With the temperature below zero and the opposition earning wins, New England was not a great place to be this weekend for the women’s hockey team — both outside and inside the rink.
The Red (3-11-3, 3-9-1 ECACHL) lost, 4-1, to national powerhouse Dartmouth Friday night, and dropped a 1-0 game to Vermont (3-18-3, 1-9-0 ECACHL) on Saturday. The Green’s talented offense proved to be too much in the first game, while it was Vermont’s goaltending that kept the Red from earning the win in the latter match.
The weekend might not have helped Cornell’s record, but the Red goalies did have a fairly strong showing against No. 2 Dartmouth (19-1-0, 12-0-0 ECACHL). The tandem of junior Flora Vineberg and sophomore Beth Baronick combined for 40 saves, keeping the Green under its 5.7 goals per game average. The Red had given up eight goals to Dartmouth earlier in the year.
Although Cornell did put up good fight, it was the Green that controlled the game. Junior forwards Cherie Piper, Tiffany Hagge and Katie Weatherston each had goals, and senior defender Alana BreMiller added another goal in the final period. Weatherston leads the ECACHL in goals, and Piper leads in points, with 27 assists and 19 goals. Kate Lane had 16 saves in the Green’s victory.
Freshman forward Brianne Schmidt had Cornell’s lone goal of the night — a breakaway score off a great helper from freshman defender Lindsay Pegler. The goal, at 5:37 of the third period, gave Schmidt her team-leading eighth goal of the year. She is also second in the conference among freshman in goals scored.
On Saturday, the Red traveled to Gutterson Fieldhouse to meet Vermont. Playing two road games in less than 24 hours did not seem to affect the Red, but Vermont’s stingy goalkeeping did. Cornell outshot the home team, 32-18, but the Red could not score against senior goalie Kami Cote.
“The heart was there,” said senior co-captain Jamie Ramenofsky. “[But] we couldn’t put the puck in the net … It was obviously great goalkeeping. We just didn’t capitalize on our opportunities.”
Cornell had dominated Vermont in recent years, including a 4-2 win earlier in the season. The Red also beat the Catamounts, 2-1, last year, in an overtime game that gave the Red a playoff berth.
But Vermont was able to earn a little revenge this time around. Forward Stephanie Tewksbury scored the eventual game-winner at 18:06 in the second period, and the home team managed to keep Cornell off the board in a hard-fought third period. The Red had 12 shots in final 20 minutes, while Vermont had five. Freshman forward Sarah Johnston led Cornell with four shots in the game, and a number of players had three shots each. Vineberg had 17 saves.
Next weekend, Cornell will head north to meet St. Lawrence and Clarkson. Cornell and Clarkson are currently tied for eighth place in the ECACHL, with seven points each. St. Lawrence is fourth in the conference, with 15.
Archived article by Ted Nyman
Sun Staff Writer