It was a fun weekend for the Cornell women’s hockey team.
In an action-packed weekend homestand, the Red claimed its second consecutive Ivy League title with a victory over Yale on Friday and celebrated its annual senior day the following day.
Cornell put up a pair of decisive victories to show why it deserved to be champs, defeating the Bulldogs by a score of 4-0 and downing the Bears by a score of 6-1.
Cornell (17-7-3, 13-5-2 ECAC) donned purple beanies in its game against Yale (9-13-4, 7-10-2 ECAC) in honor of the Do It For Daron Foundation, which promotes mental health awareness in young adults.
A goal from freshman forward Maddie Mills off of an assist from sophomore linemate Kristin O’Neill 5:14 into the first period got the ball rolling for Cornell.
The Red then dominated the Bulldogs offensively, scoring three more times before the end of the match and outshooting Yale 50-10.
Junior goalkeeper Marlene Boissonnault recorded her fifth shutout of the season — the third most in program history and currently fifth most in the country.
“Going into the weekend we knew the Ivy Championship was on the line,” said junior forward Diana Buckley. “There was only one thing on our mind and that was securing the trophy for another year. I think we played well in both games and sent a message to the entire ECAC that we aren’t satisfied with just an Ivy Championship.”
Cornell put an exclamation point on its title by skating past Brown easily the following day.
“After the win on Friday, we wanted to put a stamp on the Ivy title by beating Brown and sending a message to the other Ivies that we really deserved to be [the conference champions],” said junior forward Pippy Gerace.
Boissonnault also recorded 11 saves on the day, while freshman goalkeeper, Lindsay Browning, recorded two after coming in to relieve Boissonnault during the third period.
“It was very good to see our team generating scoring from several other players,” Gerace said. “That is something that will be crucial heading into the playoff stretch.”
Saturday afternoon also marked the last home game of the regular season for the Red and was an opportunity to honor the three seniors who have left their mark on the program — Knee, Erin O’Connor and Brianna Veerman.
“I am so happy for our seniors to win the Ivy Championship on their senior weekend,” said head coach Doug Derraugh ’91. “That will be something they will always cherish. This senior class has been a real pleasure to coach. They have been great teammates and leaders. They are not just good hockey players but great people. We will certainly miss them next year.”
Though this was the last time the seniors would play at Lynah during the regular season, the team is crossing its fingers that it will get a chance to play in front of a home crowd during the playoffs.
“To be honest it hasn’t really hit me that it was the last [home game],” Knee said. “I think it’s because I still feel like we have more hockey to go. I’m just focused on the weekends to come.”
The Red hits the road again this weekend to close out the regular season against Union (7-20-5, 5-13-2) and Rensselaer (9-17-6, 6-11-3).
“We need to learn to play as well on the road as we have at home,” Derraugh said. “We also want to be at the top of our game heading into the playoffs, so we want to keep improving in all areas of our game.”
The puck drops against the Dutchwomen at 6 p.m. on Friday and at 3 p.m. on Saturday at RPI.