ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell women's hockey will look to keep its regular season conference title hopes alive this weekend when it welcomes Ivy League rivals #4/4 Harvard and Dartmouth to Lynah Rink. It will be the final regular season home dates for the Big Red, who will celebrate Senior Day festivities following the conclusion of Saturday afternoon's contest.
 
#10/10 Cornell (14-8-3, 12-4-2 ECAC Hockey) vs. #4/4 Harvard (18-4-2, 14-3-1 ECAC Hockey)
Friday, February 13, 2015 | 7:00 PM | Ithaca, N.Y. – Lynah Rink
Live Stats | Live Video (ILDN)
 
#10/10 Cornell (14-8-3, 12-4-2 ECAC Hockey) vs. Dartmouth (11-11-2, 7-9-2 ECAC Hockey)
Saturday, February 14, 2015 | 4:00 PM | Ithaca, N.Y. – Lynah Rink
Live Stats | Live Video (ILDN)
 
Game Notes
Cornell | Harvard | Dartmouth
 
Big Red Headlines
Cornell started its biggest road trip of the season on Tuesday evening with a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory over Colgate. The Big Red followed up that victory with another huge road victory against then-conference leading fifth-ranked Quinnipiac on Friday night. Kaitlyn Doering tied the game with just over six minutes remaining in the contest to send the game to overtime. Hanna Bunton ended the game with 40 seconds remaining, poking home a rebound to send the Big Red into a frenzy. It was a monumental goal for the sophomore, who was making her return to the lineup following a five-game absence. Unfortunately, the Big Red stumbled in its chance to stay within one-point of the top spot on Saturday when it allowed two third period tallies in a difficult 3-2 loss at Princeton. Cornell still has a strong chance to secure a top-four seed and will absolutely need to win its last four contests for a shot to take the conference's top-spot for the regular season. The Big Red currently sit fourth with 26 points.
 
Crimson Headlines
Harvard started off the season slow, entering December with a 4-2-2 record. The Crimson have been on fire of late, before having its nine game winning streak snapped last Saturday at Dartmouth. Harvard enters the weekend with a 18-4-2 record overall, while it boasts a conference leading 14-3-1 mark in ECAC Hockey play. The squad rebounded excellently following a frustrating 1-0 shutout loss at Princeton last week. The Crimson blasted sixth-ranked Boston University 9-2 in the semifinals of the Beanpot last Tuesday. The scoring kept up this weekend, as Harvard plundered the net for 13 goals in the two lopsided victories over Yale and Brown. Harvard enters the weekend with a 7-4-2 mark on the road this season. Harvard is led by the junior duo of Miye D'Oench (13g-11a) and Mary Parker (12g-14a), who both enter the weekend red-hot from the scoring explosion last week. Junior Emerance Maschmeyer leads the goaltending tandem with a 1.73 GAA and .928 save percentage, posting a 9-3-2 record on the year.
 
The Series With Harvard...
Cornell trails the overall series with Harvard 26-53-4 all-time. The series has been more one sided in the other direction since 2009-10, as the Big Red hold a 9-3-2 record against the Crimson over the last 14 matchups. Cornell is 4-1-0 in the last five matchups played at Lynah Rink. The Big Red has outscored the Crimson 14-8 in those tightly contested matchups. Cornell dropped a contest by a 3-0 final earlier this season in Cambridge, Mass.
 
Last Season's Series Against the Crimson...
Cornell went 1-1-1 last season against Harvard with the lone victory coming in the semi-finals of the ECAC Hockey Tournament in Potsdam, N.Y. Harvard jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the second period, but Cornell stormed back with four unanswered goals to push on to the title game against Clarkson. Jillian Saulnier and Emily Fulton both had monster games, each tallying a pair of goals, while Jess Brown collected the game-winner while on the powerplay with 7:16 remaining. Lauren Slebodnick got the start in net for the Big Red, making 19 saves for the victory.
 
Big Green Headlines
Dartmouth looked to be on a roll just a couple weeks back after its 4-2 victory over Harvard in Hanover, N.H. The win was the Big Green's fourth straight conference win to pull back within striking distance of a top-four finish. However, since that point, Dartmouth has not been able to materialize the stretch run it initially envisioned after the victory over the Crimson. The Big Green have dropped four-of-six since that point, which includes a 2-1 home loss to Cornell in which the Big Red only had seven healthy forwards. The Big Green started to right the ship this past weekend when it split a two-game set at home against Brown and Yale to maintain the seventh spot in the ECAC Hockey standings. Dartmouth outlasted conference bottom-feeder Brown 4-3 on Friday, before falling by a lopsided 6-2 final against Yale the following afternoon. Lindsey Allen, Kennedy Ottenbreit and Laura Stacey sit as a triumvirate atop the team's point leaderboard with 22 apiece.
 
The Series With Dartmouth...
Cornell trails the overall series with Dartmouth 30-41-7 all-time. Despite the Big Green's decided lead in the overall series, the Big Red have held the upperhand of late. Cornell is 10-2-1 against Dartmouth dating back to the 2009-10 season, including a 5-1-1 mark at Lynah Rink over that stretch. The Big Red outscored the Big Green 26-7 in those matchups, which included 7-1 and 3-0 victories in the opening round of ECAC Hockey Tournament in 2010-11. The team's first meeting came in the 1978-79 season, with the Big Red scoring a 3-1 victory in the first round of the Ivy League Tournament. Cornell would go on to win the first six games played in the series. The Big Red's all-time record at Lynah stands at 17-23-4.
 
Last Season's Series Againt the Big Green...
Cornell swept the season series with Dartmouth last season with a 4-2 win at Thompson Ice Arena and a 3-0 shutout at Lynah Rink. The special team's proved the difference in the opening matchup in Hanover, as the Big Red went 3-for-4 on the powerplay on goals by Alyssa Gagliardi, Jessica Campbell, and Cassandra Poudrier. Taylor Woods dominated the team's second game with two goals - one on the powerplay - while Jess Brown sealed it with a late tally in the third period. Paula Voorheis got the start and made 26 saves for one of her four career shutouts.
 
Top-Line Tops The Charts
Cornell seniors Brianne Jenner, Jillian Saulnier and Emily Fulton have taken their game to another level as the conference season has headed down the back stretch. The trio has combined for 35 points over the last five contests, having a hand in 16 of the 24 total goals scored. Saulnier has recorded eight points (3g-8a) over the stretch, which included the first goal in both the contests against Union and RPI over the weekend. Jenner has been a point machine since returning from winter break. She led all conference players with 16 points in the month of January and is off to a great start in February with six assists. Fulton has been the lines sniper. She has plundered the net eight times over the last five contests, moving into a tie for first place on the conference goal scoring leaderboard with 19 tallies on the year. All three players have been recognized by the league over the last three weeks, as the trio have comprised one of the hottest lines in all of NCAA Division I.
 
Poll Position
Cornell has hovered at the bottom of the polls for the last few weeks since reentering with a 3-0-0 week, which included a victory over Boston University. With the offensive explosion against Union and Rensselaer the Big Red passed Clarkson for ninth in the latest USCHO.com poll. The team remained in 10th in the latest USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll. The Big Red entered the Pairwise standings, used to help assign at-large bids to the NCAA Regional Playoffs, just after Thanksgiving. With the victories at Clarkson and St. Lawrence, Cornell entered as the 12th team in the standings. The Big Red hovered around that mark over winter break, before jumping up in the standings with the win over Boston University. The squad dropped a spot over the weekend, despite the impressive victories over the struggling ECAC Hockey squads. Cornell stayed put following a 2-1-0 week against Colgate, Quinnipiac, and Princeton. The Bobcats and Tigers were both present in the latest polls.
 
Power Surge
The Cornell powerplay has been scalding hot in recent contests and has been a major factor in the Big Red's explosion in the offensive end. Cornell has gone 6-for-24 (25%) over the recent five-game stretch, which included a late game-tying and game-winning goals on the powerplay against Colgate. Overall, the Big Red has gone 22-for-105 on the year, which is good for fifth best in NCAA Division I at 21%. Cornell is 10-3-1 when it tallies at least one powerplay goal this season. Emily Fulton has been red-hot with four powerplay goals over the last three games, surpassing Brianne Jenner with six total tallies this season. She marked a pair against Colgate, including the game-winner in overtime, while she also added a pair of powerplay tallies in the 3-2 loss against Princeton.
Jenner has five goals with the advantage, while she leads the squad with 16 powerplay points.
 
Killin' It
Cornell has been sensational on the penalty kill this season and has been especially strong in recent games. While the unit has killed penalties at a 84.5% clip, which is good for 13th in NCAA Division I, it has held the opposition scoreless on 52 of the last 58 chances dating back to the beginning of December. The unit went a  6-for-7 over the weekend, which included several big kills in the second period of the Princeton game. The penalty kill hasn't just been a positive in the defensive zone, but has also been a boon to the Big Red in the offensive end as well. Cornell tallied again while shorthanded when Brianne Jenner powered through a hooking penalty to score against RPI. Overall, the Big Red has scored six times shorthanded, which leads ECAC Hockey, while it has allowed opponents 17 powerplay goals on the year.
 
The Lynah Advantage
Cornell has thrived in the friendly confines of Lynah Rink. Known as one of the most raucous and intimidating environments in all of collegiate hockey, the "Lynah Faithful" has consistently had a psychological impact both in boosting the Big Red, while simultaneously throwing the opponent off its game. Over the last five seasons Cornell has defended its home ice with a vengeance. The Big Red is 88-16-6 at Lynah over its last six seasons. The Big Red has gone undefeated in its last 10 contests at Lynah since beginning the season 0-2 without forwards Brianne Jenner and Jillian Saulnier.
 
Flyin' Fulton
Senior right wing Emily Fulton has been on a roll on the on the offensive end this season. She is second on the Big Red in points and first in goals with a 19-17 – 36 line through 25 games of the year. She has collected at least one point in 10 of her last 13 games. She now has posted multi-points in 12 games this season after her pair of powerplay goals in the Big Red's dramatic one goal loss at Princeton over the weekend. She ranks tied for second in ECAC Hockey and tied for seventh nationally with a 1.50 points per game average. She trails just Jenner's 1.76 and is tied with Saulnier amongst ECAC Hockey players. She leads the team with six powerplay tallies on the year and four over her last three contests. She now has 19 for her career, which is tied for fourth all-time at Cornell. She netted her first career hat-trick last week in a heroic performance to spark a scintillating 3-2 come-from-behind victory at Colgate.
 
O'Connor's Outburst
Freshman defender Erin O'Connor has continued to be an offensive dynamo on the blue-line for the Big Red. She has become a fixture as the point-pivot on Cornell's top powerplay unit. The young blue-liner had a excellent final week of 2014, posting at least one point in each game, which included multi-point (1g-1a) efforts against Syracuse and Clarkson. The big week netted O'Connor her second ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week award on the season. She is fourth on the team in points (24) and third in assists (18). She currently ranks first in points, assists, goals (6), power-play goals (4) and powerplay points (11) among all Division I freshmen blue-liners. She is sixth nationally in points among all defenders regardless of class year.
 
Net Gains for Voorheis
Sophomore goaltender Paula Voorheis has been a brickwall in net for the Big Red since the calendar has turned to 2015. After a difficult start to the season, which saw her go 0-4 and her goals against average balloon over 4.00, she has put together a stellar turn-around campaign. She has gone 12-4-3 over her last 19 starts, while her peripheral stats have steadily improved. She played another fine game against Colgate on Tuesday, stopping 24-of-26 shots to allow the Big Red stake the late comeback. She currently holds a respectable 2.59 GAA and a solid .915 save percentage.
 
Monthly Awards
The Big Red has been no stranger to ECAC Hockey weekly awards, but two players did one better by earning monthly recognition from the league. Brianne Jenner was named ECAC Hockey Player of the Month for December, while freshman blue-liner Erin O'Connor earned ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Month honors. Brianne Jenner made a double-dip this past week when she was named ECAC Hockey Player of the Month for January as well. She posted 16 points in a stellar month.
 
Weekly Awards
Emily Fulton took home her second ECAC Hockey Player of the Week award over the last four weeks on Tuesday. She posted an excellent week last week, tallying five goals and one assist to lead the Big Red to a 2-1-0 week. She scored a natural hat-trick to spark a furious comeback victory over Colgate. She added a pair of powerplay goals in the 3-2 loss to Princeton on Saturday.
 
Joltin' Jenner
The center has not disappointed and seems to be hitting her stride as the conference season winds to conclusion. She currently is first on the team and in ECAC Hockey with 40 points (13g-27a) through 23 games played this season. She posted an incredible finish to 2014, collecting two goals and five assists in the contests against Clarkson and St. Lawrence, which included a game-changing performance on the penalty kill to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 advantage against the Golden Knights. She earned ECAC Hockey Player of the Week honors for the excellent showings in the pair of games. Jenner has also really come on strong as the Big Red's top faceoff option. She currently sits at 56% on the season with 321 faceoff wins in 573 opportunities. With a strong finish, Jenner has a legitimate chance to finish in the top-three on the program's all-time lists for points, goals, and assists. She posted a huge five point game (1g-4a) in the 6-2 victory over Boston University, in doing so becoming the fourth Cornell player in program history to record 200 career points.
 
Sensational Saulnier
Saulnier made her anticipated return to the lineup this past weekend against Union and Rensselaer. She did not miss a beat, despite missing the better part of the prior four games. She marked seven points on the weekend, including the opening goals in both contests on the weekend. She tallied three assists against Union to tie a season high. She currently ranks seventh in NCAA Division I in points per game (1.50), while she ranks second in ECAC Hockey, trailing just Jenner's mark of 1.74. She currently sits fifth in the conference with 30 points, garnering consideration for the Patty Kazmeir award. Similar to Jenner, Saulnier is also creeping up the all-time lists in several categories and will likely challenge for top-five all-time rankings in several categories. With her seven point weekend she moved into fourth in all-time assists. She has collected eight assists over her last five contests.
 
Career Numbers Watch
* Brianne Jenner currently sits in second place on the all-time list in career points (218), second in assists (127), and fifth in goals (91). With her two point effort at Princeton, she passed #2 Cindy Warren (1977-81) for second all-time in points. With her pair of assists against Princeton she passed #2 Cheryl Hines by one assist. She currently trails the program's all-time assist leader Cindy Warren by just three assists. With her goal at Yale she passed Cindy Warren (1977-81) to move all-alone into fifth on the all-time list. She trails #4 Cyndy Schlaepfer by four goals.
* Jillian Saulnier currently sits in seventh place on the all-time list in career points (181) and is fourth all-time in assists (112). With her goal against RPI, she tied Chelsea Karpenko for ninth all-time. She passed Karpenko to move alone into ninth with her goal at Quinnipiac. She trails #8 Sunshine Lorenz by six. With her three assists against Union she passed Cyndy Schlaepfer (1975-1978) for fourth all-time.
* Emily Fulton currently sits at 119 points – 56 goals and 63 assists – joining the century club with her goal and assist against St. Lawrence.
 
Up Next
Cornell will hit the road for the final two games of the regular season next weekend. First the squad will take-on Rensselaer on Friday evening, before wrapping at Union on Saturday.