ITHACA, N.Y. — Important ECAC Hockey and Ivy League points will be up for grabs this weekend as Cornell women's hockey returns home for the first time since Nov. 17 to host Yale and Brown. In addition to looking for its first win at Lynah Rink this season, the Big Red will also be working to preserve double-digit unbeaten streaks against both the Bulldogs and the Bears. Yale currently sits one point ahead of Cornell in eighth in the ECAC Hockey standings.
 
GAME 18: Cornell Big Red vs. Yale Bulldogs
WHEN: Friday, Jan. 15, 2016 — 7 p.m.
WHERE: Lynah Rink — Ithaca, N.Y.
2015-16 RECORDS: Cornell 7-8-2 (3-5-2 ECAC Hockey), Yale 5-11-1 (4-5-1 ECAC Hockey)
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
LIVE VIDEO: Ivy League Digital Network
 
GAME 19: Cornell Big Red vs. Brown Bears
WHEN: Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016 — 4 p.m.
WHERE: Lynah Rink — Ithaca, N.Y.
2015-16 RECORDS: Cornell 7-8-2 (3-5-2 ECAC Hockey), Brown 3-13-0 (1-9-0 ECAC Hockey)*
LIVE STATS:  CornellBigRed.com
LIVE VIDEO:  Ivy League Digital Network
*—records do not include Friday's games
 
GAME NOTES:
Cornell | Yale (coming soon) | Brown
 
ABOUT THE BIG RED
After winning four of five games heading into the holiday break, Cornell opened the New Year with a split of ECAC Hockey and Ivy League opponents Harvard and Dartmouth, falling to the No. 9/9 Crimson but powering out a win over the Big Green the next day. Colgate then scored three unanswered second period goals to topple the Big Red, 4-3, on Tuesday, Jan. 12. Of Cornell's eight losses, five have come at the hands of nationally ranked opponents, including two to now-No. 1 Boston College. Junior Hanna Bunton leads the team with 18 points (9-9—18). Junior Kaitlin Doering and seniors Taylor Woods and Jess Brown have five goals apiece.
 
ABOUT YALE
The Bulldogs still stand as the only blemish on Quinnipiac's record this season, beating their New Haven neighbors, 4-3, on Oct. 31 in the first weekend of ECAC Hockey play. The Bobcats have defeated Yale on three other occasions this season, though, with two of those coming in nonconference tilts. The Bulldogs swept their weekend in the capital region, downing Rensselaer (4-1) and Union (2-1, OT) and most recently picked up an important conference win with a handy 5-2 win over St. Lawrence behind a hat trick from Hanna Åström. Their conference losses have all come from the four teams that currently sit atop the league standings: Quinnipiac (2), Princeton (2), Harvard and Clarkson. Sophomore defenseman Mallory Souliotis leads the team in points (3-13—16), while senior Janelle Ferrara and junior Phoebe Staenz have six goals apiece. Junior Hanna Mandl has been the Bulldogs' primary goaltender, posting a .887 save percentage and 3.32 goals-against average.
 
THE SERIES VS. YALE
The Big Red has a 10-game unbeaten streak against the Bulldogs spanning seven years and a holds a 52-13-1 advantage all-time. Yale's last win against Cornell came on Jan. 23, 2009 when the Bulldogs topped the Big Red, 3-1. Yale hasn't won at Lynah since Nov. 9, 2007. Erin O'Connor had a goal and two assists in Cornell's 6-2 romp over the Bulldogs last season on Nov. 15, 2014, at Lynah, and Caroline DeBruin netted the game-winner in a 2-0 Big Red win on Jan. 16, 2015.
 
ABOUT BROWN
The Bears' only conference victory this season came at winless Union on Dec. 4. Out of conference, Brown picked up wins over RIT and Sacred Heart. In the first weekend of the New Year, the Bears came within striking distance of St. Lawrence, falling 2-1 on home ice. Sophomore Sam Donovan's six goals top the team, while junior Maddie Woo holds the points lead with eight on a goal and seven assists.
 
THE SERIES VS. BROWN
The Bears haven't beaten the Big Red since Jan. 20, 2007 and haven't won a game in Ithaca since Nov. 5, 2005. Cornell's 17-game unbeaten streak against Brown has helped the Big Red to a 42-34-8 all-time advantage over the Bears. Last season, on Jan. 17, 2015, Brown jumped out to a 1-0 lead and tied the game at 2-2 before the Big Red scored a pair of power play goals to win, 4-2. When the teams played at Lynah on Nov. 14, 2014, Erin O'Connor set a career high with three assist in the 5-1 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.
 
HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN
The Big Red returns home after nearly two months without a game at Lynah Rink, going 5-4 over the nine-game span away from Ithaca.
 
MAN DOWN
Junior Kaitlin Doering scored a shorthanded goal in back-to-back games, netting her first career man-down goal on Jan. 9 at Dartmouth before adding another on Jan. 12 at Colgate. The last Cornell women's hockey player to score a shorthanded goal in consecutive games was Rebecca Johnston on Jan. 21 and 22, 2011, both against Colgate.
 
DOUBLES AND TRIPLES
In Cornell's 5-3 win over Dartmouth on Jan. 9, four players finished with multiple points. Freshman Christian Higham scored two goals, her first career multi-goal, multi-point game. Junior Brianna Veerman added a career-high three assists and defensemen Micah Hart and Erin O'Connor each chipped in a pair of assists.
 
NATIONS CUP
Senior captain Cassandra Poudrier, junior Hanna Bunton and freshman Micah Hart competed with the Canadian Women's National Development Team this week in the 2016 Nations Cup in Germany. Team Canada defeated Sweden, 2-1, in a shootout on Monday in the first game of the preliminary round. Poudrier, who was serving as one of Canada's assistant captains, assisted on the team's first goal in a 4-2 preliminary-round win over Russia on Tuesday to earn Canada a spot in the gold medal game.
 
HATS OFF
*Senior Jess Brown netted her second career hat trick in Cornell's 4-3 win over St. Lawrence on Dec. 4. Brown tallied in each period and was responsible for the game-winner.  
*Junior Hanna Bunton notched her first career hat trick, part of a four-point outing, in the Big Red's 6-1 rout of Mercyhurst on Nov. 21. The final of her three goals on the afternoon was her eighth of the season, a career high just 10 games into the year.
 
WINDJAMMER WINNERS
The Big Red won the Windjammer Classic hosted by Vermont the weekend of Nov. 28-29, beating Boston University, 4-2, and Vermont, 4-0, for the team's first weekend sweep of the season. Senior captain Cassandra Poudrier was named the tournament MVP and earned All-Tournament honors after a five-point weekend. Forwards freshman Pippy Gerace and senior Taylor Woods and freshman goaltender Marlene Boissonnault were also named to the All-Tournament Team.
 
WEEKLY HONORS
Poudrier was named ECAC Hockey Player of the Week and Gerace earned Rookie of the Week honors the week of Nov. 30 for their performances in the Windjammer Classic. Poudrier posted two goals and three assists in the tournament while Gerace added two goals, including the game-winner against Boston University, and an assist.
 
PUTTING UP NUMBERS
After averaging just a goal a game in October, the Big Red has scored 35 goals over its last 11 games, netting at least three in eight contests over that span. Once near the bottom of the national rankings for scoring offense, Cornell has climbed to 15th in Division I with an average of 2.47 goals per game.
 
WITH THE ADVANTAGE
Since scoring three power-play goals in a weekend series with Mercyhurst, Cornell has now scored ten man-advantage goals in its past nine games, posting a 27.8 percent power-play efficiency over that span.
 
AT THE HART OF IT
After adding two assists in the Big Red's 5-3 win over Dartmouth on Jan. 9, freshman Micah Hart has recorded eight points (1-9—10) in the past nine games. She earned her first career points for Cornell in a three-point weekend against Mercyhurst. Hart scored the Big Red's lone goal on Nov. 20. The next day, she posted two assists, her first career multi-point game, in Cornell's 6-1 win before adding three assists in the Windjammer Classic.
 
BEATING THE UNBEATEN
Cornell's thrilling 2-1 win over then-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.
*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.
*Quinnipiac goaltender junior Sydney Rossman hadn't surrendered a goal in 81:28 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.
 
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
*With her first goal of the game at Mercyhurst on Nov. 21, junior Hanna Bunton moved into a tie for No. 17 on the Cornell all-time list for game-winning goals with seven. Senior Taylor Woods is currently tied for the No. 23 spot with six. Bunton is two game-winners away from being tied for tenth.
*Woods is tied for 12th all-time with 12 career power-play goals. She is three 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 and Kaitlin Doering are tied for 12th all-time with two short-handed goals.
*Woods has surpassed Caeleigh Beerworth for the No. 12 spot with 312 career shots on goal. She needs six shots on goal to surpass Liz Zorn in the No. 11 spot. Woods was also No. 13 for shots per game with 2.69 entering her senior season.
*After the Windjammer Classic, senior Cassandra Poudrier jumped two spots into 15th all-time in  career shots on goal. With 239, she is just 17 shots away from overtaking Alyssa Gagliardi in 14th.
*With six shots on goal against Harvard and Dartmouth on Jan. 8-9, Bunton jumped over Dana Antal, Brittany Forgues and Hayleigh Cudmore into 16th.
*Junior Paula Voorheis sits at No. 6 for most career wins in program history with 28.
*With her blanking of Vermont, Voorheis is now tied for seventh with six shutouts.
*Voorheis moved into the No. 11 spot for saves with 30 saves against Rensselaer on Oct. 30. She now has 1376.
 
UP NEXT
The Big Red hosts its North Country foes, Clarkson and St. Lawrence, at home on Jan. 22 and 23. Cornell split the series on the road in December, beating the Saints but falling to the Golden Knights. Friday's game against Clarkson will be streamed on ESPN3.