The Big Red's success from 2010-13 was the culmination of the groundwork laid during the first four seasons under Derraugh's direction. In 2008-09, he guided the Big Red to its second straight ECAC Hockey tournament appearance and a 12-14-5 overall record. In 2007-08, the Big Red claimed its first spot in the ECAC Hockey playoffs since the 2003-04 season, finishing the year with a 12-17-1 mark and an eighth-place finish in the league race.
Cornell could attribute its early-Derraugh tenure success to the its focus on both sides of the ice, leading the nation in penalty-killing percentage in both 2010 and 2011, and recording the nation's top scoring defense in 2011 and the second-best scoring defense in 2013. The 2011-12 team had the nation’s best scoring offense and winning percentage.
In 2010, Derraugh led the Big Red to its first Ivy League title since 1996 and the program's first-ever ECAC Hockey regular-season and tournament titles. The Big Red also won an ECAC Hockey playoff game and series for the first time in school history, then remained unbeaten with two more wins in the playoffs to advance to the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history.
Derraugh's tireless efforts on the recruiting trail paid off, as the Big Red was able to assemble an impressive array of talent.
In just his first six seasons, Derraugh added eight players who were a member of the Canadian U22 National Team program, including one, Rebecca Johnston, who was a member of the Canadian National Team that won the gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Three other players in 2011-12 – Brianne Jenner, Laura Fortino and Lauriane Rougeau – were on the Canadian National Team roster for the 4 Nations Cup in November 2011 and November 2012, as well as the 2012 and 2013 IIHF Women’s World Championships in Burlington, Vt., and Ottawa, Ontario. Johnston, Jenner, Fortino and Rougeau all were also part of the Canadian National Team that won gold at the 2014 Sochi Olympics in Russia.
Most recently, Hanna Bunton, Cassandra Poudrier, Marlène Boissonnault, Kristin O'Neill, and Grace Graham have been prospects for Team Canada while Micah Zandee-Hart and Jaime Bourbonnais have consistently been selected to play in games and series on the national team roster.
Derraugh led the Big Red to four consecutive ECAC Hockey and Ivy League regular season titles between the 2009-2010 season and the 2012-2013 season.
The 2010-11 Big Red squad set a Cornell record for the most wins ever by a Cornell hockey program, men’s or women’s, by winning 31 games. The Cornell women's team also became the first women's program in any sport at Cornell to make a second trip to that respective sport's final four.
In the 2011-12 season, Cornell again reached the 30-win mark and reached the Frozen Four in Duluth, Minnesota. Cornell returned to the NCAAs in 2013-14, claiming the ECAC Hockey Tournament championship for the fourth time in five years by beating Clarkson 1-0.
