Game Notes (PDF)

ITHACA, N.Y. – The No. 3 Cornell women's ice hockey team battled to a pair of wins against Brown and Yale, outscoring the Ivy foes 6-1. The Big Red is looking to snap Mercyhurst's seven game winning streak when they visit the Lakers in Erie, Pa. this weekend, playing at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 10 and at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 11. The Big Red will be looking to continue its strong start in 2014, as they have won six of their last seven games and look to improve their overall record (12-1-2) before heading back into conference play.

Cornell enters the week three points ahead of Princeton and four points ahead of Harvard in the Ancient Eight standings. In ECAC Hockey play, the Big Red sits atop the conference ahead of Harvard by three points and ahead of Quinnipiac by four.

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 158-96-19 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 MERCYHURST
Mercyhurst enters the weekend with a 14-5-2 record and is looking to continue their seven game winning streak. The Lakers last played on Dec. 15, defeating Lindenwood University, 4-1. The Lakers have scored 26 goals in the past four games while only allowing two. Christine Bestland leads the Lakers in scoring with 13 goals and 20 assists for 33 points on the season, while Emily Janinga has 11 goals and 14 assists for 25 points. Junior goalkeeper Amanda Makela has played a majority of the time in goal, posting a 1.74 goals against average and a .933 save percentage while starting 19 of the team's 23 games. Head coach MIcahel Sisti is in his 13th season directing the Lakers' program. Sisti is looking to have another competitive post-season run, having reached the Frozen Four in three of the past five years.

THE SERIES WITH MERCYHURST
Cornell and Mercyhurst have become non-conference rivals of late, with the teams meeting 10 times in the last five years. The series has been even, with both teams winning five games each. Last season, the Lakers ended the post-season run for the Big Red, slipping by with a 4-3 OT win to advance to the Frozen Four semifinals. The teams have met once previously in the NCAA Tournament, when the Big Red stunned the top-ranked Lakers to reach the national championship game in 2010.

LAST TIME OUT
Senior Jessica Campbell netted one goal and had an assist while teammate Jillian Saulnier had two assists, as the No. 3 Big Red women's hockey team handed the Yale Bulldogs their ninth loss of the season. Voorheis made her second collegiate start against the Bulldogs, and earned her second career victory, as she is now 2-1-0 in four career appearances.

BIG RED SPECIAL TEAMS
The Big Red sits atop the national leaderboard at 28.2 percent with the man-advantage. The combined special teams' average of 59.2 percent is good for second in the country, behind ECAC Hockey and Ivy League rival, Harvard.

NATIONAL NUMBERS
* Emily Fulton (1.73) leads the nation in points per game and is second in assists per game (1.13).
* Jillian Saulnier is first in goals per game (0.87) and fifth in points per game (1.60).
* Cassandra Poudrier is ranked first in power play goals with five.
*Jessica Campbell rests at sixth in assists per game (0.93) behind her teammate Fulton, and is ninth in points per game (1.47).
*Lauren Slebodnick is ranked fourth for winning percentage with .917 and a record of 10-0-2.
* As a team, Cornell has the number two scoring offense averaging 3.93 goals per game and is fourth in scoring margin with 2.07.

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 with the Lakers, Slebodnick has a career record of 61-8-4.

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 (44-71--119).

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 (61).

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.

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 returns to conference play next weekend at home, starting with Dartmouth on Friday, Jan. 17 at 7 p.m. followed by a matchup with Harvard on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 4 p.m.