Live Stats (Friday) | Video (Friday)
Live Stats (Saturday) | Video (Saturday) | Games Notes
ITHACA, N.Y.—The No. 5/6 Cornell women's ice hockey team will split the action between home and the road with Colgate this weekend, first traveling for a 7 p.m. contest on Friday at Starr Rink in Hamilton, and then bringing the action back for a 4 p.m. faceoff on Saturday at Lynah Rink. Seven different Big Red players scored last weekend, including three players with two goals (Alyssa Gagliardi, Emily Fulton, Kaitlin Doering). Senior goaltender Lauren Slebodnick and the Big Red came back from a 3-3 tie going into the second period to hand Yale a 6-3 loss, on Jan. 31. Slebodnick then picked up her 64th career win, a 4-0 decision over Brown, the following day. Freshman Doering scored the winning goal against Yale on assists from Kelly Murray and Anna Zorn, and Jillian Saulnier and Gagliardi opened up scoring for the Big Red when they both scored 23 seconds apart to help lead Cornell over Brown. The two-win weekend lifted Cornell to No. 5 in the USCHO.com poll.
ABOUT THE NO. 5/6 BIG RED
Cornell came back from a tough weekend in the North Country to handily defeat both Ivy League foes Yale and Brown. The Big Red's offense broke wide open, scoring 10 goals by seven different players in a two-game span. Six different players scored in a game for the first time since November 2012, when the Big Red defeated Colgate 9-1. Gagliardi led the Big Red offense this past weekend with two goals and two assists, followed by Emily Fulton and Kaitlin Doering with two goals each. Jillian Saulnier chipped in with one goal and three assists while Anna Zorn, Hayleigh Cudmore, and Hanna Bunton were the other players to net a goal. Lauren Slebodnick picked up her 63rd and 64th victories, widening the margin as winningest goaltender in Cornell women's hockey history to 10 games between her and former teammate Amanda Mozzotta (53).
Cornell is currently in third place in the ECAC Hockey standings, three points behind Ivy League rival Harvard with 25 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 COLGATE
The Raiders (7-19-2) are currently riding a two-game winning streak, winning a 3-2 overtime contest against Brown on Jan. 31 and beating Yale 2-1 the following day. Colgate was on a six-game losing streak prior to last weekend's victories. The Raiders are scoring 1.68 goals per game and have struggled on power-play offense, converting on 16 of 140 opportunities for 11.4 percent. On offense, Colgate is led by junior Miriam Drubel, whose 17 points come on seven goals and 10 assists. Also with 15 points is senior Taylor Vorpe (nine goals, six assists). Time between the pipes has been split between junior Brittney Brooks (2.59 GAA, .907 save percentage) and sophomore Ashlynne Rando (3.12 GAA, .890 save percentage).
The Raiders are led by second-year head coach Greg Fargo.
THE SERIES WITH COLGATE
Cornell and Colgate, long-standing rivals who have played dating back to the 1973-74 season, have been a one-sided rivalry in recent years. The Big Red has now claimed 11 straight contests against the Raiders, including victories of 5-4 in overtime and 4-3 during last year's ECAC Hockey tournament quarterfinals. In those games, Lauren Slebodnick tallied 37 saves and one assist while teammate Taylor Woods notched one goal and one assist. Colgate last beat the Big Red on Jan. 11, 2009.
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 497th program win Feb. 1 against Brown and will look to hit the 500-win milestone in one of the eight remaining regular-season games.
NATIONAL POLLS
Cornell regained their footing in the national polls, moving up to No. 5 after handing Yale and Brown losses on the weekend. The Big Red is currently tied with Ivy foe Harvard at the No. 5 spot while Minnesota sits at the top, followed by Wisconsin, Clarkson, and North Dakota.
LAST TIME OUT
The Big Red scored 10 goals on the weekend, and seven different players scored as Cornell beat Yale 6-3 on Jan. 31 and shut out Brown 4-0 on Feb. 1. Alyssa Gagliardi led Cornell, scoring two goals and two assists. Two other Big Red players scored two goals on the weekend, including Emily Fulton and freshman Kaitlin Doering. Jilian Saulnier also had one goal and three assists.
BIG RED SPECIAL TEAMS
The Big Red sits behind No. 1 Minnesota and No. 2 Wisconsin on the national leaderboard at 26.1 percent with the man-advantage. The combined special teams' average of 58.4 percent is good for second in the country, behind ECAC Hockey and Ivy League rival, Harvard.
NUMBERS TO WATCH
NATIONAL NUMBERS
*Jillian Saulnier is fourth in the nation for points per game (1.48) and sixth for goals per game (0.70).
*Emily Fulton is eighth in goals per game (0.61) and ninth in the nation for points per game (1.35).
*Cassandra Poudrier is tied for seventh in power play goals with five.
*Lauren Slebodnick is ranked fourth for winning percentage with .853 and a record of 13-1-3.
*As a team, Cornell has the number three scoring offense averaging 3.70 goals per game.
CAREER NUMBERS
*Saunier is four goals away from 20 and 1 point shy of 35.
*Fulton needs one more goal to get to 15.
*Jessica Campbell is one point away from 25.
*Slebodnick is one win away from 65.
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 64-9-5.
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 (48-81--129).
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, senior goaltender Lauren Slebodnick received Goaltender of the Week (Feb.3), having also won the award on Oct. 22. 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), and freshman goaltender Paula Voorheis as Rookie of the Week (Jan. 7).
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 (64).
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. 13 at Union, followed by a matchup with Rensselaer at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 15 at Houston Field House.
