ITHACA, N.Y. — Cornell women's hockey will be looking to bounce back from a pair of losses to No. 2/2 Boston College when the team opens ECAC Hockey play with visits from Rensselaer and Union this weekend. Both the Engineers and the Dutchwomen have struggled in the early goings of this season, with Union still searching for its first win. RPI and the Dutchwomen were predicted to finish near the bottom of the league in the ECAC Hockey preseason coaches' poll, coming in 10^th and 11^th, respectively. After this weekend's games, the Big Red will enjoy home ice advantage just once more until Jan. 15.  
 
GAME 3: Cornell Big Red vs. Rensselaer Engineers
WHEN: Friday, Oct. 30, 2015, 3 p.m.
WHERE: Lynah Rink — Ithaca, N.Y.
2015 RECORDS: Cornell 0-2-0 (0-0-0 ECAC Hockey), Rensselaer 2-4-0 (0-0-0 ECAC Hockey)
 
GAME 4: Cornell Big Red vs. Union Dutchwomen
WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015, 3 p.m.
WHERE: Lynah Rink — Ithaca, N.Y.
2015 RECORDS: Cornell 0-2-0 (ECAC Hockey), Union 0-5-2 (0-0-0 ECAC Hockey)*
*Records do not include Friday's games
 
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
STREAMING VIDEO: Ivy League Digital Network
 
GAME NOTES:
Cornell | Rensselaer (coming soon) | Union (coming soon)
 
ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell played No. 2/3 Boston College closely last Friday night at Lynah Rink, with junior Hanna Bunton scoring the first goal BC goaltender Katie Burt had given up in over 150 minutes of play to tie the game at one in the third period. Senior Morgan Richardson tallied her first point of the season with the assist. Alex Carpenter scored the game-winner for the Eagles on the power play, before BC tacked on two empty net goals in the final minutes. Junior goaltender Paula Voorheis made 40 saves on the night. The Eagles then took an 8-0 win Saturday afternoon.
 
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 RENSSELAER
The Engineers opened the season with a pair of home losses to No. 7/8 North Dakota. RPI scored the first two goals of the series before UND netted three unanswered goals to take the lead. The Engineers would tie it at three before North Dakota put up the game-winner with less than two minutes left. UND took the series sweep with a 3-1 win the next day. RPI then swept RIT, including a commanding 6-2 win to open the series. Most recently, the Engineers dropped a pair of games to Robert Morris, 2-0 and 3-1. Junior Laura Horwood leads the team in points on two goals and four assists, while senior Alexa Gruschow has three goals and two assists. Lovisa Selander (1-3-0) has seen the most time between the pipes, posting a 2.37 goals against average and a .917 save percentage.
 
THE SERIES VS. RENSSELAER
The Big Red has lost just four times in 21 meetings with the Engineers. In 2014-15, Cornell took the season series, including a 7-1 win at Lynah Rink that featured six different goal scorers for the Big Red. Junior Sydney Smith finished with a goal and two assists. Cornell also beat RPI on the road, 4-1, later in the season behind a three-point effort from Jillian Saulnier.
 
ABOUT UNION
A pair of 2-2 ties, one in the season opener at Minnesota State-Mankato and one at Connecticut, have been the highlights of the Dutchwomen's season thus far. Union dropped the second game of the series with the Mavericks, 3-0, and suffered two more losses by the same score to Penn State. This past weekend, a struggling RIT squad eked out a series win against the Dutchwomen, with 3-1 and 2-1 final scores. Senior Kathryn Tomaselli has the team lead with four points on three goals and one assist, while classmate Jessica Kaminsky has a goal and an assist and freshman Jacyn Reeves and senior Jamie Reeves have a goal apiece. In goal, freshman Melissa Black (0-3-2) has seen most of the work, and is averaging just under two goals-against with a .946 save percentage.
 
THE SERIES VS. UNION
Union's sole win in 24 all-time matchups with the Big Red came in January 2004, the first season the teams ever met. Cornell won both its matchups against the Dutchwomen last season, beginning with a 8-2 win on home ice behind two-goal nights from Emily Fulton and Brianne Jenner. Sophomore Erin O'Connor, senior Jess Brown, junior Brianna Veerman and senior Taylor Woods all finished the game with two points.  The Big Red took a 4-0 victory when it traveled to Union later in the season, with O'Connor and senior Anna Zorn both finding the back of the net.
 
THE PUCK STOPS HERE
Junior goaltender Paula Voorheis posted a spectacular performance in net in the Big Red's season opener against Boston College on Oct. 24. Against BC's potent offense, Voorheis made 40 saves, including stopping all 17 shots that came her way in the second period. Voorheis allowed just two goals on the night, with the Eagles' other two tallies coming in the form of empty net goals when Cornell pulled Voorheis in favor of an extra attacker in the games' waning moments.
 
STREAK SNAPPER
Junior Hanna Bunton scored the Big Red's first goal of the season 4:50 into the third period on Oct. 24 against Boston College. The goal marked the first time BC goaltender Katie Burt had let a puck past her in over 150 minutes of play. Burt had posted back-to-back shutouts against New Hampshire and Maine the weekend before.
 
'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
The Big 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.
 
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
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 last week before two losses to No. 2/2 Boston College returned Cornell to the next-most vote-getter outside of the top 10 in both polls. The Big Red was ranked No. 10 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll on Oct. 13.
 
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. Emily Fulton '15 was a first round CWHL draft pick this season, going to the Toronto Furies. Linemates Brianne Jenner '15 and Jill Saulnier '15 were both drafted by the Calgary Inferno, where they will join Rebecca Johnston '12, Jessica Campbell '14 and Hayleigh Cudmore '14. Laura Fortino '13 (Brampton) and Lauriane Rougeau '13 (Montreal) also play in the league.

RECORDS WATCH
*Junior Hanna Bunton currently holds the No. 20 spot all-time in program history for career game-winning goals with six. She is two game-winners way from being tied for 10th.
*Senior Taylor Woods is just one game-winning goal away from tying Hanna Bunton at No. 20.
*Woods is tied for 16th all-time with 11 career power-play goals. Adding one power-play goal would tie her for 11th. She is four power-play goals away from tying Emily Fulton, Brianne Jenner and Catherine White for fourth.
*Bunton and Woods are tied for 12th all-time with two short-handed goals.
*Woods' 265 career shots on goal are good for 12th all-time. She needs 34 shots on goal to surpass Caeleigh Beerworth in the No. 11 spot. Woods is also No. 15 for shots per game with 2.60 entering her senior season.
*Senior Cassandra Poudrier is 18th all-time with 209 career shots on goal and 17th in shots per game with 2.18. She is just 7 shots away from taking the 16th spot and passing Laura Danforth and Brianne Schmidt.
*Bunton needs just 8 shots on goal to break into the all-time top 20.
*Junior Paula Voorheis sits at No. 6 for most career wins in program history with 24. Fourteen wins would tie her for fourth with Amanda Mazzotta.
*Voorheis also holds the No. 8 spot for career shutouts with five. She needs two shutouts to tie for fifth all-time.
*Voorheis is currently No. 12 for saves with 1146 and needs 29 to surpass Amanda Mazzotta in the No. 11 spot.
 
UP NEXT
The Big Red hits the road for the first time this season next weekend to face a pair of ECAC Hockey opponents. Cornell's first stop is a 7 p.m. game at Princeton on Friday, Nov. 6. The Tigers received votes in both polls this week after sweeping Mercyhurst last weekend. The Big Red will then travel to No. 5/5 Quinnipiac for a 4 p.m. puck drop on Saturday. The Bobcats have yet to lose a game this season. Both teams face Yale and Brown this weekend.