After a slow opening weekend that saw the Cornell women’s hockey team (0-2-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) drop its first two, the icers will look to post a win tomorrow when the University of Maine Black Bears skate into town.
Despite dropping games to Ivy foes Harvard and Brown last weekend, the Red looks to make a mark in the ECAC conference this season and improve upon last year’s 10-18-1 final record. Cornell will depend on the leadership of its three senior captains, Erinn Perushek, Jenel Bode and Sarah Olivier, as well as the talent of 15 returning players and a large freshman class.
Scoring will clearly be the number one focus for the icers in this weekend’s contests, after last weekend saw them outscored by a margin of 8-0 overall. A balanced attack and more effective power play will be key to putting the puck in the net, as Brown and Harvard boasted a combined 4-11 on power play opportunities to the Red’s poor 0-10 mark.
The Black Bears, like most teams in the country outside the Ivy League, have a few more games under their belt than the Red and will bring a 2-3-1 record to the ice tomorrow. After posting two early wins against Colgate in October, Maine has gone on to suffer three losses and one tie in recent play against Providence and the University of New Hampshire.
Regardless of its recent losses, Maine has notched 17 goals in its first six games, to Cornell’s zero tallies in two. More effective goal protection during special teams situations and a strong effort by the Red power play will be key to halting its losing skid and keeping Maine on its losing track.
The puck will hit the ice and the teams will hit each other at 2 p.m. tomorrow at Lynah Rink, and go at it again Sunday — same place, same time.
Archived article by Sarah Spain