“Anytime one of your players totals five points, your entire team including the coaches are excited,” said Cornell women’s hockey head coach Melody Davidson.
If that’s the case, then the women’s hockey team had double the excitement, as freshman Halina Kristalyn and junior Pearle Nerenberg each had five-point games in a 5-2 rout of Clarkson on Saturday.
Kristalyn, who was named ECAC Rookie of the Week for her efforts, notched her fourth and fifth goals of the season, and tallied her second, third, and fourth assists, in the five point outburst. Kristalyn currently leads the Red with nine points on the season.
Nerenberg joined Kristalyn in the five-point club with a goal and four assists. Nerenberg, who was named to the ECAC Honor Roll for her achievements, has eight points on the season and is second on the team in assists with six.
The pair, along with senior forward Anita Khar, had a hand in all of the Red’s goals against the Golden Knights. The only other player to tally a point in the game was senior defender Ali Simpson, who along with Kristalyn, assisted on Nerenberg’s goal in the second period.
The trio of Khar, Kristalyn, and Nerenberg, who play together on power plays, played on the same even-strength line for the first time, as Kristalyn filled the void at center after junior Maryann Nowak was forced to sit out with a concussion.
“Sometimes things just click, and that was the way it was with this line,” said Davidson. “The challenge is whether they can continue to click on the power play.”
The Red was a solid 3-for-8 in their power play opportunities. Khar’s power play goal in the second period proved to be the game-winner for the Red in the midst of a five-goal streak that turned a 2-0 first period deficit into a 5-2 edge.
The Red got a taste of its own medicine on Sunday afternoon against local rival and ECAC opponent Colgate. After gaining an early 2-0 lead, the Red lost its momentum and inevitably fell to the Raiders, 3-2.
Red sophomore Becky Fisher moved up to forward for the game and was rewarded with her first collegiate goal on assists from Nerenberg and sophomore Jen Munhofen.
Munhofen and senior captain Briana Jentner assisted on the Red’s second goal, which came on a power play, and was scored by sophomore Andrea Skinner for her fourth goal of the year.
Yet, the Raiders, who beat the Red in their first contest of the season, were too much, as Becky Irvine found the back of the net for the game-winner midway through the second period.
The Red is at the bottom of the ECAC standings, still winless in conference matchups at 0-4-0. Overall, the squad has a 2-5-1 record going into a weekend when it will travel to Harvard and Brown. Harvard is currently the third-ranked team in the nation, with a 7-0-0 record, and has only given up two goals the entire season.
“We have a difficult task ahead, but we have a lot of confidence going into the weekend,” said Davidson. “Anything can happen and that is why you play the game.”
Archived article by Chris Mascaro