The Cornell women’s hockey team struggled to keep up with the No. 2 Boston College Eagles over the weekend. The performance of Alex Carpenter and Makenna Newkirk of the Eagles propelled BC to victory. (Kern Sharma / Sun Staff Photographer)
By SHANE LEWIS
The Red lost both of its games this past weekend in a series against No. 2 Boston College. On Friday, the team lost 4-1. On Saturday, the team lost 8-0. Cornell was largely overwhelmed by the offensive prowess of BC’s star forwards Alex Carpenter and Makenna Newkirk. The tandem combined for eight of the Eagle’s 12 goals over the weekend.
“Newkirk and Carpenter are unbelievable players,” said sophomore defender Sydnee Saracco. “Obviously Carpenter is world class. She’s an Olympian. They move the puck really well and it got us out of position. When they get chances they capitalize on them. It was difficult to defend them but it was good practice for us and hopefully will help us against future opponents.”
Friday’s game was much more tightly contested than the final score would show. The Red were down one goal the majority of the third period, until they gave up two empty net goals in the final two minutes of the game.
BC came out of the gates hot, scoring a goal in the first seven minutes of the game and outshooting the Red by six shots in the first period. The Red, however, would respond, shutting out the Eagles till midway through the third period and notching an equalizer five minutes into the third. The tying goal by Cornell junior forward Hanna Bunton proved to be all the offense that the team would generate throughout the game. Alexander would notch her first goal of the game soon after, bringing the Eagles a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Overall, the Eagles outshot the Red 44-19 on Friday. They also won the faceoff battle 33-23.
Saturday’s contest was a completely different story. Boston College ran away with the game from the begin The Red lost both of its games this past weekend in a series against No. 2 Boston College. On Friday, the team lost 4-1. On Saturday, the team lost 8-0. Cornell was largely overwhelmed by the offensive prowess of
BC’s star forwards Alex Carpenter and Makenna Newkirk. The tandem combined for eight of the Eagle’s 12 goals over the weekend.
“Newkirk and Carpenter are unbelievable players,” said sophomore defender Sydnee Saracco. “Obviously Carpenter is world class. She’s an Olympian. They move the puck really well and it got us out of position. When they get chances they capitalize on them. It was difficult to defend them but it was good practice for us and hopefully will help us against future opponents.”
Friday’s game was much more tightly contested than the final score would show. The Red were down one goal the majority of the third period, until they gave up two empty net goals in the final two minutes of the game.
BC came out of the gates hot, scoring a goal in the first seven minutes of the game and outshooting the Red by six shots in the first period. The Red, however, would respond, shutting out the Eagles till midway through the third period and notching an equalizer five minutes into the third. The tying goal by Cornell junior forward Hanna Bunton proved to be all the offense that the team would generate throughout the game. Alexander would notch her first goal of the game soon after, bringing the Eagles a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Overall, the Eagles outshot the Red 44-19 on Friday. They also won the faceoff battle 33-23.
Saturday’s contest was a completely different story. Boston College ran away with the game from the beginning, notching three goals in the first period. Cornell had a few opportunities to respond but had multiples shots hit the goal post. Boston College would tally two more goals in the second period and finally three in the third. Newkirk and Carpenter both had monster games for the Red, with the two combining for five goals. Cornell was again outshot, but kept the margin significantly closer, 34-23. They were however again dominated in face-offs, losing 40 out of 59.
“I think we had a few chances at the beginning of Saturday’s game but couldn’t finish them,” Saracco said. “We hit the post a couple of times. Once BC got a few goals we kind of collapsed and weren’t winning the battles that we should have been. We weren’t prepared Saturday to compete and it showed on the scoreboard.”
Despite the two losses, the team showed plenty of promise from several of their younger players. Freshman goalie Marlene Boissonnault filled in the net on Saturday and logged an impressive 26 saves. Sophomore defender Erin O’Connor was one of the leading shot takers for the Red on the weekend.
“We have a young team, but I think that our work ethic is going to be a strength this season,” said senior defender Cassandra Poudrier. “It is very early on in the season, we saw great things from many different people so it is exciting to start our league games this weekend.”
The Red are slated to take on RPI and Union College this weekend at Lynah Rink. According to team members, the experience of going up against such an elite team early in the season will be beneficial moving onwards.
“We learned that we need to come out strong and prepared day in and day out,” Poudrier said. “ Our habits and the details of those habits will be crucial going into the season.”