ITHACA, N.Y. - The #1 Cornell women's ice hockey team hosts #10 Mercyhurst for an NCAA quarterfinal round matchup. The winner will advance to the Frozen Four, in Boston, Mass., where it will take on the victor of fourth-seeded Minnesota and #4 Ohio State in the national semifinal on March 20.
Game Information - NCAA First Round
#10 Mercyhurst at #1 Cornell
DATE: Saturday, March 14
TIME: 2:00 PM
SITE: Lynah Rink - Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORD: Cornell 28-2-3, 19-0-3 ECAC Hockey; Mercyhurst 21-10-5, 13-4-3 College Hockey America
SERIES RECORD: Mercyhurst leads, 16-11-5
STREAM:
Stretch Internet
STATS:
CornellBigRed.com
TICKETS: Tickets will be unavailable; each student-athlete will be limited to three guests
MERCHANDISE:
https://www.event1teamstore.com/
**records as of March 11
Cornell game notes
Mercyhurst game notes
How to Watch
- Cornell has opened the gates to watch the NCAA First Round game versus Mercyhurst on Stretch Internet.
- Fans, from all over the world - the United States included, will be able to watch the game on the Stretch Internet link above at no cost.
About the Big Red
- For the fifth week in a row, the Big Red is ranked #1 in the USCHO.com poll and the USA Hockey/USA Today poll.
- The Big Red is 28-2-3 on the season with a 19-0-3 record in ECAC Hockey. Its 22-game unbeaten streak was snapped against #6 Princeton in the ECAC Hockey Championship game after beating #10 Harvard in the semifinal to advance to the title game.
- To close out the regular season, Cornell clinched the Ivy League title and the ECAC Hockey Regular Season title in back-to-back weekends. With its final weekend of ECAC Hockey regular-season, the 2019-20 team became the first team in program history to go undefeated in regular-season league play.
- Within the ECAC Hockey League, Cornell finished unbeaten with 19 wins and three ties. The Big Red tied #7 Clarkson, 1-1, twice (11/9 & 1/31) and Union, 3-3 (1/10).
- Outside of the conference, the Big Red beat #8 Robert Morris twice, Syracuse and #6 Ohio State. The one loss came on November 29 at #6 Ohio State. To open 2020, the Big Red swept Mercyhurst with a 6-2 win and a 2-1 victory in overtime on Jan. 4-5.
- Cornell is led by three skaters who have eclipsed 40 points. Senior defender Jaime Bourbonnais and junior forward Maddie Mills lead with 41 points while senior forward Kristin O'Neill has 40.
- Bourbonnais leads the team with 34 assists. She recently assisted one goal against Harvard in the league semifinal. She has earned a point in all but three games on the season - at St. Lawrence (11/8) and #6 Princeton (12/6 & 3/8)). In not earning a point against Princeton in the title game, she snapped a 20-game point streak.
- Mills is tied with Bourbonnais with 41 points. Her tallies are split evenly with 20 goals and 20 assists. Most recently, Mills notched three points against Harvard, with two goals and one assist, in the semifinal game for her 13th multi-point game on the season.
- O'Neill's 25 goals leads the team. She tallied points in both championship games over the last weekend. Her two goals and one assist included the game-winning goal against Harvard on Saturday and her point on Sunday served as the first goal against Princeton.
- Lindsay Browning became the first goalie in program history to open the season with three shutouts when the team beat Quinnipiac (11/1), 1-0. After playing at Colgate (1/25), Browning earned three straight shutouts for the second time this season. She has broken the single-season record for shutouts (12) and wins (28). In 33 games, Browning has 595 saves for a .952 save percentage. The junior goalie has let 30 shots past her and into the net for a .91 goals against average.
Work as a Team, Win as a Team
- The Cornell Big Red women's ice hockey team ranks:
- 1st in the nation in scoring defense (.94 goals against per game - 31 in 33 games)
- 1st in the nation in penalty kills (93.0% - 120/129 penalties killed)
- 1st in the nation in team winning percentage (.894)
- 2nd in the nation in scoring margin (2.91 - 3.85 goals for per game, .94 goals against per game)
- 3rd in combined special teams (56.9% - 145/255)
- 5th in the nation in scoring offense (3.85 goals per game - 127 in 33 games)
- 7th in the nation in power plays (19.8% - 25/126)
- The Big Red finished the ECAC Hockey season:
- 1st in the league in scoring offense (3.82 goals per game - 84 in 22 games)
- 1st in the league in scoring defense (0.73 goals against per game - 16 goals against in 22 games)
- 1st in the league in winning percentage (93.2%)
- 2nd in the league in penalty kill percentage (93.4% - 71/76 penalties killed)
- 2nd in the league in power play percentage (19.5% - 16/82)
Individuals Ranked Nationally
- Jaime Bourbonnais
- 2nd in points per game (defenders) (1.24)
- 5th in assists per game (1.03)
- 14th in plus/minus (+35); tied with Maddie Mills and Olivia Knowles (Minnesota)
- 18th in points per game (1.24); tied with Maddie Mills
- 21st in power-play assists (0.27); tied with Ella Shelton (Clarkson)
- 32nd in short-handed goals (0.03); tied with six other people
- 34th in power-play points (0.33)
- Lindsay Browning
- 1st in goals against average (0.91)
- 1st in winning percentage (.894)
- 1st in shutouts (12)
- 1st in wins (28)
- 2nd in save percentage (.952)
- Amy Curlew
- 24th in plus/minus (+30); tied with Paige Lewis, Grace Graham and Gillis Frechette
- 42nd in power-play goals (0.12); tied with five other people
- 49th in game-winning goals (0.09); tied with three other people
- Izzy Daniel
- 29th in points per game (freshman) (0.59)
- Gillis Frechette
- Grace Graham
- 10th in game-winning goals per game (0.15); tied with Maddie Mills and Tereza Vanisova (Maine)
- 11th in short-handed goals per game (0.06); tied with Mikyla Grant-Mentis (Merrimack)
- 24th in plus/minus (+30); tied with Paige Lewis, Amy Curlew and Gillis Frechette
- 38th in goals per game (0.45); tied with Anne Bloomer (Harvard) and Katy Meehan (Saint Anselm)
- Paige Lewis
- 24th in plus/minus (+30); tied with Grace Graham, Gillis Frechette and Amy Curlew
- 26th in assists per game (0.67); tied with Sammy Davis (Boston U.)
- 45th in points per game (0.94); tied with Tereza Vanisova (Maine)
- Maddie Mills
- 5th in power-play goals per game (0.24); tied with Carly Bullock (Princeton)
- 10th in game-winning goals per game (0.15); tied with Grace Graham and Tereza Vanisova (Maine)
- 14th in plus/minus (+35); tied with Jaime Bourbonnais and Olivia Knowles (Minnesota)
- 17th in goals per game (0.61); tied with Miklya Grant-Mentis (Merrimack)
- 18th in points per game (1.24); tied with Jaime Bourbonnais
- 19th in power-play points per game (0.42); tied with Carly Bullock (Princeton)
- 34th in assists per game (0.64)
- Kristin O'Neill
- 3rd in goals per game (0.83)
- 8th in game-winning goals per game (0.17)
- 11th in plus/minus (+36); tied with Sophie Shirley (Wisconsin) and Abby Roque (Wisconsin)
- 13th in points per game (1.33)
- Willow Slobodzian
- 36th in points per game (defenders) (0.55)
- Micah Zandee-Hart
- 4th in points per game (defenders) (1.03)
- 6th in plus/minus (+39); tied with Elizabeth Giguere (Clarkson) and Sarah Potomak (Minnesota)
- 10th in power-play assists per game (0.35); tied with Sarah Fillier (Princeton)
- 13th in assists per game (0.81)
- 21st in power-play points per game (0.42)
- 23rd in short-handed goals per game (0.03); tied with Claire Thompson (Princeton) and Charlea Pederson (St. Lawrence)
- 35th in points per game (1.03)
- 39th in blocks per game (1.87)
Individuals Ranked in ECAC Hockey
- Jaime Bourbonnais
- 1st in points per game (defenders) (1.24)
- 2nd in assists per game (1.03)
- 4th in power-play assists per game (0.27); tied with Ella Shelton (Clarkson)
- 7th in points per game (1.24); tied with Maddie Mills
- 7th in plus/minus (+35); tied with Maddie Mills
- 8th in power-play points per game (0.33)
- 11th in short-handed goals per game (0.03); tied with four other people
- 27th in blocks per game (1.52)
- Lindsay Browning
- 1st in goals against average (0.91)
- 1st in save percentage (.952)
- 1st in winning percentage (.894)
- 1st in shutouts (12)
- 1st in wins (28)
- Amy Curlew
- 9th in power-play goals per game (0.12); tied with Charlotte Welch (Yale)
- 9th in plus/minus (+30); tied with Grace Graham, Gillis Frechette and Paige Lewis
- 14th in game-winning goals per game (0.09); tied with Grace Lee (Yale)
- 24th in power-play points per game (0.19); tied with Rachel Teslak (St. Lawrence)
- 29th in goals per game (0.28); tied with Megan Forrest (Brown) and Lizzy Gross (Brown)
- Izzy Daniel
- 10th in points per game (freshmen) (0.59)
- 26th in assists per game (0.48)
- 29th in power-play goals per game (0.07); tied with Gabby Billing (Dartmouth) and Catherine Towers (Dartmouth)
- Devon Facchinato
- 16th in power-play assists per game (0.16)
- 22nd in points per game (defenders) (0.35)
- Gillis Frechette
- Grace Graham
- 2nd in short-handed goals per game (0.06)
- 6th in game-winning goals per game (0.15); tied with Maddie Mills
- 9th in plus/minus (+30); tied with Gillis Frechette, Paige Lewis and Amy Curlew
- 10th in goals per game (0.45); tied with Anne Bloomer (Harvard)
- 21st in power-play goals per game (0.09); tied with Becca Gilmore (Harvard)
- 25th in points per game (0.79)
- Paige Lewis
- 9th in plus/minus (+30); tied with Gillis Frechette, Grace Graham and Amy Curlew
- 11th in assists per game (0.67)
- 16th in points per game (0.94)
- 16th in game-winning goals per game (0.09); tied with Anne Bloomer (Harvard)
- Maddie Mills
- 1st in power-play goals per game (0.24); tied with Carly Bullock (Princeton)
- 3rd in power-play points per game (0.42); tied with Carly Bullock)
- 6th in game-winning goals per game (0.15); tied with Grace Graham
- 7th in points per game (1.24); tied with Jaime Bourbonnais
- 7th in goals per game (0.61)
- 7th in plus/minus (+30); tied with Jaime Bourbonnais
- 11th in power-play assists (0.18); tied with Carly Bullock (Princeton) and Maryna MacDonald (Harvard)
- 13th in assists per game (0.64)
- Kendra Nealey
- 13th in plus/minus (+29)
- 17th in points per game (defenders) (0.38); tied with Ava Reynolds (Union) and Saroya Tinker (Yale)
- Kristin O'Neill
- 3rd in goals per game (0.83)
- 5th in points per game (1.33)
- 6th in game-winning goals per game (0.17)
- 6th in plus/minus (+36)
- 22nd in assists per game (0.50); tied with Elle Hartje (Yale) and Sammy Smigliani (Colgate)
- Willow Slobodzian
- 7th in points per game (defenders) (0.55)
- 14th in plus/minus (+28)
- 25th in assists per game (0.48)
- 28th in power-play assists per game (0.13)
- Micah Zandee-Hart
- 1st in power-play assists per game (0.35); tied with Sarah Fillier
- 2nd in points per game (defenders) (1.03)
- 3rd in plus/minus (+39); tied with Elizabeth Giguere (Clarkson)
- 4th in assists per game (0.81)
- 5th in power-play points per game (0.42)
- 12th in points per game (1.03)
- 14th in blocks per game (1.87)
- 23rd in short-handed goals per game (0.03); tied with Charlea Pederson (Princeton) and Claire Thompson (Princeton)
- 26th in game-winning goals per game (0.06); tied with three other people
Cornell Career Records
- Lindsay Browning
- Ranks 4th in shutouts (13) … Needs two more to tie Marlene Boissonnault (2016-19) to tie for third place
- Ranks 8th in goalie wins (32) … Needs 5 more to tie Kathryn LoPresti (1985-88) for seventh place
- On track to be first in goals against average with a 1.15 GAA
- On track to be first in save percentage with a .944 career save percentage
- Jaime Bourbonnais
- Ranks 8th in plus/minus (+86) … Needs +5 to pass Kristin O'Neill
- Needs three more assists to be tied for tenth in assists (89) with Laurianne Rougeau (2009-12)
- Grace Graham
- Needs one more game-winning goal to be tied for 10th (10) with Catherine White (2008-11) and Amy Stanzin (1982-85)
- Needs two more short-handed goals to be tied for seventh (4) with five other people
- Maddie Mills
- Ranks 2nd in power-play goals (23) … Needs four more to break Chelsea Karpenko's (2008-11) record.
- Ranks 4th in game-winning goals (13); tied with Janna Dewar (1994-97) … Needs five more to tie Rebecca Johnston (2007-08, 2010-11) for third place.
- Needs one more short-handed goal to be tied for seventh in short-handed goals (4) with Taylor Woods (2012-15), Jessica Campbell (2010-13), Janna Dewar (1994), Linda Campbell (2010-13) and Digit Degidio (1979-82)
- Kristin O'Neill
- Ranks 1st in short-handed goals (10)
- Ranks 1st in game-winning goals (21)
- Ranks 3rd in shots on goal (546) … Needs 91 more to pass Brianne Jenner (2010-12, 14)
- Ranks 8th in goals (81) … Needs four more to pass Amy Stanzin (1982-85)
- Ranks 7th in plus/minus (+90) … Needs +6 to pass Alyssa Gagliardi (2010-13)
- Ranks 10th in points (145) … Needs 13 more to pass Amy Stanzin (1982-85) for ninth place
- Needs one more power-play goal to be tied for eighth in PPGs (16) with Laura Fortino (2009-12), Colette Bredin (1996-98) and Digit Degidio (1979-82).
Cornell Seasonal Records
- Jaime Bourbonnais
- Ranks 9th in assists (34); tied with Cheryl Hines' 1976 season … Needs one more to tie for eighth with Brianne Jenner's 2012 season
- Needs one more short-handed goal to enter the top-10 and be tied for seventh with two short-handed goals in a season
- Lindsay Browning
- Ranks 1st in shutouts (12)
- Ranks 1st in wins (28)
- On track to be fourth in goals against average with a 0.91 GAA
- On track to be first in save percentage with a .952 save percentage
- Grace Graham
- Ranks 7th in short-handed goals (2); tied with 24 other seasons … Needs one more to tie for third with four other people with single seasons
- Ranks 7th in game-winning goals (5); tied with eight other seasons, including Maddie Mills' and Kristin O'Neill's current season … Needs one more to be tied for fourth with three other seasons
- Maddie Mills
- Ranks 2nd in power-plays goals (8); tied with four other seasons, including her own 2017 season … Needs one more to hold second to herself
- Ranks 7th in game-winning goals (5); tied with eight other seasons, including her own 2017 season and Kristin O'Neill's and Grace Graham's current season … Needs one more to be tied for fourth with three other seasons
- Kristin O'Neill
- Ranks 7th in game-winning goals (5); tied with eight other seasons, including Maddie Mills' and Grace Graham's current season … Needs one more to be tied for fourth with three other seasons
- Micah Zandee-Hart
- Ranks 9th in plus/minus (+39) … Needs +4 more to pass Rebecca Johnston's 2020 season and Brianne Jenner's 2012 and 2010 seasons
Last Week in Review
- Cornell opened the weekend with a 4-0 win over Harvard to advance to the ECAC Hockey Championship game.
- Senior Kristin O'Neill scored two goals in the first period while junior Maddie Mills scored the second two; one in the second period and one in the third. Both O'Neill and Mills added an assist to total three points. Senior defender Micah Zandee-Hart led with three assists.
- On Sunday, the Big Red scored two goals in the first three minutes of the league title game. O'Neill scored the first, unassisted, with sophomore Gillis Frechette following with the second just over a minute later.
- Princeton scored two goals, both in the second period, to tie the score.
- Neither team scored a goal in the third period with the Tigers taking the win in overtime.
About Mercyhurst
- Following the conclusion of the regular-season, the Lakers were 19-10-5 overall with a 13-4-3 conference record. For the College Hockey America (CHA) semifinals, Mercyhurst played Penn State for a 4-1 win before beating Robert Morris, 2-1, in overtime for the 2020 CHA title.
- In the USCHO.com poll the Lakers are ranked #10. In receiving 10 votes in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll, the Lakers just missed out behind Quinnipiac's 12 votes.
- Within the CHA, Mercyhurst found victories over RIT (10/18-19 & 1/24-25), Lindenwood (11/1-2 & 2/8), Robert Morris (12/6 & 2/14), Syracuse (1/11 & 2/21-22) and Penn State (2/28) with ties against Penn State (1/17-18) and Robert Morris (2/15) and losses against Robert Morris (12/7), Syracuse (1/10), Lindenwood (2/7) and Penn State (2/29).
- Outside of the conference, the Lakers notched victories over Sacred Heart (10/11-12), UConn (10/26), Union (11/29-30) and St. Cloud (12/13) with ties against Colgate (10/5) and St. Cloud (12/14). Mercyhurst fell to Colgate (10/4), Minnesota-Duluth (10/25), Clarkson (11/15-16) and Cornell (1/4-5).
- Senior forward Emma Nuutinen leads with 40 points on 21 goals and 19 assists. Most recently, in the CHA tournament, she assisted one goal. Her 10 multi-point games and 21 goals lead the team.
- Junior forward Summer-Rae Dobson follows with 33 points on 16 goals and 17 assists. Also earning 10 multi-point games, Dobson most recently scored the overtime goal against Robert Morris to win the CHA title.
- Junior Kennedy Blair leads the goalies with 29 starts for a .921 save percentage on 645 saves and a 1.98 goals against average in 1667:32. With 16 wins on the season, Blair has collected four shutouts.
The Series vs Mercyhurst
- Mercyhurst leads the all-time series, which dates back to the 2001-02 season, 16-11-5.
- In the first 12 games, the Lakers posted a record of 11-0-1. Since then, the Big Red has had the edge in the series going 9-5-4.
- Cornell's first win in the series came in the 2010 Frozen Four on March 19. Catherine White scored the game-winner 13:14 into overtime to knock off the top-seeded Lakers. The goal gave the Big Red its lone berth to the national championship game.
- The two have met two other times in the postseason, in 2013 and 2014, with Mercyhurst winning both games.
- In the 2018-19 season, both games ended in a tie. On November 10, the game closed at 4-4 while the November 11 game ended without one goal scored.
- Earlier this year, the Big Red took on Mercyhurst for a two-game series in January. Cornell finished with two wins, the first being a 6-2 win on Saturday, Jan. 4 and the second a 2-1 win in overtime on Sunday, Jan. 5.
- On January 4, senior Kristin O'Neill led with two goals with seniors Grace Graham and Paige Lewis, junior Maddie Mills (PP) and freshman Sydney Breza contributed the final four goals. Senior Micah Zandee-Hart led the team with four assists.
- On January 5, senior Amy Curlew scored the first goal for Cornell with Mills notching the overtime goal.
NCAA First Round History
- This is Cornell's seventh appearance in an NCAA First Round game.
- On four occasions, the Big Red advanced to the semifinals while it fell in the quarterfinals three times.
- In 2013, 2014 and 2017, Cornell finished its season with a loss in the first round. In both 2013 and 2014, those losses came against Mercyhurst in one-goal games. In 2017, the Big Red fell to #2 Clarkson, 3-1.
- In 2010, the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance, Cornell advanced the championship game with a first-round win at Harvard and a semifinal win against Mercyhurst. The 2010 team still stands as the only Cornell squad to make it to the national title game.
- In 2011, 2012 and 2017, the Big Red won their respective quarterfinal games to advance to the semifinal.
- Cornell last hosted the NCAA First Round game in 2014, for the fourth-straight, and total, occasion.
Postseason Honors
- The Big Red swept all three major Ivy League awards, with five members recognized to the All-Ivy teams.
- Doug Derraugh was named Ivy League Coach of Year with junior Lindsay Browning being named Goalie of the Year and Izzy Daniel taking home the Rookie of the Year award.
- Browning and seniors Jaime Bourbonnais, Kristin O'Neill and Micah Zandee-Hart were named to the first team. Bourbonnais was one of two unanimously voted to the first team.
- Junior Maddie Mills rounded out Cornell with her second-team honor.
- The same five players earned All-ECAC Hockey honors. Bourbonnais and Browning were named to the first team with Zandee-Hart, O'Neill and Mills being selected for the second-team.
- Of the league's major awards, the Big Red came home with half of the six awards.
- A nominee for ECAC Hockey Player of the Year and Best Defenseman, Bourbonnais won the Best Defenseman award for the second-straight year.
- Browning came away with ECAC Hockey Goalie of the Year while head coach, Doug Derraugh, completed the three awards with his ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year award.
- Zandee-Hart was a nominee for both the Best Defenseman award and the Student-Athlete of the Year.
Two Peas in a Pod
- Micah Zandee-Hart and Kristin O'Neill will be serving as the team's captains for the second year.
- Zandee-Hart led the 2018-19 squad with 55 blocks, while also finishing third with 17 assists and sixth with 21 points.
- O'Neill led last year's team with 22 goals while finishing second in points (38) and tying for first in power-play goals (7).
Border Battle
- Out of the 25 players on the roster, 16 are from the United States while nine call Canada home.
- The Americans have representatives from Minnesota (4), California (2), Massachusetts (2), New York (2), Michigan (1), Iowa (1), Illinois (1), Pennsylvania (1), Virginia (1) and Connecticut (1).
- The Canadians on the roster come from five different provinces: Ontario (5), New Brunswick (1), Saskatchewan (1), British Columbia (1) and Newfoundland and Labrador (1).
- Now entering his 15th season directing the Cornell women's ice hockey program in 2019-20, Doug Derraugh has brought the Big Red women to their place among the nation's elite.
- Derraugh has a 267-150-42 record in his first 14 seasons as the head coach of the Big Red, with his 200th coming in the form of a 4-2 win against Yale in 2016.
- Cornell has made the ECAC Hockey Tournament each of the last 12 seasons, won the tournament four of the last 10 years and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in seven of those seasons.
- The 2019 American Hockey Coaches Association National 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. Cornell returned to the NCAA Frozen Four in 2019 after finishing as National Quarter Finalists in 2013, 2014 and 2017.
- 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 2013-14.
About Associate Head Coach Edith Racine
- Edith Racine enters her first season as the associate head coach after serving as an assistant coach for 10 years prior.
- Under her direction, the Big Red has seen vast improvement among its goaltenders. During her time at Lynah, Racine has most notably coached Amanda Mazzota, Lauren Slebodnick, Paula Voorheis and Marlene Boissonnault.
- During her first season with the Big Red, Racine coached Mazzota to finish as the national leader in shutouts (11) in the 2009-10 season, breaking the Cornell single season record for both men's and women's ice hockey. Mazzota was also the national leader for goals against average (1.11) after the close of the 2010-11 season, as well as the runner-up in save percentage.
- Slebodnick finished her career with the top spot in Cornell history for career wins (68) and sixth-best goals against average in the nation during the 2012-13 season.
- Voorheis was named to the ECAC Hockey All-Rookie Team in 2013-14. She finished her career after the 2016-17 campaign ranked second all-time in save percentage (.925) and saves (2,238) and third in goals against average (2.14).
- Most recently, Racine has coached Marlene Boissonnault to national success. Boissonnault finished her senior season (2018-19) ranked second in the nation, and first in the ECAC, in goals against average (1.64). Boissonnault was named ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week six times in her career (2x in 2018-19 and 4x in 2017-18). She finished as the second-winningest goalie in program history with 56 wins.
Up Next
- With a win in the NCAA First Round game, the Big Red will advance to the 2020 Frozen Four. The 2020 NCAA Championship weekend will be held in Boston, Mass., hosted by Boston University, on March 20 (semifinals) and March 22 (championship game).
