ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell women's hockey suffered a pair of tough defeats on Senior Weekend, but will look to bounce back and generate some momentum heading into the ECAC Hockey Tournament when it hits the road to face Rensselaer and Union. The Big Red currently sit in fifth with 26 points; one-point back of St. Lawrence for the final home seed in the opening round of tournament play.
 
#10 Cornell (14-10-3, 12-6-2 ECAC Hockey) at Rensselaer Engineers (6-22-4, 4-15-1 ECAC Hockey)
Friday, February 20, 2015 | 7:00 PM | Troy, N.Y. – Houston Field House
Live Stats | Live Video
 
#10 Cornell (14-10-3, 12-6-2 ECAC Hockey) at Union Dutchwomen (4-21-7, 1-15-4 ECAC Hockey)
Saturday, February 21, 2015 | 4:00 PM | Schenectady, N.Y. – Frank L. Messa Rink
Live Stats | Live Video
 
Game Notes
Cornell | Rensselaer | Union
 
Big Red Headlines
Cornell suffered a difficult conclusion to the regular season home slate last weekend, getting swept by #4/4 Harvard and Dartmouth on Senior Weekend. Things looked promising early-on for the Big Red on Friday against the Crimson. Emily Fulton got the home team on the board just 2:24 into the contest and dominated play over the opening 10-minutes. Harvard responded with a pair of goals during a 19-second stretch around the six-minute mark of the opening period and never looked back, putting in a late second period and empty net goal to seal the win. Cornell got off to a slow start on Senior Day against the Big Green, falling behind just 30-seconds into the contest. Jillian Saulnier pulled Cornell ahead with a pair of goals to put the home team up 2-1 at the intermission. Unfortunately, Big Green netminder Robyn Chemago stood on her head to stop 44 Cornell shots, allowing Dartmouth to equalize and then pull ahead in the third period. The Big Red currently sit in fifth with 26 points, one-point back of St. Lawrence for the final home-ice seed in the conference tournament.
 
Engineer Headlines
Rensselaer split last weekend's final road series. The squad was blanked in a 5-0 loss at Yale, while it rebounded for a 3-2 victory at Brown. The Engineers did a good job of generating chances against Yale, but the squad was unable to solve Bulldog goaltender Jaimie Leonoff, who stopped 31 shots in the shutout. Kelly O'Brien allowed four goals on 23 shots through 46 minutes, before ceding the net to Brianna Piper for the rest of the contest. Rensselaer put on a strong performance the following afternoon in Providence to score its fourth conference win of the season. The line of Lauren Wash, Alexa Gruschow and Shayna Tomlinson combined for five points and senior Kelly O'Brien stopped 22 shots. Wash scored the game's first goal on the powerplay at 17:10 of the first period with assists from her linemates. Gruschow doubled the lead with her team-leading 11th goal of the campaign midway through the second period. The game remained 2-1 through much of the third period before RPI defender Hannah Behounek registered a shorthanded, empty-net goal with 4:45 to play.
 
The Series With Rensselaer...
Cornell holds a decisive 15-4-0 all-time record against Rensselaer. The teams first met in 2006-07 with the Engineers taking the first pair of contests and first three overall in the series. The Big Red is 15-1 since that point. Despite RPI's early advantage, Cornell has outscored the Engineers 131-61 in the series. The Big Red is 6-2 in games played at Houston Field House, outscoring the Engineers by a 29-20 margin, which includes an 8-2 Cornell loss in the first road matchup in the series. The Big Red is riding a five-game winning streak in Troy.
 
Last Season's Series Against the Engineers...
The Big Red swept the season series against the Engineers last season with two hard-fought victories. Cornell kicked off the two-game set with a workmen-like 3-1 victory at Lynah Rink. Jillian Saulnier netted a pair of goals, while Hanna Bunton deposited the eventual game-winner with one second to go in the opening period. Cornell outlasted RPI 6-5 in overtime in the return trip to Troy. After Ali Svobaoda tied the game at 5-5 with the extra-attacker on for RPI with 25 seconds left, Hanna Bunton knocked in the sudden-death game-winner in overtime. Both her and Jillian Saulnier finished with a pair of goals, while Cassandra Poudrier and Emily Fulton added special teams markers.
 
Dutchwomen Headlines
Union went 0-1-1 in its final road series of the season, earning a 3-3 tie against Brown and falling 4-2 at Yale. The Dutchwomen overcame a 3-1 deficit in the final seven minutes of regulation to force a tie with host Brown. Christine Valente and Jessica Kaminsky scored less than two minutes a part to tie the game and send the game to overtime. On Saturday, Erica Kelly tied the game up early in the second period as she converted on the penalty shot but the Bulldogs responded with three unaswered goal to go in front 4-1.
 
The Series With Union...
Cornell has dominated the series with Union with a record of 22-1-0 all-time. The programs met for the first time in 2003 with the team's splitting a two-game set in Schenectady. The Big Red took the opening matchup on Feb. 27 by a 4-0 final score, before falling 3-1 in the second game of the series the following day. The Big Red has gone on to win 21 straight contests in the series since that loss in 2003. Cornell has outscored Union 145-40 in the 23 lifetime contests. The Big Red boast a perfect 11-1-0 record against Union in Schenectady, outscoring the Dutchwomen 53-11 in those contests. Cornell has shut out Union the last two times the teams have met at Frank L. Messa Rink with 4-0 and 2-0 victories.
 
Last Season's Series Againt the Dutchwomen...
Cornell swept the season series against Union a season ago. The Big Red dominated the first meeting last season, blasting the Dutchwomen 8-1 at Lynah Rink on Nov. 9. Five different players tallied goals for Cornell (Jillian Saulnier, Cassandra Poudrier, Taylor Woods, Anna Zorn, and Emily Fulton), with Saulnier, Poudrier and Fulton each netting a pair. Lauren Slebodnick got the start in net, making 10 stops in the opening 20 minutes. She was replaced by Paula Voorheis who stopped 19-of-20 in the final 40 minutes. Cornell finished 3-of-4 on the powerplay in the contest. The second game of the season in Schenectady was much tighter as the Big Red battled for a 2-0 shutout victory. Jessica Campbell netted the game-winner in the second period, while Jillian Saulnier added insurance with a shorthanded marker just 2:25 into the third period. Voorheis stopped 18 shots for the shutout.
 
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 40 points over the last seven contests, having a hand in 19 of the 27 total goals scored. Saulnier has recorded a 5g-8a line over the stretch, which included both goals - one on the powerplay - in the Big Red's 3-2 loss to Dartmouth this past 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 seven assists. Fulton has been the lines sniper. She has plundered the net nine times over the last seven contests, moving into a tie for first place on the conference goal scoring leaderboard with 20 tallies on the year. All three players have been recognized by the league over the last three weeks, as the trio has 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. Since then the team has dropped out of the USCHO.com poll, but still sits in 10th in the latest USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll after dropping the last three contests. 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, after dropping a pair against ECAC Hockey squads Harvard and Dartmouth. Four ECAC Hockey schools were 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 7-for-33 (21.2%) over the recent seven-game stretch, which included a late game-tying and game-winning goals on the powerplay against Colgate. Overall, the Big Red has gone 23-for-114 on the year, which is good for eighth best in NCAA Division I at 20.4%. Cornell is 10-4-1 when it tallies at least one powerplay goal this season. Emily Fulton has been red-hot with four powerplay goals over the last five 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 17 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 85% clip, which is good for 13th in NCAA Division I, it has held the opposition scoreless on 57 of the last 64 chances dating back to the beginning of December. The unit went a  5-for-6 over the weekend, which included several big kills in the second period of the Harvard game to keep things close. 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 18 powerplay goals on the year.
 
Road Warriors
Cornell has really bounced back from a difficult start on the road to post solid results in ECAC Hockey play. While the squad has a 7-6 mark on the road overall, it is 7-2 on the road in conference contests. The Big Red has scored road sweeps at (Yale, Brown) and (Clarkson, St. Lawrence). Overall, the squad has beaten three ranked squads on the road in Clarkson, St. Lawrence and Quinnipiac. The team will look to snap a three-game losing streak when it wraps the regular season with a trip to Rensselaer and Union in the season's final weekend.
 
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 leads the conference in goals with a 20-18 – 38 line through 27 games this year. She has collected at least one point in 12 of her last 15 games. She now has posted multi-points in 13 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 second in ECAC Hockey and tied for eighth nationally with a 1.46 points per game average. She trails just Jenner's 1.64 and is .01 ahead of 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 tied for 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. She has put together a strong run of late, although she has been tabbed with the loss each of her last three starts. She has gone 12-6-3 over her last 21 starts, while her peripheral stats have steadily improved. She played a pair of fine games over the weekend, making several big stops to bail out the Big Red. Unfotunately, the team could not put together enough offense to stake comeback efforts against Harvard and Dartmouth. She enters the season's final weekend with a 2.63 GAA and .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 last Tuesday. She posted an excellent opening week of February, 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 against Princeton.
 
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 41 points (13g-28a) through 25 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 56.8% on the season with 351 faceoff wins in 618 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 a big impact in her final regular season home game at Lynah Rink. She tallied two goals to push the Big Red to a 2-1 first period lead. Unfortunately, it would not be enough, as Dartmouth scored second and third period goals to pull off the road upset on Senior Day. She currently ranks ninth in NCAA Division I in points per game (1.45), while she ranks third in ECAC Hockey, trailing Jenner's mark of 1.64 and Fulton's 1.46. She currently sits fifth in the conference with 32 points, garnering consideration for the Patty Kazmeir award along with linemates Fulton and Jenner. 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, before last weekend.
 
Career Numbers Watch
* Brianne Jenner currently sits in second place on the all-time list in career points (219), second in assists (128), 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 two helpers. 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 (183) 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 four. With her three assists against Union she passed Cyndy Schlaepfer (1975-1978) for fourth all-time.
* Emily Fulton currently sits at 121 points – 57 goals and 64 assists – joining the century club with her goal and assist against St. Lawrence.
 
Up Next
The Big Red will head to the opening round best-of-3 series of the ECAC Hockey Tournament. Times, locations and matchups are still to be determined based on this weekend's results.