Game Notes (.pdf)

ITHACA, N.Y. – The Big Red is back in the Frozen Four for the third consecutive year after a tense, thrilling NCAA quarterfinals matchup with Boston University last weekend. The season ends this weekend one way or another, with No. 3 Cornell facing No. 2 Minnesota in the national semifinals in Duluth, Minn. Two wins this weekend would give the Big Red its first ever national championship.

GAME INFORMATION
GAME #35: No. 3 Cornell vs. No. 2 Minnesota
GAME TIME: Friday, March 16, 8 p.m. CST
GAME SITE: AMSOIL Arena (Duluth, Minn.)
SERIES RECORD: Minnesota leads 3-0
LAST MEETING: Minnesota won 5-0 on Feb. 6, 1999
2011 RECORDS: Cornell (30-4); Minnesota (32-5-2)
LIVE STATS: NCAA.com
LIVE VIDEO (free):  NCAA.com

ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell has evolved over the last three years from a national afterthought to a powerhouse program on the verge of winning a national championship. On Saturday, the Big Red took another step on the road to a national title by beating Boston University. Cornell won the ECAC regular season and Ivy League titles for the third consecutive year and has made the NCAA tournament for the last three years as well. Two wins this weekend would give the school its first national championship and send off a terrific senior class with a goal they have worked toward for four years.

HEAD COACH DOUG DERRAUGH
Now in his seventh season directing the Cornell women's hockey program, Doug Derraugh has quickly brought the Big Red women to their place among the nation's elite. Taking a program that won just four games in the season prior to his arrival, Derraugh guided the Big Red to the national title game in his fifth season and back-to-back NCAA Frozen Four appearances in 2010 and 2011, completely turning around the culture of the women's hockey program at Cornell. Derraugh, a 1991 graduate of Cornell, was the last Big Red men's hockey player to score 30 goals in a season. He earned his 100th career win at Union on Jan. 6.

ABOUT MINNESOTA
The Gophers, located in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, are currently on a six-game winning streak and are ranked as the No. 2 team in the country. Minnesota is the only conference tournament champion left in the field, having defeated Minnesota-Duluth in the WCHA Final Faceoff two weeks ago. In the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the Gophers knocked off North Dakota by a 5-1 margin one week after beating them 6-0. Minnesota has not lost since Feb. 17 in overtime to North Dakota and has won two national championships, the most recent coming in 2005.
Minnesota has the country's third-best scoring offense (4.46 goals per game) and the top scoring defense (1.31) this season to go along with the third-best power play (24.7 percent) and third-best penalty kill (88.5).
Leading the way for the Gophers this season is Amanda Kessel, who has scored 30 goals and racked up 46 assists. Her 1.95 points per game puts her fourth in the country. Goalkeeper Noora Raty has the nation's lowest goals against average (1.34) and third-highest save percentage (.941).
Minnesota is coached by Brad Frost, a 1996 Bethel grad. He is in his fifth year at the helm of the Gophers.

THE SERIES WITH MINNESOTA
Cornell's lifetime history with Minnesota is just that – ancient history. The Gophers have won all three contests between the two sides, but those games all came in the late 1990s. Minnesota won in a neutral-site contest in 1997 at Princeton 3-2 and then won two home games by a combined 11-1 the following year. Against current WCHA teams lifetime, Cornell is 5-6-1. Its best record against that conference is a 2-0 mark against Ohio State.

A WIN AGAINST MINNESOTA WOULD…
…clinch a berth in the national championship game for the second time in school history (2010)…be Cornell's first victory ever against the Gophers…even Cornell's lifetime record against current WCHA teams to 6-6-1…tie last year's team with the most wins in school history (31)…put Cornell over a .500 winning percentage lifetime (452-451-50).

CORNELL IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
This is the third consecutive season the Big Red has made the NCAA Tournament and Frozen Four. The Big Red holds a 4-2 record in the tournament overall. Cornell has never lost in a first-round game, defeating Harvard 6-2 in 2010 and knocking off Dartmouth 7-1 last year. In the Frozen Four round, Cornell is 1-1, having beaten Mercyhurst in overtime in 2010 and losing to Boston University last season. In the national championship game, the Big Red is 0-1, losing to Minnesota in triple overtime 3-2 in 2010. The Big Red made its record in NCAA games 4-2 with the dramatic, 8-7 triple-overtime win against Boston University on Saturday.

CORNELL IN THE STATE OF HOCKEY
The Big Red has played 12 games lifetime in Minnesota, holding a 3-8-1 record while in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Cornell's last victory in Minnesota was in the NCAA Semifinals in 2010 against Mercyhurst. Before that, Cornell had not won in Minnesota since Feb. 3, 2001 at St. Cloud State.

RECORD BREAKING GAME
Cornell's triple-overtime victory against Boston University last weekend broke several school records. The game, which lasted 119:50, was the longest game in program history, beating out the NCAA Championship game from 2010 by 24 seconds. The game was also the longest in Lynah Rink history, beating out the men's double-overtime game from the night before. The eight goals scored by Cornell was an NCAA Tournament single-game record, as was the 15 goals the Big Red and Terriers combined for.

TELEVISION STAR
Besides sending her team to the Frozen Four, Lauriane Rougeau got a special treat after scoring the game-winning goal last weekend. For her efforts, the junior was put on ESPN's SportsCenter, and her goal was the show's No. 3 play of the day on Sunday morning.

WESTERN DOMINANCE
The Big Red is seeking to not only win the school's first national championship, but also the first national championship from a team outside Minnesota and Wisconsin. The Western Collegiate Hockey Association has claimed all 11 national championships.

ECAC YEARLY HONORS
Cornell had four players earn ECAC Hockey individual honors this season. Senior forward Rebecca Johnston was named the Player of the Year, Jillian Saulnier was named the Rookie of the Year, Chelsea Karpenko was named the Best Defensive Forward and Lauriane Rougeau was named Best Defensive Defenseman. Johnston, Rougeau, Laura Fortino and Brianne Jenner were named to the league's first team, while Saulnier earned second team All-League honors.

KAZ WATCH
Rebecca Johnston and Laura Fortino were named Patty Kazmaier Top 10 Finalists for the second consecutive year. The Patty Kazmaier Award is the highest individual honor in women's college hockey and will be given out at the 2012 Frozen Four. Lauriane Rougeau and Brianne Jenner were also named nominees for the award earlier in the year but did not make the cut to the final 10.

REGULAR-SEASON CHAMPS
With victories against Yale and Brown in early February, the Big Red clinched their third consecutive ECAC Hockey regular season championship and the No. 1 spot in the conference tournament. The team celebrated by receiving the trophy on home ice the following weekend against Clarkson.

IVY LEAGUE CHAMPIONS
When the Big Red defeated Union 5-1 on Feb. 4, the team got some help away from Ithaca when Harvard knocked off Princeton 10-1. The Tigers were the only team that could catch Cornell in the Ivy League standings before they lost that game to Harvard, clinching the Ivy League championship for Cornell. The championship is the 10th in program history and third in a row.

IVY LEAGUE AWARD WINNERS
Rebecca Johnston was named the Ivy League's Player of the Year, and freshman Jillian Saulnier earned Rookie of the Year honors. The Big Red also had four players make the All-Ivy First Team: Johnston, Brianne Jenner, Lauriane Rougeau and Laura Fortino.

SENIOR NIGHT
The game on Feb. 18 was the final regular-season contest for seniors Rebecca Johnston, Chelsea Karpenko, Amanda Mazzotta, Kendice Ogilvie, Catherine White and Amanda Young. They will leave Cornell as the winningest and most successful senior class ever, racking up at least 94 wins in their careers before this weekend's games, winning three Ivy League championships and three ECAC Hockey regular season titles. This group of seniors has made the NCAA Tournament three times and has made the Frozen Four each of the last two years.

NO SHUTOUTS
The Big Red is the only team in the country that has not been shut out this season. Cornell has scored a goal in every game this year, something only it can say. Clarkson was on that list until the first round of the conference tournament when it was shut out by Quinnipiac. Northeastern was the other remaining team that had not been shut out until Providence beat it 1-0 in the Hockey East semifinals two weeks ago.

NO TIES, EITHER
With the regular season behind the team, Cornell is has become the only team in the country playing a full Division I schedule to go untied all year. Lindenwood, a Division I program, also went without a tie but played Division III opponents during the year along with its Division I schedule.

AMONG THE NATION'S BEST
Through 34 games this season, the Big Red has given up just 1.71 goals per game. That number is the fourth-smallest among all Division I teams. Cornell's offense, meanwhile is tops in the country, scoring an average of 4.71 goals per game.

WINNING WAYS
With a win against Dartmouth on Jan. 21, Amanda Mazzotta earned her 48th career victory, putting her atop the team's all-time list. Mazzotta passed the previous record of 47 career wins, held by Sarah Mott, who played from 1978-81. She notched her 51st and 52nd wins last weekend against Brown, extending her own school record.

MAKING A POINT
Six current members of the Cornell roster are averaging more than a point per game over their careers. Brianne Jenner (1.66 points per game) leads the way for the  Big Red, and she is followed by Rebecca Johnston (1.61), Jillian Saulnier (1.59), Catherine White (1.33), Laura Fortino (1.14) and Chelsea Karpenko (1.04).

AWARD WINNERS
Since the beginning of this season, Cornell's players have been awarded with ECAC Hockey weekly honors 12 times, more than any other team in the league.
Most recently, Brianne Jenner won Player of the Week, Jillian Saulnier took home Rookie of the Week and Lauren Slebodnick was named the Goaltender of the Week on Feb. 14. Saulnier won Rookie of the Week twice earlier in the year, while freshmen Emily Fulton and Monika Leck each won that honor once. Senior Kendice Ogilvie and sophomore Jenner have earned Player of the Week honors, while Slebodnick took home Goaltender of the Week once before and Amanda Mazzotta earned it on Jan. 24.

OUTRANKING THE COMPETITION
In its last 21 games against ranked opponents from the start of the 2009-10 season until now, the Big Red holds a 15-6 record. The victory over No. 5 Boston University added to that impressive record, as did a victory against No. 5 Mercyhurst in February. Cornell won two games against then-No. 5 Boston University in November and took one of two from then-No. 6 Mercyhurst in December. The Big Red also topped then-No. 10 Harvard in November, then beat No. 9 Harvard and No. 10 Dartmouth in late January. Cornell's other ranked victory this year was against No. 10 St. Lawrence. Cornell is 9-2 against ranked foes this year.
Cornell will have a chance to add to that record against No. 2 Minnesota on Friday.

NATIONAL PRIDE
Cornell saw six players participate in the Meco Cup in Germany in the first week of the year, playing for Canada's under-22 national team. All five Cornell skaters scored at least one point in the five-game tournament. Jillian Saulnier led the way with two goals and four assists, while Catherine White and Jessica Campbell notched three points each. Chelsea Karpenko had a goal and an assist, Hayleigh Cudmore earned an assist, and goalie Amanda Mazzotta got two wins and a shutout. Canada won the bronze.

STANDING ON GUARD
Four Cornell women's ice hockey players spent part of early November competing for Canada's National Women's Team in the 4 Nations Cup in Nykoping, Sweden. Junior defensemen Laura Fortino and Lauriane Rougeau, sophomore forward Brianne Jenner and senior forward Rebecca Johnston all made the trip for the six-day tournament and won the silver medal, falling to Team USA in a shootout in the gold medal game.
Big Red head coach Doug Derraugh was also present as an assistant coach.

NATIONAL POLLS
Cornell remained at No. 3 in last week's USCHO.com national poll in a week that saw multiple changes below in the top 10. Wisconsin remains first with 142 points and eight first-place votes, while Minnesota is right on its heels with 141 points and seven first-place votes.

LOFTY NUMBERS
Forward Rebecca Johnston currently sits at seventh in the nation in points per game (1.91), with Brianne Jenner not far behind in eighth (1.81). Freshman Jillian Saulnier is second in points per game among rookies (1.59). Laura Fortino is No. 2 in points per game for defensemen (1.16). Goalkeeper Lauren Slebodnick's 1.45 goals against average puts her in fourth the country, and her 15-1 record has her first in winning percentage. Amanda Mazzotta is fifth and fourth in those categories at 1.69 and 15-3, respectively.

As a team, Cornell has the country's best offense (4.71 goals per game) and third-best scoring margin (3.00 goals) to go along with the second-best power play (24.9 percent) and fourth-best scoring defense (1.71 goals).

CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
Against Boston University:
• Lauriane Rougeau scored her 20th career goal.
• Jessica Campbell earned her 40th career point.
• Laura Fortino scored goal No. 30 in her career.
• Rebecca Johnston recorded her 90th assist.
• Amanda Mazzotta played in her 80th game.
• Jillian Saulnier reached 50 career points.

Approaching career numbers:
• Laura Fortino and Lauriane Rougeau are two games away from their 100th.
• Emily Fulton's next point will be her 20th.
• Rebecca Johnston is three goals away from 100.
• Rougeau's next assist will be her 70th and her next point will be her 90th.

UP NEXT
With a victory, the Big Red will move on to play in the national championship game against either No. 1 Minnesota or No. 4 Boston College at 4 p.m. on Sunday.