Before Cornell
Lauriane Rougeau is a player who came to Cornell with some accolades already on her resume. She competed for the Canadian U-18 and U-22 teams as well as Team Quebec in Canadian games. She has earned medals on all of these teams which led her to being currently in the running for the 2014 Olympic team.
Her freshman campaign started out with a bang. She finished the season with 32 points, ten of which were goals. She had an integral role in taking the team to the national title game (the first and last time the program has been there), scoring an assist in the game against Mercyhurst. Four-point games were not uncommon for Rougeau her freshman season. Both against travel partner Colgate, with the first during the regular season and the second during the ECAC Quarterfinals. The only games she did not suit up for were when she was competing for Team Canada in the MLP Cup in Germany. She went on to help the team win the gold. Rougeau led all Big Red players in post-season scoring with 12 points in 5 games, including assist in the semifinal and national championship games. In terms of accolades, Rougeau was named a second-team All-American, first-team All-Ivy League and first-team All-ECAC. On top of that, she was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Year.
Sophomore year was even better for Rougeau than her freshman season. She had 31 points and finished with a +50 on the ice. She was a key component to the defense on the team, as both a part of the power play and penalty kill units. Between January and February, Rougeau had a seven-game scoring streak with 12 points in those seven games. The only games she missed were where she once again represented Canada at the MLP Cup. This year she was named ECAC's top defenseman and she repeated on the ECAC Hockey first team and second-team All-American.
If freshman year was fantastic for Rougeau and she improved upon that start in sophomore year, her junior campaign can be described as nothing short of phenomenal. For the third year in a row, the team won an Ivy League title and earned not only a berth to the NCAA Tournament but reached the Frozen Four. Awards were plentiful, and records were broken. Rougeau ended the season with a career point total one shy of 90. She twice scored 3 points in one game, against Syracuse and Brown. She was the second-best scoring defenseman on the team after pair-mate Fortino, and ended the season with a +43 rating. But what was most memorable for not only the Lynah Faithful but the national television audience was her game-winning goal against Boston University to defeat the Terriers in triple overtime to advance to the Frozen Four. The night after the men played Dartmouth in the ECAC Quarterfinals to a record-breaking length into the second overtime, the women broke that record, playing just seconds shy of a fourth overtime. Rougeau's goal was amazing, but words do not suffice it, so check out in the video below.
This season leaves even more room for Rougeau to grow. She had the honor of being named captain of the Lady Rouge as with fellow defensemen Laura Fortino and Alyssa Gagliardi. This year the team hopes to make the NCAA Tournament and see if the fourth time is the charm. If the leadership is any indication, the Cornell women look to be a dominant team in the ECAC and the nation yet again. 7 days!