The women’s hockey team faced an interesting lineup this past weekend. On Friday it matched up against No. 5 Dartmouth, the first ranked team in the ECAC North. On Saturday the icers faced the last place team, Vermont, with a conference record currently standing at 0-14-0.
Unfortunately for the Red, the results came out much like they would have on paper. Cornell skated hard on Friday but couldn’t overcome the Green, losing 3-0 against Dartmouth.
The next day against the Red trounced the Catamounts, winning by a score of 3-1.
“They were both similar games with effort, but [Friday] we just didn’t finish,” head coach Carol Mullins said.
Dartmouth went up against the Red with the top offense in the conference.
In the first, the Green out-shot Cornell, 12-4. The icers managed to hold their opponents scoreless for most of the period, but the Green eventually hit net at 13:50 in the period.
Cornell managed to find some more offensive opportunities in the second, but still couldn’t hit pay dirt. Dartmouth, meanwhile, added another goal.
In the third, results were similar. Both of the defenses clamped down.
The Red got off three shots and the Green four, but only Dartmouth could make one count, bringing the game to it’s final score with 14:28 left in the period.
Mullins noted the team had been gearing up to play the Green, and its effort showed in the game.
“We played our hearts out, but we didn’t capitalize on some of our chances,” she said. “To win, we’ve got to put the puck away.”
Missed coverage, rebounds and odd-man rushes were all contributing factors to the Red’s loss according to the coach. However, the team didn’t fall over in its mistakes she noted. It made Dartmouth play for every inch of the game.
On Saturday the Red simply outplayed the underdog Catamounts. Vermont, and in particular goalie Tiffany Hayes, came out strong, holding Cornell scoreless in the first period despite a 16-6 Red advantage in shots on goal.
Scoring Barrage
The second wasn’t so kind to Vermont though. At 6:35 in the period Lindsay Murao got the puck on a breakaway and put it in. Senior Eva Nahorniak and sophomore Briana Jentner both assisted on the play. The Red wasn’t quite done though. With 2:16 left in the period the team upped its lead again when senior captain Sarah Olivier flicked in a rebound shot to make the score 2-0. Assisting on the play were senior captain Jenel Bode and junior Brooke Bestwick.
In the third Vermont made a goalie change, but Cornell kept up its barrage of shots and picked up another score when Bestwick fired in a shot off a pass from sophomore Anita Khar at 9:19. That was the Red’s last goal of the game. Vermont added its only goal in the last 41 seconds when it pulled goaltender Kami Cote to give the Green a six on five advantage.
“It was a complete effort, and that’s definitely good going into the postseason,” said Mullins about the game.
Playoff Stretch
This week the postseason will be on the team’s mind in practice she said.
“We’re going into practice with a purpose,” said Mullins. “We’re asking ourselves how we can practice to do better in the playoffs. We’re playing hard. That’s the best thing we have going for us.”
Next week the Red has a non-conference match against a first-year program from the University of Connecticut.
Archived article by Matt James