ITHACA, N.Y. — After two weekends on the road, the women's hockey team will return to Lynah Rink for a pair of ECAC Hockey games this weekend. Friday's game against Union will serve as the Big Red's Concussion Awareness Weekend game and will look to demonstrate the league-wide commitment to player welfare and safety and set a positive example for other leagues, teams and athletes of all ages.
 
Saturday's matchup with Rensselaer will be the team's annual Do It For Daron game. Do It For Daron (DIFD) is an organization founded by the family and friends of Daron Richardson, the sister of Morgan Richardson '16. DIFD strives to encourage people to consider the emotional and mental well-being of others through conversation and support and to encourage conversation about youth mental health to help challenge the mental illness stigma. Fans are encouraged to wear purple to the game to show support for the charity.
 
At both games, all fans will receive a coupon for a free Big Red burger and fries from The Boatyard Grill.
 
GAME #24: #7 CORNELL BIG RED vs. UNION DUTCHWOMEN
TIME: 6 p.m.
DATE: Friday, Feb. 3, 2017
PLACE: Lynah Rink — Ithaca, N.Y.
LIVE VIDEO: Ivy League Digital Network
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
LIVE UPDATES: @CUBigRedGameDay
 
GAME #25: #7 CORNELL BIG RED vs. RENSSELAER ENGINEERS
TIME: 3 p.m.
DATE: Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017
PLACE: Lynah Rink — Ithaca, N.Y.
LIVE VIDEO: Ivy League Digital Network
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
LIVE UPDATES: @CUBigRedGameDay
 
RECORDS: Cornell 14-6-3 (10-3-3 ECAC Hockey), Union 4-23-1 (1-14-1 ECAC Hockey), Rensselaer 9-17-2 (6-9-1)*
 
*records do not include Friday's games
 
GAME NOTES: Cornell | Union | Rensselaer

About the Big Red
• #7 Cornell is coming off of a three-point conference roadtrip, getting a 1-0 win over Dartmouth on Friday and a 2-2 overtime tie with Harvard on Saturday. Senior co-captain Kaitlin Doering scored the game's lone goal on Friday and sophomore Marlene Boissonnault earned the 13-save shutout. Junior Sarah Knee had a goal and an assist – on yet another Doering goal – against the Crimson on Saturday while senior Paula Voorheis stopped 30 shots to preserve the point.
• On Jan. 20, Cornell took down #3 Clarkson on the strength of a career-high 29 saves from Boissonnault and goals from Micah Hart and Pippy Gerace.
•  Against #5 St. Lawrence on Jan. 21, the Big Red dropped the 5-2 score line but freshman Kristin O'Neill scored her nation-leading and program-record fourth short-handed goal of the season.
• Senior Hanna Bunton leads the team in points (7-12—19) while O'Neill leads the team in goals and is second in points (10-8—18). 
• Senior Paula Voorheis has posted a .945 save percentage and a 1.62 goals against average, which rank fourth and 10th, respectively, in the nation. Boissonnault's 1.49 goals against average is fourth in the nation while her .926 save percentage is 12th overall. 

About Union
• After losses to #5 St. Lawrence (8-1) and #3 Clarkson (3-1) this past weekend, the Dutchwomen enter the weekend having dropped three-straight ECAC Hockey games.
• Union grabbed its first conference points of the year in in a 3-2 overtime game at Harvard on Jan. 14 and then followed that up with a point in a 2-2 tie with Rensselaer on Jan. 20.
• Haley Shugart (6-4—10) and Emily Erickson (5-5—10) share the team lead in points at 10 a piece while Caitlyn McLaren (4-5—9) leads the team with four power-play goals. 
• Kate Spooner has seen the majority of the time between the pipes for the Dutchwomen, going 4-15-1 with a .918 save percentage, a 2.77 goals against average and one shutout. 

The Series with Union
• With a 3-1 win back on Oct. 29, Cornell extended its unbeaten streak – which dates back to 2004 – against the Dutchwomen to 24 games. The Big Red got one goal in each period from Lenka Serdar, Kristin O'Neill and Kaitlin Doering.
• Cornell owns the all-time series lead of 24-1-1.

About Rensselaer
• The Engineers started 2017 by going 4-1-1 in conference play before dropping games to #3 Clarkson (4-2) and #5 St. Lawrence (5-2) this past weekend. The wins came over Brown (4-3), Yale (2-1, OT), Harvard (3-1) and Union (2-1). 
• Laura Horwood is first on the team in points (5-11—16) while Sabrina Repaci and Jaimie Grigsby are tied for second (7-6—13). Repaci leads the team in shots on goal (85) and power-play goals (4). 
• ECAC Hockey Preseason All-Conference selection Lovisa Selander has gone 9-15-2 in the crease, posting a .915 save percentage and a 2.65 goals against average. The sophomore has also earned two shutouts. 

The Series with Rensselaer
• The Engineers handed the Big Red its first loss of the season with a 1-0 win in Troy on Oct. 28. It marked Rensselaer's third-straight win over Cornell.
• Cornell still holds the overall series lead at 17-7-0. 

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.

Do It For Daron
• Saturday's game against Renssealer marks the annual Do It For Daron (DIFD) event.
• DIFD is an organization founded by the family and friends of Daron Richardson, the sister of Morgan Richardson '16, and aims to promote discussion about youth mental health and to end the stigma that surrounds the conversation. 

Headway Foundation
• ECAC Hockey has partnered with the Headway Foundation for a Concussion Awareness Weekend, with Cornell's game on Friday serving as the Big Red's Headway game.
• The Headway Foundation is a non-profit organization that address sports concussions and promoting a safer culture surrounding concussions. 

Doering Finding the Net
• After notching just three points on one goal and two assists during the first 14 games of the season, co-captain Kaitlin Doering has put up six goals and two assists in the last nine games. and has tied her season career-high of seven goals.
• The senior has scored in three-straight games, which is a career long goal-streak, with a goal against Dartmouth serving as her 50th career point. 
• With a goal and an assist against Syracuse on Jan. 10, Doering earned her fourth career multi-point game and her first in 30 games. 

Truly Special Teams
• Cornell is one of three teams in the NCAA that has yet to give up multiple power-play goals in game this season, joining Wisconsin and North Dakota  in that category.
• Cornell is one of five teams in that country that ranks in the top 10 in both power-play conversion and penalty-kill rate, with the Big Red sitting fourth and ninth, respectively, in both categories (Wisconsin, Colgate, Boston College, and Minnesota are the other schools).
• The Big Red penalty-kill unit had a 19-straight penalty-kill streak snapped in the first period against Syracuse on Jan. 10 but has yet to give up multiple power-play goals in a game this year.
• Colgate and Boston College are the only two teams to multiple power-play goals against Cornell since the beginning of the 2015-16 season.

Spreading the Wealth
• With senior goaltender Paula Voorheis earning her first career point on Jan. 10 with an assist against Syracuse, 18 of the 19 players on Cornell's roster have tallied at least one point this season .
• 95 percent of Cornell's roster earning at least one point ties it with Wisconsin for the largest percentage of the roster earning a point in the NCAA. 
• Saturday's opponent, Rensselaer, is tied for second as 91 percent of the Engineer roster has earned at least one point. 

The Tallest of Teams
• The Big Red roster has an average height of 5'6.5", making it the tallest in the NCAA with Lindenwood coming in a close second at 5'6.4".
•  Cornell's two-member junior class has an average height of 5'11.5", making it both the tallest junior class of any team in the NCAA and the tallest class overall, as it stands 2.5 inches over the next closest average in Ohio State's junior class.

Paula2K
• With her 21st save of the game on Jan. 21 against St. Lawrence, senior Paula Voorheis became the second goaltender in program history to reach 2,000 career saves.
• Alanna Hayes sits in first place all-time in program history with 2,381.
• Voorheis made a total of 822 saves during the 2014-15 season, which is tops in single-season history, and has made 363 her 13 starts this season.

O'Neill Sets Record
• Against St. Lawrence on Jan. 21, freshman Kristin O'Neill set a program record for short-handed goals in a season with four.
• O'Neill, who leads the nation in man-down goals, is the first freshman to notch four short-handed goals in a season since Monique Lamoreux recorded five during her 2008-09 freshman season at Minnesota. 

The Fastest Finish
• Senior Hanna Bunton's goal just 10 seconds into overtime on Jan. 14 against Quinnipiac not only secured Cornell two points but also marked the fastest overtime goal – men's or women's – across all levels of NCAA hockey this season.
• Bunton's 10 second tally tied for the fastest goal in NCAA Division I women's hockey in the past six seasons, as Brianna Decker scored 10 seconds in overtime for Wisconsin on Nov. 10, 2010.

Power-Play Prowess 
• Against Providence on Jan. 7, Cornell's final three goals came on the power-play and the Big Red finished the game 3-of-7 on the man-advantage. 
•  The only other game on record in program history in which Cornell scored three-straight power-play goals came last year in a 4-0 win over Vermont and in both instances, sophomore Pippy Gerace tallied the third goal. 

Don't Fall Behind the Big Red
• Cornell is 8-0-1 this season when leading after one period and 10-0-2 when leading after two periods.
• The team has scored first in 13 games this season, going 12-1-1 in those contests. 

Brilliant Bourbonnais
• Cornell is 8-0-1 when freshman Jaime Bourbonnais notches a point and 6-0-0 when she has an assist. 
• She has had three multi-point games this season.
• The defenseman is currently tied for third on the team in points with 11 (4-7—11).

The Kids Are Alright
• The Class of 2020, which makes up 37 percent of the roster, has notched 41 percent of Cornell's goals this year and 38 percent of the team's total points.
•  Of the team's 54 goals, 22 have come from a rookie class that has also put up 51 of the team's 136 points and 29 of the team's 82 assists. 

Freshmen Finesse
• When Kristin O'Neill scored her first goal of the game against Quinnipiac on Jan. 14, she was assisted on the goal by classmates Amy Curlew and Jaime Bourbonnais.
• It marked the first time this season that the Big Red had a goal and both assists all earned by rookies.

Points at a Premium
• Cornell enters the weekend in third place in the conference with 23 points and a 10-3-3 record.
• The team remains four points back of second-place St. Lawrence (13-2-1) and six back from first-place Clarkson (14-1-1).
• Princeton is just one point back from the Big Red with 22 points (10-4-2) while Quinnipiac isn't far behind in fifth with 20 points (9-5-2).
• The top four teams in the conference will host the best-of-three quarterfinal series in the final weekend of February.

Weekly Honors
• Hanna Bunton was named the ECAC Hockey Player of the Week for Jan. 16 for her heroic two-goal weekend in the Big Red's tie with Princeton and an overtime win over Quinnipiac.
• Bunton scored with 1:02 left on the clock to force overtime against the Tigers on Jan. 13 and then potted a goal just 10 seconds into overtime the next day against the Bobcats.
• The senior also earned the honor for the week of Nov. 14 after she notched her second career 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.

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. 

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. 

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.

Up Next
• Cornell will travel to Yale and Brown next weekend for games on Friday night and Saturday afternoon, respectively.