ITHACA, N.Y. – The top-seeded Cornell women's hockey team plays host to the ECAC Hockey championship weekend for the first time since 2013. The Big Red takes on Clarkson in the league title game at 2 p.m.
ECAC Hockey Finals
#1 Cornell vs. #3 Clarkson
GAME: 2 p.m. Sunday, March 10, 2019
PLACE: Lynah Rink • Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 23-4-6, 17-3-2 ECAC Hockey
Clarkson 28-7-2, 16-5-1 ECAC Hockey
VIDEO: ESPN+ —
United States |
International
LIVE STATS:
CornellBigRed.com
TICKETS:
CornellBigRedTickets.com
*Numbers reflect each team's seeding in the ECAC Hockey Tournament
ABOUT THE BIG RED
- Cornell enters the matchup with an overall record of 23-4-6 and finished the regular season with a mark of 17-3-2 in ECAC Hockey play. Cornell claimed the ECAC Hockey regular season title, marking its first since 2013.
- As a team, the Big Red is averaging 3.41 goals, which ranks 8th in the nation, while it is holding its opponents to 1.62 goals per game, which ranks second.
- The Big Red is 14-2 at Lynah Rink this season.
- This marks the eighth time in last 10 seasons that the Big Red has advanced to the league semifinals. In the span, the Big Red has posted a record of 4-3 in the title game.
BIG RED REWIND
- Cornell finished the 2017-18 season with an overall record of 21-9-3 and seventh in both of the major Division I polls.
- For the eighth time in the last nine years the Big Red advanced to the ECAC Hockey Semifinals, where it lost to the eventual national runner-up Colgate on a last second goal.
- Kristin O'Neill and freshman standout Maddie Mills led the team's offensive attack. O'Neill led the team in points (41), goals (20) and assists (21). Mills, the Ivy League Rookie of the Year last season, was close behind with 33 points on 15 goals and 18 assists.
- Of the four players who earned all-ECAC Hockey honors last season three are returning to the squad. O'Neill earned team honors, while Maddie Mills was tabbed to the all-rookie team. Defensemen Jaime Bourbonnais and Sarah Knee earned second and third team accolades, respectively.
- Bourbonnais who returns to squad this year led all defensmen in points on the team with 24. The then sophomore was tied for the team lead for assist with O'Neill with 21 and recorded three goals on the season.
- In net, Marlène Boissonnault was the main goaltender, starting 31 of the of the Big Red's 33 games. The Dundee, New Brunswick, native posted a goals against average of 1.76 paired along with a .924 save percentage. Boissonnault finished the season with two shutouts and an overall record of 21-7-3.
ABOUT HEAD COACH DOUG DERRAUGH '91
- Now in his 14th season directing the Cornell women's hockey program in 2018-19, Doug Derraugh has brought the Big Red women to their place among the nation's elite.
- Derraugh has an overall record of 264-148-42 as the head coach of the Big Red, with his 250th win coming in the form of a 4-0 win over No. 9/9 St. Lawrence on Nov. 30.
- Cornell has made the ECAC Hockey Tournament each of the last 11 seasons, has won the tournament four of the last nine years and has advanced to the NCAA Tournament in six of those seasons.
- The 2017 ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year 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.
REGULAR SEASON CHAMPS!
- The Big Red captured its first ECAC Hockey regular season title since 2013.
- Cornell finished with a total of 36 points in the standings, which was three more than Colgate, Clarkson and Princeton.
- 36 league points is also the most for the program since 2013, when it had 37.
- With two weeks left in the regular season, the Big Red was tied for second in the conference standings with Clarkson, three points behind then-leader Princeton. The Big Red won out to collect eight more points, while Princeton went 1-3 and Clarkson went 2-1-1.
IN THE POLLS
- The Big Red dropped a spot to No. 5 in the nation in both the USCHO.com Women's Division I Poll and the USA Today USA Hockey Magazine Division I Poll.
- In the USCHO.com poll, Cornell received 85 points, which was 16 more than sixth-ranked Boston College and 19 fewer than fourth-ranked Northeastern.
- In the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll, Cornell received 113 votes, which was 13 more than sixth-ranked Boston College and 21 fewer than fourth-ranked Clarkson.
ABOUT CLARKSON
- The two-time defending national champion and ECAC Hockey champion, Clarkson is the No. 3 seed in this season's ECAC Hockey tournament. The Golden Knights finished with a league mark of 16-5-1, but they lost the tiebreaker with Colgate based on head-to-head matchups.
- The Golden Knights swept Quinnipiac, 2-0, to advance to the semifinal round. The Golden Knights average 3.75 goals per game, which ranks third in the nation entering the weekend.
- Three Golden Knights make up the nation's top-seven point-scorers. Sophomore Elizabeth Giguère leads the nation with 68 (24g, 44a); right behind her is Patty Kaizmaier award finalist Loren Gabel with 66 (37g, 29a); and tied for sixth in the nation is Michaela Pejzlová with 52 (19g, 33a).
- In net this season, the Golden Knights have relied on Kassidy Sauvé, who has posted a goals against average of 1.75 and a save percentage of .933. This is Clarkson's ninth trip to championship weekend, all of which have come since 2008. The Golden Knights have played in five title games and have won two.
THE SERIES WITH CLARKSON
- The series between Cornell and Clarkson has been in existence since the 1974-75 season with the Big Red holding a 25-21-4 advantage.
- The Big Red snapped Clarkson's five-game winning streak in the series with a 3-1 victory when the two met in Lynah Rink earlier this season. Maddie Mills opened the scoring with just over four minutes remaining in the opening frame. The No. 3 Golden Knights knotted the contest at one with a goal from Loren Gabel with 10 seconds remaining in the second period. Jaime Bourbonnais added a power play goal just over eight minutes into the third. Kristin O'Neill scored an empty-netter with under a minute left to secure the win.
- The Golden Knights won the second meeting of the season up in Potsdam, 4-0. The two-time defending national champions scored all four goals in the first period to power past the Big Red.
FINALS HISTORY
- This is Cornell's eighth appearance in an ECAC Hockey championship game.
- The Big Red is 4-3 all time in the title game with wins coming in 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014.
- Clarkson and Colgate have met in the final once before in 2017 with the Golden Knights winning 3-0 on their home ice in Potsdam.
ALL-IVY HONORS
- Five members of the Big Red were recognized to the All-Ivy teams Wednesday afternoon and Doug Derraugh was named the Ivy League Coach of the Year.
- Kristin O'Neill and Jaime Bourbonnais were named to the first team. Bourbonnais was one of two unanimously voted to the first team.
- Maddie Mills, Micah Zandee-Hart and Marlène Boissonnault made up the Big Red members of the second team.
LAST TIME OUT
- The Big Red worked its way back from an early 2-0 deficit to defeat Princeton 3-2 in the semifinal game. Micah Zandee-Hart netted the game winner just over a minute into double overtime.
- Gillis Frechette was the first member of the Big Red to find the back of the net with a goal in the second period. Then Maddie Mills tied the game up at two with a wrap-around goal in the third.
KEEPING IT 100
- Junior captain Kristin O'Neill eclipsed the 100 career-point mark last weekend against Rensselaer. In Big Red history, 22 players have reached the century mark, with nine of the coming in the NCAA era (2001-present).
- This season, O'Neill has the fourth highest mark in Division I hockey with an average of .77 goals per game.
- Six of her tallies have been game-winners, which ranks third in the nation.
600 WINS
- With Sunday's win over Rensselaer, the Big Red won its 600th game in program history.
- 265 of those wins have come during Doug Derraugh's tenure.
PENALTY KILLERS
- Since Jan. 12, Cornell's penalty kill unit has been the best in the nation.
- The Big Red has killed 49 of the 52 penalties it has faced, which equates to a percentage of .942. The second best team during the span is RIT, which owns a percentage of .927.
- On the season, Cornell ranks fifth in the nation in penalty kill percentage with a percentage of .873.
- Prior to Jan. 12, the Big Red ranked 32nd in the nation in penalty kill percentage with a mark of .810.
THE FRESHY, FRECHETTE
- Freshman forward Gillis Frechette has registered seven points in the Big Red's last seven games, after registering three in Cornell's first 25. During the stretch she's netted a total of five goals and has added two assists.
- Frechette netted her first career goal on Feb. 15 against Brown on a redirect in front of the net.
- In game three against Rensselaer, the Weston, Massachusetts, native scored two goals for the first time in her career.
MILLS, A POINT FACTORY
- Sophomore forward Maddie Mills leads the team with 37 points (16g, 21a) on the season.
- Mills owns three point-streaks of five or more games this season.
- Mills has now reached the three-point barrier five times this season with the most recent coming against Brown on Feb. 15 she registered two goals and an assist. The Sewickly, Pennsylvania, recorded her first career hat trick against Harvard on Jan. 19.
HAVE A DAY, BOURBONNAIS
- Junior defenseman Jaime Bourbonnais averages the second most points per game in the nation (1.04) by a defenseman trailing only Boston College's Megan Keller. Additionally, she has the fourth highest assists per game average (.71) and goal per game average (.32) of any defenseman in the nation.
- Her top performance of the season came against Robert Morris, when she had a career-high three points (1g, 2a).
- The Mississauga, Ontario, native became the sixth defenseman in the program's Division I history against Rensselaer on Feb. 22 to reach 50 career assists.
- With 69 career points, she ranks sixth in Cornell's Division I history in points by a defensemen. Bourbonnais is five shy of tying Cassandra Poudrier for the fifth place all-time.
LIKE A BOSS
- Senior goaltender Marlène Boissonnault moved into second place on the program's all-time wins list with 55. With last Friday's win over Rensselaer, Bossionnault passed Amanda Mazzotta (53) for second place all-time.
- She posted her 13th career shutout against Harvard on Jan. 19, which passed Kathryn LoPresti (1985-88) for the third most in program history. Since then she's added two more shutouts with the most recent one coming against Yale on Feb. 16.
- This season, the Dundee, New Brunswick, native owns a record of 19-3-4 and has recorded six shutouts.
- Boissonnault ranks third in ECAC Hockey with a goals against average of 1.84. Her .750 win percentage is also the second highest in the league amongst goaltenders that have played in at least seven contests.
O CANADA
- Eight Cornellians led Canada to a second place finish in the 4 Nations Cup from Nov. 6-10 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
- Current members Micah Zandee-Hart, Kristin O'Neill and Jaime Bourbonnais earned a spot on the roster as well as women's hockey alumnae Laura Fortino, Johnston, Brianne Jenner and Jillian Saulnier. Head Coach Doug Derraugh will serve as an assistant coach.
- The roster was narrowed down from the 59 players invited to the national women's team Fall Festival back in September, which had a total of 10 Cornellians in attendance: Zandee-Hart, Kristin O'Neill, Bourbonnais, Johnston, Jenner, Lauriane Rougeau, Fortino and Jillian Saulnier were evaluated. Derraugh served as coach while former Big Red goaltender Amanda Mazzotta served as a goaltending consultant.
- On March 6, Bourbonnais, Zandee-Hart, Fortino, Jenner, Johnston and Saulnier were named to the 2019 IIHF Women's World Championship, taking place April 4-14 in Espoo, Finland.
EIGHT-GOAL BARRAGE
TWO C's
- Micah Zandee-Hart and Kristin O'Neill are donning Cs on their jerseys this season, as Derraugh announced the tandem as team captains.
- Zandee-Hart spent last year with Hockey Canada and is rejoining the Big Red for the 2018-19 season. In 2016-17, the Saanichton, British Columbia, native earned both first team all-ECAC Hockey and all-Ivy League honors and was just the second sophomore captain in school history.
- In 2017-18, O'Neill led Cornell in goals (20), assists (21), points (41) and plus/minus (+26). The Oakville, Ontario, native was tabbed the Ivy League Player of the Year and earned first team all-ECAC Hockey and all-Ivy honors.
PRESEASON BLING
- Kristin O'Neill and Jaime Bourbonnais were tabbed to the preseason all-league squad back in September.
- O'Neill led the team in goals (20), assists (21), points (41) and plus/minus (26) last season. A first team all-league selection, O'Neill ranked fourth in the conference in goals per game, averaging 0.65. In addition to being the ECAC Hockey Player of the Month last November, she also was twice named the league's player of the week.
- Bourbonnais was a second team all-league selection last season. She led all defensemen on the team with 24 points on three goals and 21 assists. Additionally, she led all defensemen in the league in assists per game, averaging 0.68
PRESEASON PROJECTIONS
- Cornell was picked to finished third in the ECAC Hockey Preseason Poll, the league office announced in September.
- The Big Red received 101 points in the poll, which was 18 more Princeton, which was picked to finish fourth, and eight fewer than Colgate, which was picked to finish second.
- Cornell finished last season ranked third in the conference with a league mark of 15-5-2.
THE ROOKS
BORDER BATTLE
- Out of the 23 players on the roster, 15 are from the United States while eight call Canada home.
- The Americans have representatives from the Northeast region (8), Midwest (5), South (1) and West (1).
- The Canadians on the roster come from four different providences: Ontario (3), New Brunswick (2), Saskatchewan (1), Newfoundland and Labrador (1) and British Columbia (1).
47 YEARS OF BIG RED HOCKEY
- With the start of the 2018-19 season, the women's hockey program is embarking on its 47th season of intercollegiate play and currently holds an all-time record of 601-511-76.
- 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.
