This weekend the women’s hockey team will play the middle set of a six-game road swing, looking to snap a series of losing streaks. The trip will include a Friday night game at Brown (10-8-2, 8-2-1 ECAC), which holds a 16-game unbeaten streak against Cornell and a Saturday matinee against Yale (5-10-3, 2-5-2 ), who have won the last five meetings between the two squads. After posting a 3-1 record in December, the Red (5-13-0, 1-11-0) has not fared as well in the New Year, having lost its previous six contests.
In last weekend’s action, the Red was pitted against two of the top teams not just in the conference, but in the country as well. The team managed little offense and faced considerable amounts of time in the penalty box in both its 5-1 loss to No. 3 St. Lawrence and its 3-0 blanking by No. 9 Clarkson.
On Tuesday night, Brown and Yale squared off against each other in New Haven, Conn. Entering the third period with the score knotted at one, the Bears pulled ahead behind senior Margaret Ramsey’s second goal of the game and went on to a 3-1 victory.
Cornell hopes to continue to receive strong play from sophomore forward Caeleigh Beerworth, who has recorded eight (3 goals, 5 assists) of her team-leading 15 points (5 goals, 10 assists) so far in January. Another sophomore who has come on strong of late has been forward Brittany Forgues, who has had a pair of two-goal games and seven overall points this month.
The Red continues to split the majority of playing time between two goalies, senior Flora Vineberg and junior Beth Baronick. Vineberg has registered a 3.30 goals against average while stopping 89.9 percent of the shots fired against her. Meanwhile, Baronick has a goals against average of 3.83 and a save percentage of .882.
The Bears enter this weekend in third place in the ECACHL, one point behind division co-leaders Clarkson and St. Lawrence. In the latest Division I poll, while not ranked in the top-10, the Bears are one of two teams to receive votes. Offensively, sophomore forward Hayley Moore has been the primary threat, leading the team in points (25), goals (13), assists (11) and shots (87) so far this season. Between the pipes, sophomore goaltender O’Hara Shipe has seen the majority of minutes for the Bears, holding a 6-4-1 record with a 1.85 goals against average and a .935 save percentage.
On Saturday, Yale will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of women’s hockey at the school with events planned prior to and following the game against Cornell. The Bulldogs currently sit in ninth place in the conference, four points ahead of the Red. Pacing Yale’s scoring attack this season has been senior forward Deena Caplette, who leads the team with nine goals and 15 points. Senior goalie Sarah Love has started 16-of-18 games, compiling a 4-9-3 record and a 2.73 goals against average and .912 save percentage.
Brown leads the all-time series 33-27-7, while Cornell has the edge over Yale, 41-6-0.