ITHACA, N.Y. — After a month away from Lynah Rink, the women's hockey team will drop the puck on 2017 when it welcomes Providence of Hockey East for a pair of games on Friday and Saturday.

Cornell (8-4-1, 6-2-1 ECAC Hockey) and Providence (9-10-1, 5-6-1 WHEA) have played over 40 times since first meeting in 1979 but have not met since January 2010. The Big Red is 1-4-0 against the Friars under head coach Doug Derraugh.
 
GAME #14: CORNELL BIG RED vs. PROVIDENCE FRIARS
TIME: 6 p.m.
DATE: Friday, Jan. 6, 2017
PLACE: Lynah Rink — Ithaca, N.Y.
LIVE VIDEO: Ivy League Digital Network
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
LIVE UPDATES: @CUBigRedGameDay
 
GAME #15: CORNELL BIG RED vs. PROVIDENCE FRIARS
TIME: 3 p.m.
DATE: Saturday, Jan. 7, 2017
PLACE: Lynah Rink — Ithaca, N.Y.
LIVE VIDEO: Ivy League Digital Network
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
LIVE UPDATES: @CUBigRedGameDay
 
RECORDS: Cornell 8-4-1 (6-2-1 ECAC Hockey), Providence 9-10-1 (5-6-1 WHEA)
 
*-records do not include Friday's results

Game Notes: Cornell | Providence
 
About the Big Red
• Prior to the winter break month-long layoff, Cornell earned four important conference points with wins over Harvard (3-0) on Dec. 2 and Dartmouth (2-1) on Dec. 3. It was the second two-win conference weekend of the season for the Big Red, as the team topped Brown (4-0) on Nov. 11 and Yale (4-2) on Nov. 12.
• Cornell dropped two games to No. 1 Wisconsin the last weekend of November. Despite 50 minutes of scoreless play in the first game – thanks to a career-high 51 saves from senior Paula Voorheis – the Big Red couldn't pull off an upset, as the Badgers netted two goals in five minutes and added an empty-net insurance goal with under a minute to go.
•  Senior forward Hanna Bunton leads the team in scoring with three goals and 10 assists for 13 points while freshman Kristin O'Neill is second on the team with seven goals and four assists for 11 points.
•  Senior goaltender Paula Voorheis, who is 4-3-0 in her seven starts for the Big Red, currently leads the nation with a .959 save percentage. She also holds a 1.30 goals against average – which is third-best in the country – and earned a shutout against Harvard on Dec. 2.
 
About Providence
• The Friars finished the 2016 portion of their schedule with a 9-10-1 record after topping Merrimack, 3-2, on Dec. 9. Providence has played four games against ECAC Hockey teams, topping Union (4-2) and Brown (7-3) but dropping two games to Princeton (4-2, 7-3).
• Providence is ninth nationally in scoring with a 3.20 goals per game average and the team's 14.4 percent power play conversion and 87.8 percent penalty kill rate are both 15th in the country. The team is giving up an average of 3.00 goals per game, which is 27th overall.
• Cassidy Carels – a two-time Hockey East Performer of the Week – leads the team in scoring with 22 points (13g, 9a).
• Between the pipes, Madison Myers has seen the majority of the minutes, posting a 2.68 goals against average, a .905 save percentage and two shutouts while going 5-7-1.
 
The Series with Providence
• These two teams have met a total of 41 times since their first meeting in 1979, with the Friars boasting an overall series lead of 5-35-1.
• The teams haven't met since the 2009-10 season when the Friars swept the Big Red in Providence with a pair of three goal wins.
• Cornell is 1-4-0 against Providence under head coach Doug Derraugh.
 
About Head Coach Doug Derraugh '91
• Now in his 12th season directing the Cornell women's hockey program in 2016-17, Doug Derraugh amassed a 202-126-28 record in his first 11 seasons as the head coach of the Big Red, with his 200th win coming in the form of a 4-2 win last year against Yale.
• Cornell has made the ECAC Hockey Tournament each of the last nine seasons, won the tournament four of the last seven years and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in five of those seasons.
• Derraugh guided the Big Red to the national title game in his fifth season and back-to-back-to-back NCAA Frozen Four appearances in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
• He led the team to five consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time in program history in 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-2014.
 
Home, Sweet Home
• Cornell is in the midst of an eight-game home stand, which is the longest homes stand in program history.
• The Big Red is 6-0-0 at Lynah Rink this year, making it the only ECAC Hockey team without a loss or tie on home ice.
• Cornell is only allowing .75 goals per game at home, which is first in the conference.
• The team's scoring average at home of 3.25 goals per game is second in the conference only to Clarkson (5.20).
 
Saves and Shutouts
• Senior goaltender Paula Voorheis leads the nation with a .959 save percentage and is third overall with a 1.30 goals against average.
• She has made a total of 209 saves in her seven starts this season, giving her 1,876 saves in her career and placing her second all-time in program history.
• Alanna Hayes sits first with 2,381 saves.
• Voorheis made a total of 822 saves during the 2014-15 season, which is tops in single-season history.
• Voorheis also sits tied for fifth all-time with seven shutouts, two behind Hayes' who sits fourth with nine and 16 behind Amanda Mazzotta '12, who owns the record with 22.
 
Brilliant Bourbonnais
• Cornell is 5-0-1 when freshman Jaime Bourbonnais notches a point and 4-0-0 when she has an assist.
• She has had two multi-point games this season, notching a  goal and an assist against both Mercyhurst and Harvard.
• The defenseman is currently third on the team in points with seven (3g, 4a).
 
The Kids Are Alright
• The Class of 2020 has notched 40 percent of the team's points so far this season.
• Of the 73 points that Cornell has accrued, 29 have come from the freshman class as 15 of the 29 goals (52 percent) and 14 of the 44 assists (32 percent) have been earned by rookies.
 
Short-handed Success
• Freshman Kristin O'Neill tallied her third short-handed goal of the season on Nov. 18 against Quinnipiac, tying a program season record and putting her in a three-way tie for the national lead.
• She is the first freshman to record three short-handed tallies in a season since Northeastern's Kendall Coyne, Boston College's Alex Carpenter and Boston University's Kayla Tutino each had three in their 2011-12 freshman seasons.
 
Blocked Out
• Cornell blocked 24 shots against Wisconsin on Nov. 25 and then blocked another 21 shots on Nov. 26, making it the third and fourth time, respectively, that the Big Red has recorded at least 15 blocked shots in a game this year.
• Sophomore co-captain Micah hart leads the team with 26 blocks and 2.00 blocks per game, which is fifth in the conference and ties her for 16th in the nation.
• The Big Red has registered double-digit shot blocks in 10 of its 13 games this season.
 
Hats off to Hanna
• Senior Hanna Bunton notched her second career hat trick in the Big Red's 4-0 win over Brown on Nov. 11.
• She scored all three goals in the third period, including the game-winner just 2:05 into the final frame.

Second Period Shutouts
• Cornell did not allow a goal in the second period through the first six games of the season, the longest such streak in the NCAA.
• Though the Big Red has allowed five goals in the second period of games since Yale struck on Nov. 12, that number in the middle frame is still the lowest in the nation.
 
Weekly Honors
• Hanna Bunton was named the ECAC Hockey Player of the Week for Nov. 14 for her five point performance in the Big Red's wins over Brown and Yale.
• The senior notched a hat trick in the 4-0 win over the Bears and then assisted on two goals, including the game-winner, in a 4-2 win over the Bulldogs.
 
Preseason Honor
• Sophomore defenseman Micah Hart was named to the preseason All-ECAC team.
• Cornell last had a representative on the preseason all-conference team prior to the 2014-15 season when both Jill Saulnier and Brianne Jenner were selected.
 
Century Club
• A trio of Big Red players eclipsed the 100 career games played mark in the first nine games of the 2016-17 season.
• In the second game of the season against Mercyhurst on Oct. 22, senior Sydney Smith played in her 100th career game in the Cornellian red and white.
• Senior co-captain Kaitlin Doering skated in her 100th career game on Oct. 29 against Union.
• Senior forward Hanna Bunton played her 100th career game on Nov. 19 against Princeton.
• Alyssa Gagliardi '13 holds the all-time record for career games played in program history with 138.
 
The 45th Season
• With the start of the 2016-17 season, the women's hockey program embarked on its 45th season of intercollegiate play, and  the Big Red currently holds an all-time record of 545-493-63.
• Cornell, which began play with the 1972-73 season, is the second-oldest Division I women's program in the country still in existence. Brown began play in 1967-68.
 
Meet the Captains
• Senior Kaitlin Doering and sophomore Micah Hart will be serving as Cornell's captains for the 2016-17 season.
• Doering is coming off a 2015-16 season in which she set a career high with 18 points on seven goals and 11 assists.
• Hart led all Big Red defensemen last year with 18 points on one goal and 17 assists, finished the season with six multi-point outings and was second on the team with 56 blocked shots.
• Hart is just the fourth sophomore to don a letter in program history and the second to serve as a captain.
 
The New Kids
• The Class of 2020 makes up 37 percent of the Big Red roster this year and consists of six forwards and one defenseman.
• Grace Graham, Hanna Mutschelknaus,  Valérie Audet, Paige Lewis, Kristin O'Neill and Amy Curlew will play up front, while Jaime Bourbonnais will patrol the blue line.
• Graham, Audet, O'Neill, Curlew and Bourbonnais all hail from Canada while Mutschelknaus and Lewis come from South Dakota and Connecticut, respectively.
 
Five Players, Six Medals
• The Big Red has five players on the roster who have earned a collective six medals for Team Canada at the IIHF U-18 World Championships.
•  Hanna Bunton assisted on the game-winning goal in overtime of the 2013 gold medal game.
• Micah Hart captained a 2015 squad that included Marlène Boissonnault and Kristin O'Neill to a silver medal, while O'Neill and Jaime Bourbonnais earned silver medals at the 2016 competition.
 
Nations Cup
• Sophomore co-captain Micah Hart and freshmen Jaime Bourbonnais and Kristin O'Neill were selected to Canada's National Women's Development Team for the upcoming Nations Cup in January.
• Jill Saulnier '15 was also named to the roster and will captain the squad – with Hart serving as an assistant captain.
• Hart was part of the Canadian team that won gold at last year's event and also skated with O'Neill for Canada in a three-game series against the United States in August.
• Bourbonnais will be making her Canadian National Women's Development Team debut.
• The trio will be looking to help Canada retain gold at the four-day 2017 Nations Cup, which is being played Jan. 4-7 in Fussen, Germany and Telfs, Austria. Canada opens the tournament on Jan. 4 against the Czech Republic.
 
December Series Sextet
• Sophomore co-captain Micah Hart made her Canada's National Women's team debut in the inaugural two-game December Series against the United States.
• Joining Hart on that 22-player roster were five former Cornellians in Laura Fortino '13, Brianne Jenner '15, Rebecca Johnston '12, Lauriane Rougeau '13 and Jillian Saulnier '15.
 
Big Red Rewind
• Cornell finished the 2015-16 season with a 13-14-4 record, which was good enough to make the ECAC Hockey tournament for the ninth straight year, but the team bowed out in the quarterfinal round to an eventual Frozen Four team in Clarkson.
• Hanna Bunton led the Big Red in scoring with 13 goals and 14 assists for 27 points while Jess Brown and Kaitlin Doering finshed second and third, respectively.
• Paula Voorheis went 8-12-3 between the pipes and posted a 2.38 goals against average and a .915 save percentage. In six decisions, Marlène Boissonnault went 5-1 with a 3.02 goals against average and a .882 save percentage
 
Pro Pipeline
• Between both the Canadian Women's Hockey League and the National Women's Hockey League, 12 Cornellians appeared on a professional opening night roster.
• In the CWHL, the 2016 Clarkson Cup-winning Calgary Inferno boasts five former Big Red skaters in Brianne Jenner, Hayleigh Cudmore, Jessica Campbell, Jill Saulnier and Rebecca Johnston. Emily Fulton is the lone Cornell graduate skating for the Toronto Furies. Cassandra Poudrier joins Lauriane Rougeau on the Montreal Les Canadiennes roster and Taylor Woods has reunited with former teammate Laura Fortino on the Brampton Thunder.
• In the NWHL, both Alyssa Gagliardi and Lauren Slebodnick are attempting to win their second-straight Isobel Cup with the Boston Pride.
 
Up Next
• The Big Red will welcome Syracuse to Lynah Rink on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. for a non-conference matchup.
• Cornell will resume ECAC Hockey play on Jan. 13 and 14 when it welcomes Princeton and Quinnipiac, respectively, to East Hill.