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Colorado College makes its initial out-of-state road trip of the season this week, traveling to Ithaca, N.Y., for the first time ever to face No. 7-ranked Cornell University in two-game non-conference series. 

Faceoff on the NHL-size ice sheet at historic James Lynah Rink (4,267 seating capacity) is 7 p.m. ET Friday and Saturday.

CC, which launches its 2012-13 Western Collegiate Hockey Association schedule at the University of Wisconsin next week, is 3-1 overall after splitting a pair of decisions against two different opponents last weekend. The 19th-ranked Tigers improved to 3-0 with a spirited 6-2 victory at Air Force on Friday, but suffered a 3-1 defeat at home the next night to the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

This Friday's contest marks the official season opener for Cornell, which beat the United States Under-18 Team (6-2) and tied Canada's Brock University (2-2) in a pair of exhibition games at home last week. Like UMass Lowell, the Big Red came within one victory of reaching the NCAA Frozen Four last March before losing to Ferris State in the national quarterfinals.

This upcoming series in Ithaca will mark just the eighth and ninth meetings ever between the teams, who last saw each other early this calendar year in a pair of close battles at the World Arena. Cornell has won four of the previous seven encounters, and leads the rivalry by a 4-2-1 margin after skating to a 3-1 victory and 3-3 tie last Jan. 6 and 7. Colorado College prevailed, 4-2, at the Florida Classic in 2009 after falling to the Big Red, 3-2, at the NCAA Midwest Regional in Green Bay, Wis., on March 25, 2006. The other three previous match-ups all occurred at holiday tournaments in December of 1973 (Syracuse, N.Y.) and 1980 (Colorado Springs), then not again until 1995 (Denver), when CC won for the first time.

NOTEWORTHY BITES: Seventeen different Tigers – including 16 with more than one, have collected at least a point already in 2012-13. Senior wingers Andrew Hamburg (4g,1a) and William Rapuzzi (2g,3a) share the team lead with five apiece. Hamburg, who on Tuesday was named WCHA Offensive Player of the Week, became the first CC player in four seasons to score four times in a game after fueling Friday's victory at Air Force. His performance included a "natural" hat trick in the second period. Team captain Rapuzzi, meanwhile, has logged at least a point in all four outings to date after picking up an assist each night last week.