The lady icers (0-2-0, 0-2-0 ECAC) suffered two losses this past weekend to Yale and Princeton. The Red put up quite a fight against the Bulldogs (1-3-0, 1-2-0), who only managed to break a 1-1 tie in the third period to end the game with a 3-1 victory. In contrast, the No. 10 Tigers (4-0-0, 2-0-0) thoroughly trounced Cornell 6-0 on Saturday afternoon. Princeton’s Andrea Gooldy recorded a hat trick in that game.
“I believe that our faults are from a lack of game experience,” said the Red’s head coach Melody Davidson. “We’re still learning [how to maintain intensity] late in the game.”
The Red started the scoring against the Bulldogs on Friday when sophomore Maryann Nowak scored her first collegiate goal at 8:37 of the first period. This lead was short lived, however. Yale answered five minutes later when senior Deanna McDevitt found the back of the net on the power play to tie it up at 1-1.
The second period was a defensive showcase, with neither team willing to slip up and allow another score. The Bulldogs failed to convert on a five-on-three power play chance late in the period after Cornell was called for holding and interference.
Things remained quiet for most of the first half of the third period until Yale’s Deena Caplette broke the silence with her first goal of the season at 9:41. This would prove to be the game winner, as the Red was never able to recover. Yale’s Natalie Babony put the nail in the coffin at 17:57 to give the Bulldogs a 3-1 victory.
“We played solidly, we outshot them,” Davidson explained. “We gave up a couple in the third period, and we just didn’t score.”
The Red suffered a third period collapse against Princeton as well, which led to the Tigers’ 6-0 blowout on Saturday. Princeton outshot the Red 40-18 in the game.
Cornell was able to hold its own against the Tigers for much of the first two periods. Princeton’s Angela Gooldy opened the scoring at 7:53 into the first, but senior goaltender Liz Connelly was able to turn away 14 of the period’s 15 shots, keeping the game at 1-0. The defense played outstandingly, often stymieing close Tiger chances.
“Our defense is doing a good job considering [that we have] two freshmen and a junior who is just starting to play defense this year,” Davidson stated, commenting about junior defenseman Allison Simpson, and freshman defensemen Becky Fisher and Emily Cabral.
It was not until the 12:45 mark of the second period that the Tigers were able to penetrate again. Gooldy notched her second goal of the afternoon with assists from Susan Hobson and Lisa Rasmussen.
“Princeton is an outstanding team,” said Davidson, “and staying with them for forty minutes was great.”
In contrast to the first two periods, the third was a disaster for Cornell. Princeton’s Annamarie Holmes began the onslaught four minutes in, scoring her second goal of the season. Three minutes later, Gooldy completed her hat trick on the power play after Cornell sophomore Pearle Nerenberg was called for boarding at 6:16. Tigers Katherine Maglione and Heather Jackson proceeded to run up the score, with each notching a goal to end the game at 6-0.
The Red will hope to recover from this weekend when it plays Vermont in its home opener this Friday at Lynah. UVM is struggling as well, and, like Cornell, the Catamounts will be battling fiercely for their first conference win.
Archived article by Michael Pandolfini