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ITHACA, N.Y.—The No. 2 Cornell women's ice hockey team will continue the postseason this weekend when it plays host to No. 8 Mercyhurst in the NCAA quarterfinals at 3 p.m. Saturday at Lynah Rink. This will be the third meeting between the Big Red (24-5-4) and the Lakers (23-8-4) this season.

ABOUT THE NO. 2 BIG RED
Cornell won its second straight ECAC Hockey Tournament Championship and its fourth in five years when it earned a 6-4 victory over Harvard in the semifinals and defeated host Clarkson 1-0 in the championship game. Five different Big Red players combined for seven goals on the weekend. Senior goaltender Lauren Slebodnick picked up both wins and extended her total for most wins in Cornell women's hockey history to 68.

Cornell 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 the Crimson, 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 168-98-21 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 NO. 8 MERCYHURST
The Lakers (23-8-4) had their ten-game unbeaten streak snapped by Rochester Institute of Technology, 2-1, in the College Hockey America Championship last Saturday. Christine Bestland leads the Lakers on offense with 20 goals and 31 assists for 51 points on the season, while Emily Janinga has 15 goals and 25 assists for 40 points. Junior goalkeeper Amanda Makela has played a majority of the time in goal, posting a 1.57 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage while starting 32 of the team's 35 games.

Head coach Michael 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 12 times in the last five years, with Cornell leading, 6-5-1. 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.

2014 HOCKEY HUMANITARIAN AWARD
Senior defenseman Alyssa Gagliardi has been named as one of five finalists, 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. 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 505-463-55 in program history.

NATIONAL POLLS
Cornell enters the NCAA tournament with the No. 2 seed after earning victories against Harvard and Clarkson this past weekend to come away with the ECAC Hockey Tournament Championship. The Big Red is behind No. 1 Minnesota.

LAST TIME OUT
Cornell earned a 6-4 victory against Harvard last Saturday in the ECAC Hockey tournament semifinals and defeated host Clarkson, 1-0, the following day to win its second straight ECAC Hockey Tournament Championship and its fourth in five years. Junior forward Jillian Saulnier led the Big Red on offense with two goals and one assist while sophomore defender Cassandra Poudrier had one goal and three assists. Poudrier netted the game winner in the championship game with help from freshmen forwards Caroline DeBruin and Kaitlin Doering. In the two games, senior goaltender Lauren Slebodnick combined for 45 saves and extended her total for most wins in Cornell women's hockey history to 68.

BIG RED SPECIAL TEAMS
The Big Red sits behind No. 1 Minnesota, Holy Cross, and No. 3/4 Wisconsin on the national leaderboard at 23.7 percent conversion rate on the power play. The combined special teams' average of 57.6 percent is good for fourth in the country, behind Holy Cross, No. 1 Minnesota and No. 6 Harvard.

NUMBERS TO WATCH
NATIONAL NUMBERS
*Jillian Saulnier is first in the nation for points per game (1.67), first for goals per game (0.85), and sixth for assists per game (0.82).
*Jessica Campbell is tenth in the nation for points per game (1.25) and tenth for assists per game (0.78).
*Paula Voorheis is 10th in the nation for goals-against average (1.79).
*Lauren Slebodnick is ranked second for winning percentage with .881 and a record of 17-1-3.
*As a team, Cornell has the number two scoring offense, averaging 3.61 goals per game.
*The Big Red is fourth in the country for team winning percentage with .788.
CAREER NUMBERS
*Saulnier has 60 goals, is currently tied for eighth on the Cornell all-time career record list for assists (90) and ninth on the all-time career list for points (150).
*Fulton has 81 points and has played in 93 games.
*Jessica Campbell has 104 points, 47 goals, 57 assists, has played in 130 games, and is tied for seventh on the all-time list for plus/minus (+82).
*Alyssa Gagliardi has 88 points, is fifth on the all-time list for plus/minus (+94) and has played in 137 games, the most by any Cornell women's hockey player.
*Hayleigh Cudmore has 75 points and has played in 135 games, good for third on the all-time list.
*Slebodnick is the winningest goaltender in Cornell women's hockey history with 68 total wins, is third on the all-time list for goals-against average with 1.64 and is No. 4 on the Big Red all-time list for save percentage with .924.
*The Big Red has 505 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 then-No. 5 Clarkson. The win against St. Lawrence the following afternoon was number 55. Heading into this weekend's NCAA quarterfinal, Slebodnick has a career record of 68-9-5.

100-POINT CLUB
Senior forward Jessica Campbell reached the 100-point mark with one goal and two assists against Princeton on March 1. She is the second player on the Big Red roster this season with more than 100 career points (47-57—104). She joins junior forward Jillian Saulnier, who has 150 points (60-90—150). Saulnier is currently No. 9 on the Big Red's all-time list for most career points.

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, the Big Red swept the honors with Cassandra Poudrier being named Player of the Week, Caroline DeBruin as Rookie of the Week and Lauren Slebodnick as Goaltender of the Week for March 11. 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), Slebodnick as Goaltender of the Week (Feb.3) and junior forward Jillian Saulnier as Player of the Week (Feb. 10).

ALL-LEAGUE HONORS
Several players were named to the All-ECAC Hockey and All-Ivy teams this season. Alyssa Gagliardi and Jillian Saulnier were picked for the All-ECAC Hockey first team. Gagliardi, Saulnier, and Emily Fulton all received First Team All-Ivy honors. Jessica Campbell and Fulton were named to the All-ECAC Hockey second team and Cassandra Poudrier and Hayleigh Cudmore were named to the All-ECAC Hockey third team. Campbell also received Second Team All-Ivy honors. In addition to being Ivy League Rookie of the Year, Hanna Bunton was named to the ECAC Hockey All-Rookie Team, along with goaltender Paula Voorheis.

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 (68).

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 NCAA semifinals will be held March 21 at the TD Bank Sports Center in Hamden, Connecticut, and the championship game to be played on March 23.