W. Icers Drop Two, Fall to Eighth Place

Although the women’s ice hockey squad was “Pretty in Pink” this weekend on their home ice, their execution was anything but pretty as they suffered a 5-3 loss to Clarkson on Friday night followed by a 6-2 loss to [img_assist|nid=27618|title=The Big Pink|desc=The women’s hockey team wore pink jerseys over the weekend to raise money for the American Cancer Society.|link=node|align=left|width=|height=0]ts (19-6-5, 10-5-3 ECAC) captured the lead for good a little over a minute later when sophomore center Britney Selina netted a power play goal past freshman goaltender Katie Wilson.
Clarkson doubled its lead at 18:21 of the second period on Gaudet’s second goal of the contest to give the Golden Knights a 4-2 advantage.
The Red kept it close as Johnston ripped another shot that was redirected off senior co-captain Caeleigh Beerworth’s stick and into the net 31 seconds later to slice the Golden Knights’ lead to one.
“I had just come in from the corner and cut in from the slot,” Johnston said. “I took a slap shot and it was in the air and hit Caeleigh’s stick and the goalie didn’t see it deflect in. It was a big play because Caeleigh was shielding the goalie, so she couldn’t really see either.”
However, Waldie provided an insurance goal with her second score of the evening at 2:19 of the third period to seal the 5-3 victory.
Clarkson edged Cornell 26-25 in shots taken. Clarkson freshman goaltender Lauren Dahm recorded 22 saves and a win, while Wilson blocked two shots in 24 minutes of play and sophomore Jenny Niesluchowski deflected 19 shots during her 33 minutes between the pipes.
On Saturday evening, the Red fell behind early to St. Lawrence (21-8-1, 14-3-1 ECAC Hockey) after senior forward Sabrina Harbec scored her 12th goal of the season with a man advantage at 1:25 of the first period.
The No. 6 nationally-ranked Saints scored again on the power play at 7:27 of the first period when junior forward Alison Domenico gave the team a 2-0 advantage.
Harbec and Domenico each netted back-to-back goals in the second period as well to double St. Lawrence’s lead to 4-0.
Cornell finally found the back of the net when senior co-captain Brittany Forgues slipped a rebound in past St. Lawrence netminder Meaghan Guckian to make it a 4-1 contest at 14:14 of the second period.
However, the Saints’ offensive attack proved relentless as junior forward Marianna Locke deposited a loose puck in front of the goal past Niesluchowski, who was unable to cover it up in the midst of a scramble in front of the net. The goal gave the Saints a 5-1 advantage at 17:13 of the second period.
After St. Lawrence scored its sixth goal of the night on another power play at 11:25 of the third period, McGinty scored her second goal of the weekend with less than six minutes left in regulation.
“[Junior defenseman] Steph [Ulrich] started a great breakout,” McGinty said. “I was just coming all the way up with the rush and I figured I might as well go all the way to the net. It ended up being a two-on-one and she just cut across and shot it at the net. The puck slid out from their goalie and I was standing right there, so I tapped it in.”
The Saints outshot the Red 31-27 as both netminders, Niesluchowski and Guckian, were credited with 25 saves.
“I thought we played a pretty good game,” Johnston said. “St. Lawrence has a really good power play and we unfortunately got a lot of penalties so they capitalized on that and got some goals. That’s something we need to try to work on. We cannot have as many penalties during the game, but I feel like we really competed with them and it should have been a closer game.
Although the Red failed to earn a point this weekend, McGinty’s awakening with her second and third goals of the season proved to be one of the few bright spots for Cornell.
“I think it probably would have meant a lot more if we had won one of the games,” McGinty said. “It’s kind of really hard to be pumped up about any goal you score when your team loses the game. Personally, scoring two goals gives me the confidence that I need to [be able to] step up offensively. The knowledge that I can play defense and also contribute to the offense definitely helps my confidence a lot more.”