The women’s hockey team (1-13-1, 0-7-1 ECAC) heads to Orono, ME for a two-game set with Maine this weekend. Maine is on a three-game losing streak, while Cornell has dropped its last four after winning its first game of the season at Findlay three weeks ago. These two games will be the last non-conference games for Cornell, as the Red heads into the home stretch of the season.
The Black Bears (6-10-4, 1-5-2 Hockey East) are currently in fifth place in the Hockey East standings, one ahead of Boston College, which defeated the Red earlier this season. However, Maine has suffered three losses to sub-par teams in the past two weekends. Northeastern, which is also struggling with a 7-13-2 record, ended the Black Bears’ five-game winning streak with a win and a tie two weeks ago. Since then, Maine has also lost two games to Niagara.
In addition, the Black Bears are no scoring powerhouse, the opposite of many of the teams the Red has faced recently. Maine averages only two goals per game, and typically tries to win games on defense. The Red similarly does not score much, averaging 0.8 goals per game, and Cornell typically struggles most against high scoring squads.
“We need to keep working on the offense side [of the game],” said head coach Melody Davidson. “We graduated a lot of offense, and [it is] not something that comes naturally to everyone we have right now.”
One player that the Red might have trouble with is Maine’s Meagan Aarts. Aarts leads the Black Bears in scoring with twenty points this season. In contrast, the Red’s top scorer, Jen Munhofen, has six points.
Maine’s goaltending is also a force to be reckoned with. The Black Bears’ top two goalies, Dawn Froats and Lara Smart, have a combined GAA of 2.31.
After starting off impressively in 2003, the Red has yet to show its potential. When the icers face Maine this weekend, it will be a battle between two teams hungry for a win.
Archived article by Michael Pandolfini