The women’s hockey team has already topped its performance from a season ago – the 2005-06 edition of the Red has won five games while last year’s squad finished its campaign with only four victories. However, Cornell (5-11-0, 1-9-0 ECACHL) has found wins hard to come by recently, as it enters this weekend’s matchups against No. 3 St. Lawrence and No. 10 Clarkson on a four-game skid.
Those four losses came at the end of a six-game home stand, with the squad dropping games to Dartmouth, Harvard, Quinnipiac, and Princeton.
Despite the four losses, the squad is viewing the six-game home stand with an eye towards intangibles.
“I think the best thing about how we played the past six games was that we gave a very solid overall effort,” said junior Halina Kristalyn. “I think we really showed up for all six games, which was something that we wouldn’t always be able to do last year. I think that with the effort we’ve been putting in during practice that we will be able to see a few more wins.”
The squad’s last wins came against Bemidji State on Dec. 30 and Dec. 31 in Lynah Rink, which Cornell won by scores of 4-2 and 2-1, respectively. In the first game, senior Becky Fisher and sophomore Miranda Callaghan found the back of the net for the Red, while freshman Emma Chipman had two power-play goals for Cornell. The next night’s game against Bemidji would prove a much greater challenge for the Red, who entered the third period trailing 1-0. Freshman Brianne Gilbert and sophomore Brittany Forgues were able to provide the Red with the necessary offensive output, with each scoring once in the game’s final 20 minutes, including Gilbert’s first goal of the season.
The Saints enter the weekend having won five of their last six games, including a sweep of Yale and Brown last weekend. Sabrina Harbec leads the offense with 35 total points this season, while Carson Duggan has scored 17 game-winning goals for St. Lawrence in her rookie campaign.
Clarkson has also found itself on the winning side of the ice lately, putting together a four-game winning streak before dropping a 1-0 loss to Brown last weekend.
The Red found itself putting forth a consistent effort over the break, including a hard-fought, 4-3, loss to Dartmouth on Jan. 7 in which the Red held a slim lead at the beginning of the third period. The next night, Cornell had Harvard tied, 2-2, in the second period before the Crimson were able to pull away for a 6-3 victory.
“Our play was pretty consistent over the break, but I think we almost played better against Dartmouth and Harvard,” said Kristalyn. “I don’t think the results are indicative of how we played.”
The play of sophomore Brittany Forgues was a highlight in the Red’s losses to Quinnipiac and Princeton last weekend, as she scored a pair of goals in both games, giving her six goals in the team’s previous five games.
“Brittany is just playing really good hockey,” Kristalyn said. “Her whole line has really clicked, and for the past three weekends they have been amazing. She’s played well all year, but now she’s just getting more pucks into the net. I think she’s turning a corner and is going to continue to improve.”
Archived article by Jacob Lieberman
Sun Staff Writer