The women’s hockey team will look to enjoy some Lynah Rink good fortune this weekend, when the Red opens its home season with a two-game set against upstate rival Union.
Cornell (0-2-0, 0-2-0 ECACHL) began the year with two road losses against conference rivals No. 8 Brown and No. 3 Harvard this past weekend. The Bears won 4-1 on Friday, outshooting Cornell 35-11. The Crimson also proved to be too much on Saturday, and Harvard won 8-2. “Obviously, to play against two of the top teams in the country is difficult,” said freshman forward Brianne Schmidt. “I feel like we did put up a very good fight.”
Cornell was able to keep things close against the Crimson in the first period. The game was tied, 2-2, until Harvard took the lead in the last minute of the first period. The home team did not look back, scoring once in the second period, and four times in the third period.
The icers split last year’s series against Union, with both games at Messa Rink. The Red won 4-0 in the first game but lost 3-1 in the second game, despite taking twice as many shots on goal as the Dutchwomen.
Union (3-3-1, 0-2-0 ECACHL) is only one win short of its 2003-2004 season total of four victories. In late October, Union earned two wins against Sacred Heart and beat Rensselaer 4-1. The Dutchwomen lost, 4-3, at Quinnipiac Saturday.
“Both Union and Cornell have the same goal in mind, and that is a four-point weekend,” said junior forward Jen Munhofen. “We expect Union to be better than last year, especially with some key players and new coaching staff. Our goal is to come out victorious, and that means to outwork them every shift.”
Cornell’s three goals this year have come from three different players. Junior Becky Fisher scored the Red’s only goal against Brown, while junior forward Vicki Hodgkinson and freshman forward Caeleigh Beerworth both scored against Harvard. Cornell junior goalie Flora Vineberg made 31 saves against Brown, and sophomore goalie Beth Baronick had 42 stops against Harvard.
“Player for player we are a better team [than Union],” Munhofen said. “The team with the biggest heart, and strongest will, will come out victorious.”
Union’s Ashley Kilstein leads her team with four goals and seven assists. She also leads the Dutchwomen in penalty minutes, having committed eleven penalties so far this year. Her total time in the box is twice more than any other Union player.
Seven of Cornell’s 22 players are freshmen, and five of the Red’s 13 forwards are first-year icers. With such a large number of new recruits expected to see playing time, the development of the underclassmen will be of prime importance going forward this season. Schmidt noted that team’s coaches and upperclassmen have helped the freshmen adjust to the system of play at Cornell.
“[The upperclassmen] have been phenomenal,” she said. “They’re so helpful just guiding us with all the new systems. It’s a very tight-knit team. People aren’t afraid to tell us what to do as far as ‘you’re out of position.’ It’s very encouraging…it’s not easy to learn new systems.” Tonight’s game is set for 7 p.m. The teams will face-off at 4 p.m. tomorrow.
Archived article by Ted Nyman
Sun Staff Writer