When sophomore forward Jen Munhofen fired the puck, it looked as if the Red would open up an early 1-0 lead, and would give the underdogs some early momentum. Unfortunately for Cornell, the puck hit the post and was deflected away, deflating the Red’s hopes.
“We were in a position to challenge them on the scoreboard,” said head coach Melody Davidson. “It is a game of inches for us right now.”
Going into its Friday matchup with St. Lawrence, the women’s hockey squad had lost its first two games and had just one goal on the season. On the other hand, St. Lawrence (6-3-0, 2-0-0 ECAC) took the ice at Lynah as the fifth-ranked team in the nation, with nine straight victories against Cornell.
The Red missed its early scoring chance by just an inch and inevitably fell to the Saints, 3-1, Friday night at Lynah Rink. Both squads took advantage of their power play situations, as every goal in the contest was scored off of the man-advantage.
Cornell scored on its first power play opportunity, as sophomore Andrea Skinner redirected a shot from junior Jamie Ramenofsky into the back of the net. Also assisting on the play was sophomore Vicki Hodgkinson. Skinner and Hodgkinson currently lead Red in points — each has a goal and an assist.
The Saints took advantage of their extra skater situations, as they had 18 of their 45 shots and all three of their goals on power plays. Senior Sara Simard netted the first goal of the game with just under eight minutes to play in the first period. Assisting on the play was freshman Abbie Bullard, who was named ECAC Rookie of the Week for her multi-point weekend, and sophomore Tracy Muzerall. Muzerall also assisted on the Saints’ second goal, which was scored by junior Rebecca Russell who leads St. Lawrence with five goals on the season. Russell tallied an assist on the Saints’ final goal, as Bullard netted a shot with 7:53 left in the second period. Also assisting on the play was senior Gina Kingsbury for her 100th career point.
Sophomore Flora Vineberg was tested early and often as the Saints tallied 45 shots to just 13 for the Red. Yet Vineberg was solid, knocking away 42 shots that St. Lawrence fired at her.
“When you play the nationally-ranked teams, goaltending is crucial and our goalies know how to expect a lot of shots,” said Davidson, “We would have liked to have more shots on net for us Friday, but we did a good job Saturday.”
The Red managed 25 shots on Saturday night against St. Lawrence, but it wasn’t enough, as the Saints earned a 6-0 shutout.
The Red had scoring opportunities in all three periods — Munhofen misfired on a breakaway in the first, Ramenofsky couldn’t put home two of her shots in the second, and Skinner was a victim of a quick glove of Saints goalie Rachel Barrie in the third.
Barrie stopped all 25 Cornell shots and earned her first shutout of the year.
Vineberg made 27 saves for the Red, and freshman Beth Baronick added 14, but it wasn’t enough under the St. Lawrence offensive attack.
Russell had her first career hat trick and assisted on a goal by Kingsbury. Kingsbury returned the favor, as she had assists on two of Russell’s goals.
The two losses drop the Red to 0-4-0 on the season and 0-3-0 in ECAC play. Up next for the Red is a weekend against Sacred Heart and Quinnipiac to kick off a stretch of nine road games.
Archived article by Chris Mascaro