Game Notes (PDF)

ITHACA, N.Y.—The No. 5 Cornell women's ice hockey team will continue the postseason this weekend when it faces No. 6 Harvard in the ECAC Hockey semifinals at 4 p.m. Saturday at Clarkson. The championship game will be played Sunday at 1 p.m. and will feature the winners of the Clarkson-Quinnipiac and Harvard-Cornell games.

ABOUT THE NO. 5 BIG RED
Cornell (22-5-4, 15-4-3 ECAC Hockey) swept Princeton last weekend, 3-2 on Friday and 5-3 on Saturday, to begin its postseason run.  Junior Jillian Saulnier had a hand in six of the Big Red's eight goals, scoring three and assisting on three others while senior Jessica Campbell had three goals and two assists. Freshman goaltender Paula Voorheis picked up both wins and had 34 saves on the weekend and improved to 7-4-1 on the season. Saulnier is the Big Red's leading scorer with 26 goals and 26 assists for 52 points, followed by Emily Fulton with 17 goals and 22 assists for 39 points.

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 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 166-98-21 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. 6 HARVARD
The Crimson (23-5-4, 16-3-3) is led on offense by Miye D'Oench, who has 19 goals and 16 assists for 35 points this season. Two-time ECAC Goaltender of the Week Emerance Maschmeyer has been the star early on for the Crimson, posting a .947 save percentage and 1.62 goals-against average; good for third and ninth among league netminders, respectively. Maschmeyer has five shutouts to her credit coming into this weekend's game. 

THE SERIES WITH THE CRIMSON
A storied rivalry between two women's hockey powerhouses, the series between the two teams began in the 1981-82 season. Harvard has built a commanding lead at 52-25-4, but Cornell has had a majority of the recent success. Since being swept in four games by the Crimson in 2008-09, the Big Red has posted an 8-2-2 record, including the 3-3 overtime tie earlier this season in Cambridge, but dropped a 3-1 decision at Lynah Rink in January.

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 503-463-55 in program history.

NATIONAL POLLS
Cornell gained one spot to reach No. 5 behind No. 1 Minnesota, No. 2 Wisconsin, No. 3 Clarkson, and No. 4 Boston College in the USCHO.com poll.

LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend, the Big Red swept Princeton in the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals. The Tigers' were first to score in both games, but Cornell never gave up and won last Friday, 3-2, and last Saturday, 5-3. Saulnier had a hand in six of the eight goals scored by the Big Red, compiling a three goal-three assist weekend. Paula Voorheis picked up both wins.

BIG RED SPECIAL TEAMS
The Big Red sits behind No. 1 Minnesota, Holy Cross, and No. 2 Wisconsin on the national leaderboard at 22.7 percent conversion rate on the power play. The combined special teams' average of 56.9 percent is good for fifth in the country, behind ECAC Hockey and Ivy League rival Harvard, Holy Cross, No. 1 Minnesota, and Mercyhurst.

NUMBERS TO WATCH
NATIONAL NUMBERS
*Jillian Saulnier is tied for second in the nation for points per game (1.68), second for goals per game (0.84), and sixth for assists per game (0.84).
*Paula Voorheis is 10th in the nation for goals-against average (1.79).
*Lauren Slebodnick is ranked second for winning percentage with .868 and a record of 15-1-3.
*As a team, Cornell has the number four scoring offense averaging 3.52 goals per game.
*The Big Red is sixth in the country for team winning percentage with .774.
CAREER NUMBERS
*Saulnier has 58 goals, is tied for ninth on the Cornell all-time career record list for assists (89) and is currently No. 9 on the all-time list for points (147).
*Fulton has 79 points, has played in 91 games, and is one point short of 80.
*Jessica Campbell has 100 points, 54 assists, has played in 128 games, and is tied for seventh on the all-time list for plus/minus (+80).
*Alyssa Gagliardi has 85 points, is fifth on the all-time list for plus/minus (+93) and has played in 135 games.
*Hayleigh Cudmore has 73 points, is tied for tenth on the all-time list for plus/minus (+58) and has played in 133 games, good for third on the all-time list.
*Slebodnick is the winningest goaltender in Cornell women's hockey history with 66 total wins, is third on the all-time list for goals-against average with 1.63 and is No. 4 on the Big Red all-time list for save percentage with .924.
*The Big Red has 503 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 ECAC Hockey semifinals, Slebodnick has a career record of 66-9-5.

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 (58-89--147). Saulnier is currently No. 9 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 game will be played at Cheel Arena Sunday at 1 p.m. and will feature the winners of the Clarkson-Quinnipiac and Harvard-Cornell games.