February 20, 2006

W. Hockey Upsets No. 10 Harvard, Falls to Dartmouth

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With a conference playoff bid out of reach, the women’s hockey team entered its weekend matches against No. 10 Harvard and Dartmouth looking to play spoiler. What Cornell’s 9-17-0 (5-15-0 ECACHL) record may not suggest, however, is how tough the team has competed against some of the top schools not just in the conference, but in the country. This weekend proved to be no different as Cornell upset Harvard 4-3 on Friday night, before dropping a 2-1 decision to Dartmouth (11-10-4, 8-7-3) on Saturday.

“This weekend, we wanted to send a message to Harvard, Dartmouth and to the rest of the league,” said junior goaltender Beth Baronick. “We also wanted to send the seniors off well in their last ECAC games.”

Against Harvard (13-10-4, 9-5-4), Cornell employed a balanced offense as four different players netted goals. The Red received another strong performance in the net by Baronick (28 saves) en route to victory in Cambridge Mass.

Harvard got on the board first with a power-play goal 5:22 into the first period when Jenny Brine scored the first of her two goals on the game.

Cornell responded shortly thereafter with two goals in a four-minute span to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. Sophomore Sarah Johnston put the Red on the board after she took a rebound and knocked it into the goal. Freshman Emma Chipman added another tally for Cornell when she scored after a scramble in front of the net.

Harvard managed to knot the score at two all, eight minutes into the second period when the Crimson’s Jennifer Raimondi slapped a one-time shot past Baronick.

Cornell came out of the second intermission firing, putting up six shots and two quick goals in the first five minutes of the third period. Junior Caroline Scott tapped in a rebound 3:31 into the period and less than a minute later, sophomore Brittany Forgues put the Red up by two with the eventual game-winning goal.

Cornell focused on its defense for the remainder of the game and managed to stave off a flurry of offense by Harvard. The Crimson pulled its goalie with 1:35 left in the game and crashed the Red’s net, resulting in Brine’s second goal of the game with 20 seconds left on the scoreboard. But that would be all Harvard would get as Cornell held on for a 4-3 win.

On Saturday, Baronick again played tough in the crease – making 46 saves. However Dartmouth scored two power play goals – one in the first period and one in the third – to avoid the upset at home.

The Green opened up the scoring late in the first period as Alex Zagaria scored a power-play goal at the 14:35 mark. Dartmouth’s 1-0 lead would hold up until the beginning of the third period when Chipman knotted the score at one all, 3:37 into the third on a goal just four seconds into a power play.

However, two minutes later, with Dartmouth on the power play, the Green got the go-ahead goal from Maggie Kennedy. Dartmouth denied Cornell for the remainder of the game and held on for the 2-1 victory.

Cornell managed on 22 shots on the night, while Dartmouth rattled off 48.

Looking forward, the Red has two non-conference games remaining, both against No. 7 Mercyhurst, who will come into town this weekend.

“We are going to have a tough week of practice coming up, but we are definitely going into this weekend with thoughts of winning on our minds,” Baronick said.

Archived article by Jon Hausner
Sun Staff Writer