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ITHACA, N.Y.—The No. 6 Cornell women's ice hockey team will open the postseason at home this weekend when it plays host to Princeton for the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals in a best-of-three series, beginning at 3:30 p.m. Friday. The second game will be played at 2 p.m. Saturday, and a third at 2 p.m. on Sunday, if necessary. The Big Red dropped both contests last weekend, falling to then-No. 9 Quinnipiac, 2-1, and Princeton, 4-3. Junior Jillian Saulnier had a hand in all four of the Big Red's goals, scoring two and assisting on the others, while senior Jess Campbell had one goal and two assists.


ABOUT THE NO. 6 BIG RED
Last weekend saw the Big Red drop two straight games, the first time since November 2012 when it lost to #7 Harvard and #2 Clarkson, both on the road. During last Friday's game against then-No. 9 Quinnipiac, it was senior Jess Campbell who opened up scoring for the Big Red at 10:46 in the first period. Cornell couldn't hold on, however, and allowed two third-period goals by the Bobcats. Saturday's game against Princeton was similar, with the Big Red getting on the board first, but allowing Princeton to score two power-play goals and go on a three-goal run before adding a tally to reduce the deficit to one. The Tigers' scored again and, two minutes later with 57 seconds left in the game, Emily Fulton scored.

Cornell is finished second in the Ivy League standings, one point behind rival Harvard, and third place in the ECAC Hockey standings, three points behind Clarkson and two behind Harvard with 33.

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 164-98-21 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 PRINCETON
Princeton split last weekend's road series against Colgate and Cornell, falling 1-0 to the Raiders Friday at Starr Rink and defeating the Big Red, 4-3 Saturday at Lynah Rink. Junior forward Brianna Leahy had a hand on all four of the Tigers' goals against Cornell and is currently second in points for Princeton with 20. Leahy is this week's ECAC Hockey Player of the Week. Senior Denna Laing is the Tigers' leading scorer with 12 goals and 13 assists. In net for Princeton is Kimberly Newell, a sophomore with a .908 save percentage and a 2.64 goals-against average. She currently is posting a 12-11-4 record.

THE SERIES WITH THE TIGERS
Princeton holds a 41-36-4 advantage in the all-time series against Cornell since the teams first met in the 1974-75 campaign. Princeton won every meeting from January 2001 to February 2007, a 14-game winning-streak. Last weekend, the Tigers handed the Big Red a heartbreaking 4-3 loss, the first in the series since November 2008.

PARKING
Because Friday's game is being held during during business hours, fans will need to purchase $5 parking permits, located in the metered lot outside of Bartels Hall and in the parking garage next to Schoellkopf Field.

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.

500
Cornell picked up its 500th program win Feb. 21 at Union after a 2-0 shutout victory. The Big Red is now 501-463-55 in program history.

NATIONAL POLLS
Cornell slipped three spots to No. 6 in both the USCHO.com poll and the USA Today poll. Clarkson slid up one spot from No. 4 to No. 3 and Harvard sits at No. 5.

LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend, the Big Red dropped two games by as many goals to then-No. 9 Quinnipiac and Princeton. Last Friday, it was Cornell that opened up scoring with an Emily Fulton goal in the first period. The Bobcats then scored twice in the third to take a 2-1 victory. The Big Red was the first to score again on Saturday, but Princeton had goals in all three periods and at one point was up 3-1. Cornell finished hard but ran out of time and dropped a 3-2 hard-fought contest.

BIG RED SPECIAL TEAMS
The Big Red sits behind No. 1 Minnesota, No. 2 Wisconsin, and Holy Cross on the national leaderboard at 23.3 percent conversion rate on the power play. The combined special teams' average of 57.5 percent is good for third in the country, behind ECAC Hockey and Ivy League rival Harvard, Holy Cross, and No. 1 Minnesota.

NUMBERS TO WATCH
NATIONAL NUMBERS
*Jillian Saulnier is tied for second in the nation for goals per game (0.79), third for points per game (1.59), and 10th for assists per game (0.79).
*Emily Fulton is ninth in the nation for points per game (1.34).
*Paula Voorheis is eighth in the nation for save percentage (.936).
*Lauren Slebodnick is ranked third for winning percentage with .868 and a record of 15-1-3.
*As a team, Cornell has the number three scoring offense averaging 3.59 goals per game.
*The Big Red is sixth in the country for team winning percentage with .759.
CAREER NUMBERS
*Saulnier has 55 goals, is tenth on the all-time career record list for assists (86) and currently No. 10 on the all-time list for points (141).
*Fulton has 79 points, is one game short of 90, and is one point short of 80.
*Jessica Campbell has 95 points, 52 assists, has played in 126 games, and is No. 8 on the all-time list for plus/minus (+74).
*Alyssa Gagliardi has 82 points, is fifth on the all-time list for plus/minus (+86) and has played in 133 games.
*Hayleigh Cudmore has 71 points and has played in 131 games, good for fifth on the all-time list.
*Slebodnick is the winningest goaltender in Cornell women's hockey history with 66 total wins and is No. 4 on the Big Red all-time list for save percentage with .924.
*The Big Red has 501 program wins.

65 & 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 66-10-5.

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 (55-86--141). Saulnier is currently No. 10 on the Big Red's all-time list for most career points.

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, junior forward Jillian Saulnier received Player of the Week (Feb. 10). Others include junior forward Emily Fulton as both Player of the Week (Oct. 29) and the October Player of the Month, freshman forward Hanna Bunton as Rookie of the Week (Nov. 19), freshman goaltender Paula Voorheis as Rookie of the Week (Jan. 7), and senior goaltender Lauren Slebodnick received Goaltender of the Week (Feb.3).

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 (66).

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 Sochi, there were four members of the Big Red with Olympic medals around their necks, Rebecca Johnston '12, Laura Fortino '13, Lauriane Rougeau '13 and senior Brianne Jenner. Johnston scored two goals for the team, once against Switzerland and once against Finland. Jenner scored the first goal for Canada in its 3-2 overtime win against the US to take home the gold medal.

THE NEWCOMERS
The class of 2017 is forward heavy, as four of the six have made 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 ECAC Hockey Championship weekend will be staged March 8-9 at the site of the highest seed remaining after this weekend's quarterfinals. The semifinals will be played Saturday, March 8, followed by the finals on Sunday, March 9.