By wpengine December 3, 2001
This weekend showed the good and the bad of the women’s hockey team. Friday evening, it posted a solid victory, beating Yale 4-1 with good passing, physical play, and good work between the pipes from junior goaltender Liz Connelly. But the Red (2-7-0, 1-2-0 ECAC) fell to Princeton 4-1 on Saturday. The Red put together a good first period, but came up short late in the second and couldn’t recover in the third. On Friday against Yale (3-4-1, 0-2-0), the Cornell was paced by its captains — seniors Sarah Oliver, Erinn Perushek and Jenel Bode — and junior Lindsay Murao. Oliver had her first two goals of the season, and Perushek and Bode picked up a pair of assists each. Murao lead the team with one goal and two assists. Head coach Carol Mullins talked about her satisfaction on the Red’s well round play. “It’s good to see all four lines contribute offensively and defensively,” she said. Cornell came out strong in the scoreless first period. It notched nine shots on goal while holding Yale to only two. Cornell kept the pressure on the Bulldogs with good puck control and consistent all around play. In the second the Red showed more of the same, controlling the pace of the game and keeping up a steady stream of shots on goal. Midway through the period one of them finally got through. Junior Brooke Bestwick shook a pair of defenders, found some open ice and stroked a mean slap-shot that found its way through the legs of Yale goalie Nicolette Franck. Murao and Perushek assisted on the play. With a 1-0 lead and 10:36 left in the second, the Red never looked back. The team held the lead, dominating the Bulldogs on the boards both offensively and defensively and playing good fundamental hockey. Cornell kept the momentum in the third with great goaltending and aggressive play. Murao scored the Red’s second goal off a pass from Bode, flicking the puck past the shoulder of the Yale netminder at 6:01. Seven and a half minutes later, Cornell extended its lead again on a power play when Oliver fielded a crossing pass from Murao and lifted the puck into the top corner of the goal for her first score of the season. Perushek also picked up her second assist of the night on the play, which put the Red up 3-0. Yale managed to pick up a single goal with 5:33 remaining, pushing the puck in front of the goal and sneaking it past Connelly on a power play. Oliver put the finishing touches on the Red’s victory two minutes later, deflecting a slap-shot from freshman Lara Kelly into the net. Bode picked up her final assist on the play. Cornell had 27 shots on goal, Yale only 18. On Saturday afternoon Cornell didn’t do so well. Even before faceoff, the Red was struck for a loss when a Princeton slap-shot hit Murao on her way into the locker room after warm-ups. Murao suffered a broken jaw and was out for the game. Cornell managed to shake off the loss of its leading scorer with solid play out of the gates. It continued the themes from the previous day, keeping pressure on Princeton with good shots and plenty of hustle. The Red went up 1-0 at 14:46 to go in the period on Oliver’s third goal of the weekend with Bode and junior Erin Ellis assisting. Cornell kept the lead for the rest of the period and well into the second, consistently creating offensive opportunities. A shot from sophomore Brianna Jentner almost found its way past Princeton goalie Megan Van Beusekom, but she stopped it just in time. After that save, the Red seemed to lose the momentum, falling victim to miscues. Princeton evened the score on the power play at 11:59 when Gretchen Anderson snuck a shot past the Cornell goaltender, junior Sanya Sandahl. About four minutes later, Tigers forward Lisa Rasmussen got the puck on a breakaway and flicked it into the top right corner of the net to give Princeton the lead 2-1. The Tigers had a power play at the start of the third, and they took advantage, adding another goal 42 seconds in. With 12:11 left in the game, Princeton added their final goal. “We didn’t play well in the second and third,” admitted Mullins. “The physical effort is there but not the mental side doesn’t always help [in the game].” Goaltender Sandahl had a formidable task, as Princeton had 34 shots on goal compared to the Red’s 19. She had several good stops. Mullins said she went with Sandahl over Connelly because of the two netminders’ different styles. “They’re pretty even, but Sanya takes up a little more net,” she said. According to Mullins, the team plans to use the next week and a half of practice to the best of its advantage and come back from its winter break ready to play. The Red still have two-thirds of its games left, most of them league matches, Mullins pointed out. The team plans to return strong and work towards a spot in the playoffs. Cornell returns to the ice in competition on Dec. 29 and 30 against Toronto and Niagara, both at Niagara University. Archived article by Matt James
By wpengine December 3, 2001
The men’s and women’s track teams ushered in their seasons this weekend with a pair of meets inside the friendly walls of Barton Hall. Both squads posted strong showings that saw the women capturing seven first-place finishes and the men boosting convincing efforts from a cadre of young talent. The men’s competition drew 11 regional programs. However, the meet did not count toward team scores. “The guys worked hard [in the offseason] to get here,” head coach Nathan Taylor remarked. But he cautioned that the meet was the “first step in a long process,” toward the Heps championships. The middle distance was one notable area where the Red did not post a first-place finish. However, a pair of freshman gave strong efforts in the 1000-meters as rookies Sam Mackenzie and Oliver Tassinari, garnered second- and third-place finishes, respectively. The Red had some strong performances in the sprints as sophomore Rahim Wooley took the top spot in the 200-meters and picked up second place with a time of 7.04 in the 60-meters. Rookie Kenan Gogins ran to a first-place finish in the 400-meters. Senior Jeremy Blanchet won the weight throw with a distance of 58’06”. “[His] performance was a personal best. It was a good effort,” Taylor said of Blanchet’s performance. Classmate Scott Lundy took the top spot in the pole vault. However, it was largely the youth of the team that found itself in the winner’s circle. This was a trend that excited Taylor. “It was really encouraging that our top performance in most events came from either sophomores or freshman,” he said. One of the standouts from the underclassmen was sophomore Jeremy Hart, who emerged victorious in the long jump and placed second in the triple jump. Headlining the women’s showing was sophomore Merili Mosley who garnered a first place finish in the 60-meter hurdles finals with a time of 9:24. “People did a very good job working over the fall, and it showed,” praised head coach Lou Duesing. Duesing had particularly strong words for the efforts of sophomore Hannah Garrity, who took first place in both the 60- and 200-meter dashes. Her showing in the 60, Duesing believed, would have qualified her for the finals in last year’s Heptagonals. Senior Emily Eigel won the weight competition with a personal best. Duesing was particularly pleased that she solidified the victory on her last throw — evidence of her intensity. As with the men, the women’s youngsters showed promise. Freshman Jessica Brown collected second-place finishes in the high jump and the 200-meters. She also ran a school record in the four by four relay in which she was the fastest leg. “They’re going to have some great days in their four years here,” Duesing predicted of his freshman.Archived article by Gary Schueller