special teams' average of 58.3 percent is good for second in the country, behind ECAC Hockey and Ivy League rival, Harvard.

NATIONAL NUMBERS
*Jillian Saulnier is fouth in the nation for  goals per game (0.71) and sixth for points per game (1.43).
*Emily Fulton is ninth in the nation for assists per game (0.81) and in points per game (1.38).
* Cassandra Poudrier is ranked third in power play goals with five.
*Lauren Slebodnick is ranked fourth for winning percentage with .833 and a record of 11-1-3.
*As a team, Cornell has the number three scoring offense averaging 3.57 goals per game.

60 & COUNTING...
After earning two wins in Cornell's ECAC Hockey opening weekend, senior Lauren Slebodnick is now the winningest goaltender in Cornell history. She passed former teammate Amanda Mazzotta's previous record of 53 wins with a 6-3 victory over No. 5 Clarkson. The win against St. Lawrence the following afternoon was number 55. Heading into this weekend's series, Slebodnick has a career record of 62-9-5.

100-POINT CLUB
Junior forward Jillian Saulnier reached the 100-point mark with two goals and one assist against Clarkson on Oct. 25. She is the only player on the Big Red roster this season with more than 100 points (47-78--125).

PRESEASON HONORS
Junior forward Jillian Saulnier was the lone Big Red player named to ECAC Hockey's preseason All-League team. In addition to her ECAC Hockey Second Team honors last season, the Halifax, Nova Scotia native dished out a career-high 33 assists. Four of her 10 goals were game-winners, and she finished the season 14th in the country in points per game (1.43) and fifth in the nation in assists per game (1.10). She was also a Patty Kazmaier Award nominee last season.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Throughout this season, several Cornell players have earned the ECAC Hockey Player of the Week, Rookie of the Week, and Goaltender of the Week honors.  Most recently, freshman goaltender Paula Voorheis received Rookie of the Week (Jan. 7).  Others include senior goaltender Lauren Slebodnick as Goaltender of the Week (Oct. 22), junior forward Emily Fulton as both Player of the Week (Oct. 29) and the October Player of the Month, and freshman forward Hanna Bunton as Rookie of the Week (Nov. 19).

ALL-LEAGUE RETURNERS
In addition to her ECAC Hockey Second Team honors, Jillian Saulnier was also named to the All-Ivy League First Team following last season. She is joined by goaltender Lauren Slebodnick (ECAC Third Team) and defenseman Cassandra Poudrier (ECAC All-Rookie Team) as Cornell's all-league returning cast for 2013-2014.

SHARING RESPONSIBILITIES
Seniors Jessica Campbell and Alyssa Gagliardi – who was an alternate captain for Cornell in 2012-13 – will serve as co-captains for the Big Red this season. Cornell's captain last season was senior Lauriane Rougeau, while her classmate Laura Fortino joined Gagliardi as an alternate. The last time the Big Red had co-captains without alternates was in the 2009-10 season with Liz Zorn and Kelly McGinty both wearing the C. Liz Zorn is the older sister of current Big Red sophomore Anna Zorn.

BETWEEN THE PIPES
After serving as a primary backup to former netminder Amanda Mazzotta, senior Lauren Slebodnick found a home in the paint for the Big Red last season. She started 31 games for Cornell, posting a 24-6-1 record with 1.55 goals-against average and .927 save percentage. She entered her senior campaign as Cornell's program leader in both categories and is currently the program leader in wins (62).

CORNELL IN THE OLYMPICS
The last time the Winter Olympics were held in 2010 in Vancouver, one member of the Cornell women's hockey team won a gold medal with Team Canada. But in 2014 in Russia, there could be as many as four members of the Big Red with Olympic medals around their necks. Hockey Canada announced on Dec. 23 its final roster for its women's hockey team to take the ice in February -- including Rebecca Johnston '12, Laura Fortino '13, Lauriane Rougeau '13 and senior Brianne Jenner. All four were on Canada's centralization roster, which was trimmed from 27 to the final 21 who will be making the trip to Sochi, Russia. Olympic play begins Feb. 8 with a matchup against Switzerland, followed by a Feb. 10 meeting with Finland. Team Canada finishes up group play with an always-anticipated game against Team USA on Feb. 12.

THE NEWCOMERS
The class of 2017 is forward heavy, as four of the six will be expected to make immediate contributions on offense for the Big Red. The remaining two, defender Sydney Smith and goaltender Paula Voorheis, will be guided by the standout seniors in their respective positions so that they can play important roles for the Big Red in the years to come. Voorheis and classmates Caroline DeBruin and Brianna Veerman all come to East Hill from the Aurora Junior Panthers.

THE BREAKDOWN
The Big Red roster is made up of four seniors, three juniors, eight sophomores and six freshmen. Seventeen of the 21 active players are Canadian and represent six provinces: Alberta, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan. The four remaining players are Americans, hailing from North Carolina, New Hampshire, New York and Ohio.

UP NEXT
The Big Red hits the road as it continues conference play next weekend at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 8 at Colgate, followed by a home matchup with the Raiders at at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 9 at Lynah Rink.