The women’s hockey team is shaking off the rust from the offseason and eagerly awaiting getting the season underway. The Red is looking to improve on last season’s 12-14-5 record, which was good for eighth in the ECAC Hockey, and advance past the first round of the playoffs — something it hasn’t been able to do the past two seasons. How the team plays this weekend in its season-opening two-game series against Mercyhurst is sure to be a good litmus test for the success of its season.

“Mercyhurst will be a great challenge,” said fifth-year head coach Doug Derraugh. “They are a strong, physical and very well-coached team.”

Head-to-head, Mercyhurst has dominated Cornell, going 9-0-1. But, the Red isn’t the least bit intimidated about facing Mercyhurst on consecutive days at Lynah Rink.

The women’s hockey team pushed its season to the fullest after clinching a spot in the first round of the playoffs against No. 7 Harvard. In both weekend games, the Crimson continued to deliver and execute goals, however, leaving the Red with a 3-0 and 4-0 loss in its last games of the season.

Shove it out: Freshman forward Catherine White (right) fights for the puck during the Red’s 3-3 tie on Feb. 14 against Dartmouth.

“Coming into this weekend, we knew that Harvard was a top seed, and that we had to bring our best to compete with them. Both games we played well,” said freshman forward Catherine White.

Hoping to utilize its momentum and energy gained from its 8-0 victory over Union last weekend, the women’s hockey team (12-12-5, 8-9-5 ECAC) begins its postseason on the road, facing off against Harvard tomorrow afternoon.

“Our team is actually very excited to play Harvard this weekend. It is going to be a very exciting and close game. We have no fears playing Harvard,” said sophomore forward Rebecca Johnston. “They are a very good team, but we can definitely matchup to their play, and I think if we play our best, then we can definitely come out on top.”

The women’s ice hockey team played its last two home games of the season this past weekend. These two matchups, against Harvard and Dartmouth, were also the final opportunities for the three seniors on the team — Emma Chipman, Brianne Gilbert and Steph Ulrich — to play at Lynah Rink.

After playing for the Red for nearly four years, the seniors on the team found their last games at Lynah to be full of emotion. The team lost to Harvard in a tough 5-2 loss, but stayed strong to come out with a 3-3 tie against Dartmouth, ranked No. 8 in the country. The tie guaranteed Cornell an ECAC Hockey playoff spot. After the Dartmouth game, the seniors on the team were honored by their teammates and coaches in a senior night ceremony.

Freshman forward Catherine White demonstrated her swift skating capabilities and a reason why she is on the radar for opposing teams – she helped in five of the six goals in this past weekend’s games against Quinnipiac and Princeton, netting two goals and three assists.

“She is going to be scary for the opposition. She’s got good skills and I think she’s a very dangerous player. Other teams are going to have to pay a lot of attention to her in order to stop her,” head coach Doug Derraugh ’91 said.

Traveling to play Quinnipiac and Princeton this weekend, the women’s hockey team came away with tied results in both games — a 4-4 score against Quinnipiac and 2-2 against Princeton.

“Both games were kind of similar. We were winning, we had the lead, and they ending up coming back and getting us, tying us, which is unfortunate and frustrating at the same time,” said freshman forward Catherine White.

After split results last weekend, the women’s hockey team will travel to take on Quinnipiac today and Princeton tomorrow in two league games that are important for deciding the team’s standings in the ECAC conference.

“Going into this weekend, we need to take what we brought in last weekend and just continue off of that note, because we did really well against Clarkson,” said sophomore defender Amber Moore.Moving up: Sophomore defenseman Sam Wauer (11) and the Red would like to improve their seventh-place ranking.

After a tough loss to the No. 4 ranked team, St. Lawrence, on Friday, the women’s hockey team rebounded and defeated Clarkson 4-1. This decisive win, with the first three goals coming in the first eight minutes of the game, allowed Cornell (7-7-2 ECAC, 11-10-2) to move up in ECAC rankings and become tied for seventh place.

“Both games we played really well. Especially, even though we lost against St. Lawrence, we came together as a team despite them scoring in the last minute to win it, so it was disappointing there,” said sophomore Rebecca Johnston.

Show me your moves: Sophomore defender Sam Wauer clashes with a Golden Knight in the Red’s 4-1 win over Clarkson on Saturday.

After splitting a road weekend, the women’s hockey team returns to its home ice to battle St. Lawrence tonight and Clarkson tomorrow afternoon. The Saints and Golden Knights, ranked first and sixth, respectively, will certainly challenge the Red (10-9-2, 6-6-2 ECAC).All eyes on you: Freshman forward Kendice Ogilvie (left) chases down the puck during the Red’s 3-0 win over Union on Jan. 16. Ogilvie scored her first career goal during the team’s last contest — a 6-0 win over Brown on Jan. 24.

After its 6-0 shutout of Brown last weekend, the women’s hockey team looks forward to a successful rest of the season. This game proved that the Red has depth, as each of the six goals came from different forwards — it also demonstrated the squad’s powerful underclassmen presence. With eight freshmen and nine sophomores on the roster, this is both a young team and one that will stay strong in coming years.

The eight freshmen on the team have already proved themselves this season in numerous ways.