ITHACA, N.Y. — After spending this past weekend making final tune-ups in exhibitions and scrimmages, the Big Red officially opens the regular season with a pair of non-conference home games against No. 2/3 Boston College this week. The Eagles are off to a hot start, going 6-0 overall and 2-0 in Hockey East play to open the season.
 
GAME 1: Cornell Big Red vs. Boston College Eagles
WHEN: Friday, Oct. 23, 2015, 7 p.m.
WHERE: Lynah Rink — Ithaca, N.Y.
 
GAME 2: Cornell Big Red vs. Boston College Eagles
WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015, 3 p.m.
WHERE: Lynah Rink — Ithaca, N.Y.
 
2015 RECORDS: Cornell 0-0-0 (0-0-0 ECAC Hockey), Boston College 6-0-0 (2-0 Hockey East)
LIVE STATS:  CornellBigRed.com
STREAMING VIDEO: Ivy League Digital Network
 
GAME NOTES:
Cornell | BC
 
ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell skated to a 3-2 exhibition win over defending Canadian Interuniversity Sport champion, Western Ontario, on Friday. Junior Brianna Veerman scored the Big Red's first goal of the game to spark a burst of offense, as Cornell netted three goals in 1 minute, 49 seconds. Junior Kaitlin Doering and freshman Pippy Gerace had the Big Red's second and third tallies. Cornell moved up a spot to No. 9 this week in the USCHO.com poll and received votes in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll. In the ECAC Hockey preseason coaches' poll, the Big Red was predicted to finish fourth in the league, behind nationally ranked Harvard, Clarkson and Quinnipiac.
 
ABOUT HEAD COACH DOUG DERRAUGH '91
Entering his 11th season directing Cornell women's hockey, Derraugh has brought the program to national prominence. He amassed a 189-112-24 record in his first ten seasons with the Big Red and has led the team to four ECAC Hockey Tournament Championships, four Ivy League Championships and five NCAA tournament appearances, including three trips to the Frozen Four. From 2009-10 to 2013-14, his teams notched five consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time in program history.
 
ABOUT BOSTON COLLEGE
Led by last season's Patty Kazmaier Award winner, senior captain Alex Carpenter, the Eagles have proven thus far that they do, in fact, belong among the nation's best. Carpenter has continued to put up big numbers this season, notching hat tricks against Minnesota-Duluth and St. Lawrence. She leads Hockey East with nine goals and eight assists through six games and earned her 200^th career point in the team's 7-3 win over the Saints on Oct 12. Senior Haley Skarupa is second in points on the team with three goals and eight assists. BC opened the season with a pair of wins over the Bulldogs, before routing ECAC Hockey's St. Lawrence in back-to-back games. In their first weekend of conference play, the Eagles topped Maine, 4-0, and New Hampshire, 6-0. Sophomore goalkeeper Katie Burt earned Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week honors with the pair of shutouts. Burt has played in all but one game so far this season, recording a 1.40 goals-against average and .944 save percentage.
 
THE SERIES VS. BOSTON COLLEGE
Cornell holds a 16-6-1 advantage all-time over Boston College. Last October, the Eagles, then ranked No. 3, took a pair of 6-2 wins when the Big Red made the trip to Conte Forum to open the season. BC last visited Lynah in November 2013 and split the series with Cornell. The Big Red won the first game, 2-0, behind goals from Hayleigh Cudmore and Taylor Woods before falling, 4-1, in the weekend's second game.
 
'C' IS FOR CASSANDRA
Senior defenseman Cassandra Poudrier will be serving as the Big Red's captain for the 2015-16 season. In addition to her strength on the ice, head coach Doug Derraugh also notes that Poudrier is well-liked and well-respected by her teammates. She finished last season with a +13 rating and 76 blocked shots. Classmates Taylor Woods and Stefannie Moak will serve as the assistant captains.
 
BACK TO THE BLUE LINE
The Big Red did not lose any defensemen to graduation at the conclusion of last season, meaning Cornell is returning a very experienced defensive core. Senior captain Cassandra Poudrier will once again be a force to be reckoned with. The Big Red also returns ECAC All-Rookie Team and Second-Team All-ECAC selection, sophomore Erin O'Connor. Senior Morgan Richardson, junior Sydney Smith and sophomore Sarah Knee will also bring valuable experience on defense.
 
IN SCORING POSITION
Cornell graduated just three forwards in 2015. Though the loss was the team's three top point-getters, the Big Red returns a number of forwards who will look to step into major scoring roles. Junior Hanna Bunton finished the 2014-15 season with seven goals and seven assists, while senior Jess Brown added nine goals and 11 assists. After transitioning to defense last season, senior Taylor Woods will return to the Big Red attack. Woods has 24 career goals and 39 assists. After anchoring the second line last season and posting six goals and eight assists, junior Kaitlin Doering will also continue to be an integral part of the offense. Junior Brianna Veerman added three goals and six assists last season and finished the year with a +2.
 
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
The Big Red has six newcomers this season: four forwards, a defenseman and a goaltender. Pippy Gerace, Lenka Serdar, Diana Buckley and Christian Higham will play up front, while Micah Hart will add depth at the blue line and Marlene Boissonnault will be an option between the pipes. The class is split across the northern border, with Higham, Hart and Boissonnault hailing from Canada and Gerace, Serdar and Buckley coming from the United States. Higham, Hart and Boissonnault were silver medalists with Team Canada at the 2015 IIHF U-18 Women's World Championships. The forwards will bring speed and hockey smarts to the Big Red offense, while Hart, who captained the silver medal Canadian team, will add experience and poise at the blue line. 
 
GOING TO THE POLLS
After just narrowly missing the NCAA postseason tournament last season, the Big Red began the 2015-16 season ranked tenth in the USCHO.com poll. After holding steady at No. 10 for three weeks, Cornell moved up to No. 9 this week. The Big Red cracked the USA Hockey/USA Today poll last week, coming in at No. 10, but returned to being the top team among those receiving votes this week, with Northeastern moving back into the polls after a weekend sweep of Mercyhurst.

OUTSTANDING O'CONNOR
Sophomore defensemen Erin O'Connor had an impressive freshman campaign, leading all Big Red blue-liners in scoring with seven goals and 18 assists. She was also consistently ranked in the top 10 nationally for scoring among defenseman and finished the season tied for first in ECAC Hockey for assists among defenders. Her performance earned her a spot on the All-ECAC Hockey Rookie Team and the Second Team All-ECAC. O'Connor also played an integral role on the Big Red power play, notching four goals and seven assists with the advantage. She finished the year with a +10 rating.

COMING IN CLUTCH
Junior Hanna Bunton has come up big in some important moments for the Big Red. In 2014-15, she notched three game-winning goals, including the tally that lifted Cornell over top-seeded Clarkson in the ECAC Hockey Semifinal. Bunton has six game-winners in her career, good for 20th all-time at Cornell.
 
WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS
Last season, Cornell ranked first in ECAC Hockey and second in the nation for assists, racking up 133 in conference play and 183 overall. Sophomore Erin O'Connor led the Big Red's returning players with 18 helpers on the season.
 
VERY SPECIAL TEAMS
The Big Red excelled on both the power play and the penalty kill last season. The team ranked first in Division I with 30 power play goals and third in power play percentage (22.7). On the other side of things, Cornell was also first among Division I programs with six short-handed goals. Their 84.3 penalty kill percentage was sixth in the country.
 
FOR CLUB AND FOR COUNTRY
Entering the 2015-16 season, the Big Red has eight players who have represented Team Canada at some level. Senior Cassandra Poudrier, junior Hanna Bunton and freshman Micah Hart have all spent time with the senior Canadian Women's National Team. Poudrier competed in the 2015 Four Nations Cup for Team Canada. Senior Morgan Richardson helped the U-18 Canadian team to an IIHF World Championship in 2012, while freshmen Hart captained a U-18 team that also featured classmates Christian Higham and Marlene Boissonnault to a silver medal at the 2015 U-18 IIHF World Championships. Junior Sydney Smith has also spent time with the Canadian U-18 Team. Several American players have attended USA Hockey development camps as well.

GOING PRO
In the newly formed National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), teams can draft players entering their final year of NCAA eligibility in order to sign them once they finish their collegiate play. Senior captain Cassandra Poudrier was picked 18th overall in the 2015 NWHL Draft by the Connecticut Whale. Four Cornell women's hockey alumnae are currently playing in the league, which is in its first season: Alyssa Gagliardi '14 (Boston Pride), Lauren Slebodnick '14 (Boston Pride), Jenny Scrivens (Niesluchowski) '10 (NY Riveters) and Erin Barley-Maloney '13 (NY Riveters). In addition, eight former Cornellians are playing in the Canadian Women's Hockey League.
 
UP NEXT
The Big Red opens conference play next weekend when two ECAC Hockey opponents make the trip to Lynah. The weekend begins with a 3 p.m. matchup with Rensselaer on Friday before Union comes to town for a 3 p.m. start on Saturday. The Engineers are currently 2-4-0 to open the season while the Dutchwomen will be looking for their first win this weekend when they face off against RIT.