GAME INFORMATION
GAME #20: Cornell at Colgate
DATE: Friday, January 22, 2010
TIME: 3 pm
SITE: Hamilton, N.Y. - Starr Rink
LIVE VIDEO: http://www.gocolgateraiders.com/showcase
LIVE STATS: http://livestats.internetconsult.com/colgate/whockey/

GAME #21: Colgate at Cornell
DATE: Saturday, January 23, 2010
TIME: 3 p.m.
SITE: Ithaca, N.Y. - Lynah Rink
2009-10 RECORDS: Cornell - 9-7-3, 8-1-3 ECAC Hockey; Colgate - 7-14-3, 3-6-3 ECAC Hockey
LIVE VIDEO: http://www.cornellbigred.com/showcase
LIVE STATS: http://sidearmstats.com/cornell/whockey

2009-10 RECORDS: Cornell – 9-7-3 (8-1-3 ECAC Hockey); Colgate – 7-14-3 (3-6-3 ECAC Hockey)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 20-11-2
LAST MEETING: Colgate won, 4-3, on Jan. 11, 2009, in Ithaca, N.Y.

The Cornell women's hockey team will face off against Central New York rival Colgate in a home-and-home series this weekend. The Big Red and the Raiders will play on Friday in a 3 p.m. game at Starr Rink in Hamilton before the scene shifts to Cornell's Lynah Rink on Saturday, also starting at 3 p.m. Friday's game closes out a season-long five-game road swing for the Big Red women.

ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell returned to ECAC Hockey play last weekend with a win and a tie on the road to remain tied with Clarkson atop the league standings. Cornell claimed a come-from-behind 4-4 tie at Harvard on Friday to open the weekend, with Karlee Overguard's game-tying goal coming with four seconds left in regulation. The Big Red then scored a 3-1 victory over Dartmouth on Saturday behind three points from Chelsea Karpenko. Despite the three-point weekend, Cornell has dropped out of the top 10 in both national polls, receiving votes in both the USA Today/USA Hockey poll and the USCHO.com poll. Karpenko picked up five points on the weekend to move her into a tie with Catherine White for the team lead of 18 (10-8--18). White has a team best 13 assists to go along with five goals. Also scoring in double figures on the year are freshmen defensemen Laura Fortino (5-7--12) and Lauriane Rougeau (3-8--11). In goal, Amanda Mazzotta has played all but one game, posting a .912 save percentage and a 1.77goals-against average with five shutouts. Cornell has the nation's top penalty-killing unit, allowing just two goals in 67 opponents' power play chances (97.0 percent). The Big Red also has a potent power play, converting on 16-of-75 chances (21.3 percent) to rank fifth in the nation.

HEAD COACH DOUG DERRAUGH
In his fifth season behind the Big Red bench, Doug Derraugh has turned the Cornell women's hockey program into one of women's college hockey's top young programs. Derraugh has a career record of 46-79-12, but has taken the Big Red to a back-to-back double-digit wins in each of the last two seasons, the first time the Big Red has done that since the 1999-2000 and 2000-01 seasons. He has also led Cornell to the ECAC Hockey playoffs in each of the last two years. Derraugh is assisted by Danielle Biloudeau, in her fourth season, and Edith Zimmering, in her first year with the Big Red.

ABOUT COLGATE
The Raiders got a win and a loss last weekend on the road trip to Dartmouth and Harvard, scoring a 6-4 win at Dartmouth on Friday before falling to Harvard on Saturday, 5-1. Six different players had a pair of points in the victory over the Big Green, while Krista Dermott had the only goal against the Crimson. Senior Katie Stewart leads the Colgate offense with a team-best 14 goals and 11 assists for 25 points, while junior Jessi Waters has two goals with a team-high 13 assists for 15 points. In all, eight different players are in double figures in scoring for the season. Lisa Plenderleith and Kimberly Sass have split time in goal, with Plenderleith playing almost two-thirds of the season in goal and Sass playing just over a third. Plenderleith has a 3.51 goals-against average and a .880 save percentage with one shutout, while Sass has a 4.57 goals-against average and a .852 save percentage. Sass has endured a bit of a sophomore slump after being named the league's top goaltender as a freshman last season. The Raiders have struggled on special teams, converting on 19-of-136 power play chances (14.0 percent) while killing off 92-of-125 opponents' power play opportunities (73.6 percent), the lowest rate in the country. Colgate is also allowing nearly four goals per game, the second-most in the nation.

THE SERIES WITH COLGATE
Cornell leads the all-time series against the Raiders, 20-11-2, though Colgate claimed both of the two meetings last year by one goal. Colgate won the first game, 2-1, in Ithaca, before claiming the return matchup the following day, 4-3. Colgate has won three straight games in the series, with Cornell's last win coming during the 2007-08 season, a 3-2 win in Hamilton, N.Y.

MAGIC NUMBERS
With 10 games left in the league slate, the Big Red is in prime position to garner its first ever top-four finish in ECAC Hockey and play host to the quarterfinal round for the first time in program history. Since the league went to 12 teams prior to the 2006-07 season, the fourth-place team has averaged 29.7 wins, meaning another five wins out of the remaining 10 games would clinch home ice for the first round. Over the last three seasons, 19 points has been the average total for the eighth-place playoff team, meaning Cornell, which currently has 19 points, has all but qualified for the post-season with more than a month remaining in the regular season.

ONE MORE TO DOUBLE-DIGITS
Cornell needs just one more win this season to ensure its third straight season of double-digit wins. Cornell hasn't had three straight seasons of double-digit wins since since posting a streak of six straight years with 10 or more victories from 1995-96 through 2000-01.

TO THE VICTORS GO THE SPOILS
Cornell's three-point weekend at Harvard and Dartmouth on Jan. 15-16 not only marked the first time the Big Red had recorded three points on a weekend trip to the farthest Ivy schools, but also resulted in a pair of Cornell players earning league honors. Chelsea Karpenko was named the league's player of the week after tallying five points in the two games, while Laura Fortino was named the top rookie for the week after scoring two goals and adding a pair of assists. Karpenko won the award for the second time this season, while Fortino is a first-time recipient of the rookie of the week honor.

DRAWING A BLANK
Cornell was held scoreless on Jan. 10 at Providence, the first and only time this season Cornell has failed to score at least one goal. By contrast, Big Red opponents have been shut out five times through the first 19 games. Cornell has also scored two or more goals 13 times through the first 19 games. When Cornell scores two or more goals, the Big Red is 8-2-3.

WELCOME RETURNS
Cornell's lineup was boosted by the return of three players who missed three games due to their participation at the MLP Cup, representing Canada. Catherine White, Laura Fortino and Lauriane Rougeau each missed the games against Syracuse and Providence for the international competition in Ravensburg, Germany, where they claimed the gold medal. The trio, comprising three of the Big Red's top four scorers, combined to score 10 of Cornell's 17 points on the weekend. Fortino had four of those points (2-2--4), with Rougeau (1-2--3) and White (0-3--3) both tallying three.

GOING FOR THE GOLD
Many college students use the time during the semester break to lay back and relax. That's not what Catherine White, Laura Fortino and Lauriane Rougeau did, as each garnered a gold medal after winning the MLP Cup in Ravensburg, Germany, on Jan. 9. The trio helped Canada to a perfect 4-0 mark in the tournament, including a 9-0 win over Switzerland in the gold medal match.

NON-LEAGUE NOT FRIENDLY
Cornell closed out the non-conference portion of the season with a 1-6 record after dropping three games to open the new year. The Big Red went 1-4 against College Hockey America foes at Lynah Rink while dropping a pair at Providence of Hockey East.

NATURAL BORN KILLERS
Cornell has been exceptional at avoiding spending time on the penalty kill this season, averaging 7.4 minutes per game, third-fewest in Division I. When they do get sent to the box, Cornell's players have been exceptional at killing off those penalties. The Big Red leads the nation in penalty killing percentage, successfully ending 65-of-67 penalties against for an astounding 97.0 percent success rate. Cornell allowed just its second power-play goal of the season on Jan. 16 at Dartmouth.

EVEN FLOW
Despite the loss of last year's leading scorer and Patty Kazmier Award nominee Rebecca Johnston, the Big Red has shown the ability to record points by utilizing a well-balanced attack; 14 players on the 16-skater roster have contributed to the team's 111 points. The only skaters on the roster who have yet to find the scoring column are sophomore Jenna Paulson and freshman Xandra Hompe.

BRICK WALL
Borrowing a page from the men's hockey program, which has a history of producing outstanding goaltenders, sophomore Amanda Mazzotta has been outstanding in ECAC Hockey action this year. After allowing seven goals in the first two games of the season against Mercyhurst, Mazzotta now ranks ninth in the nation in goals-against average (1.77). In league play, she is allowing just 1.40 goals per game, ranking third in league games and earning ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week once so far this season for her play against Dartmouth and Harvard on Oct. 30-31.

TWO-WAY PLAYERS
Cornell's women's hockey team has a pair of players who give new meaning to the term two-way player, as senior Melanie Jue and freshman Xandra Hompe are dual-sport athletes. Jue is a goalie for the field hockey team, and is ranked fourth in the nation in save percentage this season. Hompe, meanwhile, is a forward for the women's soccer team, tallying a pair of assists this fall for the Big Red.

HALFWAY TO THE CENTURY MARK
With the assist on Chelsea Karpenko's goal in the third period of the Harvard game on Nov. 7, Catherine White scored her 50th career point. In just her second year with the Big Red, White has the highest point total of any player on the Cornell roster and is tied for the team scoring lead this season with 18 points. Junior Karlee Overguard joined White in surpassing the 50-point mark this season when she scored the game-tying goal at Harvard on Jan. 15, giving her 18 goals and 32 assists for her career. Two others are nearing the 50 point mark, as senior Liz Zorn has 47 points in 104 career games and Chelsea Karpenko has 39 points (20-19--39) in 47 career contests..

UP NEXT
Briefly ending a five-game road trip with Saturday's game against Colgate, the Big Red returns to the road next weekend, traveling to St. Lawrence and Clarkson for a pair of contests. Cornell will open the trip against the Saints on Jan. 29 before facing Clarkson the following afternoon in Potsdam, N.Y.