This weekend the women’s ice hockey team (7-11-1, 5-10-1 ECAC) will travel to the National Hockey Center to square off against the Huskies of St. Cloud University (10-8-2, 8-6-2 conference) both today and tomorrow. These two non-conference games mark the first time the Red and the Huskies will meet.
For the first time since its opening weekend, the Red will be forced to play the same team back to back. In November, the Red split games against Niagara University.
Senior co-captain Patricia Kemp is excited about the prospect of getting such a quick re-match.
“It will be a really great learning experience, [playing back-to- back],” she said. “We will get used to their play the first game; [we can] see what they have and they will see what we have. The next game will be interesting, both teams can adapt and pick the level of play up.”
Currently St. Cloud is fourth in the WCHA league. This league consists of Minnesota, MSU, Mankato, Wisconsin, Minnesota-Duluth, Ohio State and Bemidji State.
In conference play, big wins for the Huskies came in the form of rivals, Wisconsin and Ohio State.
Offensively St. Cloud is stacked with six players in double digits for total points, five of which have notched more than 20.
Leading St. Cloud is freshman forward Ricki-Lee Doyle. In 23 games of play, Doyle has tallied 19 goals and 23 assists. Three of her scores came as game-winning goals.
Right behind Doyle in scoring is junior defender/forward Fiona McLeod. She has netted six goals and added 31 assists on the season.
In net for St. Cloud is sophomore Laura Gieselman. In 22 games, she has racked up a .890 save percentage and a 3.59 goals against average.
The Red and the Huskies should match up well this weekend. In contests against familiar foes, Cornell and St. Cloud both defeated Ohio State. The Red pulled out a 5-3 victory, while the Huskies defeated the Buckeyes 4-3 in overtime during their first meeting and then 4-1 in the re-match.
The strong offense of St. Cloud will be countered by the impressive defense the Red has been playing. In goal, Sanya Sandahl has been phenomenal. In the St. Lawrence tournament she was named to the All-Tournament Team and against number one-ranked Dartmouth she recorded 34 saves.
This weekend’s games will be very telling for the Red as it heads into the final weeks of the season. Cornell needs to set the tone in Minnesota with two victories if it wants to move up in the standings. With eight games remaining — all of which are ECAC games — a strong finish this weekend is vital for the Red.
Archived article by Kristen Haunss