A night after its dramatic tie versus St. Lawrence, the women’s hockey team continued its road trip against ECAC leader Clarkson in Potsdam, N.Y., on Saturday night. The Red entered the contest as the only ECAC team to have beaten the No. 3 Golden Knights so far this season. However, the Red was unable to repeat its November performance, ultimately falling 2-1.
As many had expected, the match was hard fought throughout. It was filled with back-and-forth action in which the Golden Knights finished one more opportunity than the Red ultimately did.
“They’re a good team and we’re a good team,” said sophomore forward Chelsea Karpenko, who is tied with Fortino for second on the team with 19 points. “There was a lot of back-and-forth and neutral zone play. They did a good job keeping us outside and not giving us a lot of quality opportunities; the ones we got we didn’t bury when we had the chance. [Our lack of offense] was really a combination of things.”
Part of what the Red took away from the weekend was to focus on sticking to its own game plan, which has made Cornell successful for most of the season.
“We’ve got to bury our chances early and come out a little stronger at the beginning of the game,” Karpenko said. “We’ve let teams get back in the game and gain momentum. We need to get back to our game plan and doing the things we’ve done in the past.”
The Golden Knights and the Red still sit in 1st and 2nd place respectively atop the ECAC standings. There is no doubt that the high probability of a potential rubber match in March for the ECAC crown is looming.
“We definitely want another chance at them,” Karpenko said. “If we work hard and play hard and end the season on a good note, we’ll be setting ourselves up to do just that.”
Original Author: Ware Cady