ITHACA, N.Y.  — Cornell women's hockey will have a quick turnaround this week, heading to Erie, Pa. this weekend after playing Colgate to a 3-3 draw at Lynah Rink on Tuesday night. The nonconference rivalry between the Big Red and Mercyhurst has intensified in recent years thanks to a pair of dramatic NCAA tournament games that both saw the Lakers emerge victorious. Cornell, however, holds a five-game regular-season unbeaten streak against Mercyhurst.
 
GAME 9: Cornell Big Red at Mercyhurst Lakers
WHEN: Friday, Nov. 20, 2015, 7 p.m.
WHERE: Mercyhurst Ice Center — Erie, Pa.
 
GAME 10: Cornell Big Red at Mercyhurst Lakers
WHEN: Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015, 2 p.m.
WHERE: Mercyhurst Ice Center — Erie, Pa.
 
2015 RECORDS: Cornell 2-4-2 (1-2-2 ECAC Hockey), Mercyhurst 5-5-2 (5-0-1 CHA)*
LIVE STATS: HurstAthletics.com
*as of 11/18
 
GAME NOTES:
Cornell | Mercyhurst (coming soon)
 
ABOUT THE BIG RED
The Big Red scored with 17.6  seconds left to tie Colgate, 3-3, on Tuesday, Nov. 17. Cornell's other ECAC Hockey points came with a dramatic 2-1 comeback win over No. 10/10 Princeton and a 2-2 draw with Union. The Big Red  found its highest offensive output of the season on Nov. 14 against Syracuse, taking a 5-2 win for its first non-conference victory of the season. Cornell fell in a conference game to Rensselaer in overtime, 2-1, and lost to then-No. 7/7 Quinnipiac, 3-1. In the first weekend of the season, Cornell dropped a pair of games to No. 2/2 Boston College, including a 4-1 loss where the Eagles' final two goals came as empty-netters. Entering Friday's contest, junior Hanna Bunton leads the team with seven points (5-2—7).
 
ABOUT MERCYHURST
Often the top team in College Hockey America, the Lakers have struggled out of conference thus far. They began their campaign with three teams that have been nationally ranked this season and went 0-5-1 over that stretch. Mercyhurst played a close series with Quinnipiac to open the season in early October, tying the first game 3-3 and losing the second by a narrow 2-1 margin. The Lakers' first game against Northeastern was also a one-goal contest, with the Huskies taking a 5-4 win before serving Mercyhurst a handy 7-3 defeat the next day. In their home-opening weekend, the Lakers fell to Princeton, 3-2 and 2-1. Mercyhurst has seen more success since beginning conference play, jumping out to a 5-0 win against RIT behind two-point outings from five different skaters. The Tigers, however, battled back the next day and took the Lakers to overtime, where Mercyhurst prevailed, 4-3, on senior Jenna Dingeldein's golden goal. The Lakers won one and tied one against Penn State and took a pair of one-goal victories against Lindenwood. No skater has more than four goals for Mercyhurst, with freshman Rachael Smith leading the team in points with 13 (4-9—13). Sophomore Sarah Robello and senior Emily Janiga also have four goals apiece. In net, Sarah McDonnell (5-1-2) has started nine games, posting a 1.81 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage.
 
THE SERIES VS. MERCYHURST
The Lakers lead the all-time series 15-6-3, though the Big Red is 2-0-2 in the last four regular season meetings. Mercyhurst's two most recent wins, however, have come in the form of NCAA Tournament victories, taking dramatic one-goal wins, including a 4-3 overtime decision, in back-to-back first round games in Ithaca in 2013 and 2014. Last season, the Lakers and the Big Red played to a 1-1 stalemate at Lynah Rink, with Morgan Richardson scoring for Cornell and Hannah Bale netting Mercyhurst's only tally. The last time the Big Red traveled to Erie, Jan. 10-11, 2014, Cornell took three of four points in a high-scoring weekend series, a 4-4 tie and a 6-4 Big Red victory.
 
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.
 
BATTLE OF THE CUs
As travel partners, Colgate and Cornell had played the same ECAC Hockey teams heading into their Nov. 17 matchup and had posted similar results. The teams proved even on the scoreboard as well, with neither team ever leading by more than a goal. The Big Red scored first, but the Raiders added two before Cornell tied it. Colgate went ahead again, but the Big Red scored a late goal to force overtime. With neither team capitalizing in the extra period, both took away a point.
 
LAST MINUTE LAMP LIGHTING
Senior Jess Brown scored the game-tying goal with 17.6 seconds left on Nov. 17 against Colgate, marking the second time this season the Big Red has scored with under a minute to go. Senior Taylor Woods netted the game-winner against No. 10 Princeton with 21 seconds remaining on Nov. 6.
 
OFFENSIVE ONSLAUGHT
After averaging just over a goal a game through the first six games of the season, the Big Red found its offensive touch against on Nov. 14 at Syracuse, exploding for five goals, including three in the first period. Four different Big Red skaters scored and nine got on the scoresheet.
 
ALL HANDS ON DECK
Heading into this season, the team emphasized that the Big Red would need offensive production from all skaters, rather than just a few individuals, to be successful. With Cassandra Poudrier, Sydney Smith and Diana Buckley registering their first points of the season on Nov. 14 against Syracuse and Jess Brown scoring her first goal of the year on Nov. 17 against Colgate, 14 of the 18 skaters who have seen playing time this season have now gotten on the scoresheet.
 
FRESHMEN FIREPOWER
Since the Big Red's 2-2 tie with Union, head coach Doug Derraugh has put together an all-freshman line of Pippy Gerace, Lenka Serdar and Christian Higham. It was this line that sparked Cornell's rally from a two-goal deficit, with Gerace poking home her first career goal and the Big Red's first of the game with assists from both of her linemates, Serdar and Higham's first Cornell points as well. Since then, Gerace and Higham have each netted another goal and Serdar has picked up two more assists. Freshman Diana Buckley also recorded a pair of helpers in the 5-2 win at Syracuse.
 
WOODS WOWS
Senior assistant captain Taylor Woods recorded her first two goals of the season in dramatic fashion, scoring a short-handed goal with 1:16 left to even the score with No. 10/10 Princeton on Nov. 6 before netting the game-winner with 21 seconds to go. Heading into Friday night's contest at Mercyhurst, Woods has tallied points in four of her last five games.  
 
BEATING THE UNBEATEN
Cornell's thrilling 2-1 win over No. 10/10 Princeton was the Tigers' first loss of the season, after going 4-0-0 in their first four games. Princeton was the last team in ECAC Hockey to surrender an unbeaten, untied record. The win was also the Big Red's first victory over a ranked opponent this season.
 
SHUTOUT STREAK SNAPPERS (x3)
*Taylor Woods' first goal at Princeton snapped Tigers goalie Alysia Dasilva's shutout streak of 118 minutes, 44 seconds. Dasilva's previous outing was a 4-0 blanking of Brown.
* Junior Hanna Bunton scored the Big Red's first goal of the season 4:50 into the third period on Oct. 24 against No. 2/2 Boston College, marking 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.
*Quinnipiac goaltender junior Sydney Rossman hadn't surrendered a goal in 81:28, riding a scoreless overtime draw against Colgate, when Bunton netted the first goal of the game at 12:29 of the first period on Nov. 7, an eventual 3-1 Bobcats victory.
 
ALL TIED UP
In Cornell's ECAC Hockey opening weekend against Rensselaer and Union, in which both games needed overtime, the Big Red played 90 minutes, 17 seconds with the score tied, including 61:14 in the overtime loss to the Engineers. Cornell and RPI were scoreless through the first two periods before unior Kaitlin Doering scored the game's first goal 3:05 into the third, but the Engineers tied it 1:20 later. The next day, Union took a 2-0 lead before the Big Red answered to even the score at two in the second. The game would stay tied through the third and a five-minute overtime.
 
GOING FOR MOAK
Senior goaltender Stefannie Moak was called upon to play 50:31 in the Big Red's 2-2 tie with Union on Oct. 31. Moak stopped all 12 shots that came her way, including several key saves, providing a momentum shift for Cornell as the team rallied to even the score at two in the second period.
 
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.
 
'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. Classmates Taylor Woods and Stefannie Moak will serve as the assistant captains.
 
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. 
 
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.
 
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 and senior Taylor Woods are currently tied for the No. 22 spot all-time in program history for career game-winning goals with six. They are each three game-winners way from being tied for 10th.
*Woods is tied for 16th all-time with 11 career power-play goals. Adding one power-play goal would tie her for 12th. She is four power-play goals away from knocking Jeri Maerz out of 10th.
*Woods' short-handed goal against Princeton tied her for 10th all-time with three man-down tallies.
*Bunton is tied for 12th all-time with two short-handed goals.
*Woods' 292 career shots on goal are good for 13th all-time. She needs seven shots on goal to surpass Caeleigh Beerworth in the No. 12 spot. Woods was also No. 13 for shots per game with 2.69 entering her senior season.
*Senior Cassandra Poudrier has moved into 18th all-time with 219 career shots on goal. She is just four shots away from taking the 15th spot and passing Dana Antal.
*Junior Paula Voorheis sits at No. 6 for most career wins in program history with 25.
*Voorheis also holds the No. 8 spot for career shutouts with five. She needs two shutouts to tie for fifth all-time.
*Voorheis moved into the No. 12 spot for saves with 30 saves against Rensselaer on Oct. 30. She now has 1246.
 
UP NEXT
The Big Red will stay out of conference for another weekend, traveling to Vermont for the Vermont Women's Hockey Classic. Cornell will play Boston University at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 28 in the first game of the tournament and then face host Vermont at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 29.