Last weekend, women’s ice hockey faced off at Lynah Rink, losing to Yale, 7-0. After the devastating shutout, the Red returned the following day to tie Brown in overtime, 3-3.
The last time the Red (1-4-1, 0-3-1) lost to Yale (4-2-0, 2-2-0) at Lynah Rink was Nov. 9, 2011. With four losses, one win and one draw under its belts, the Red has a long way to go to turn around its season, said Head Coach Doug Derraugh ’91.
“Generally speaking, we need to play harder. We need to communicate better, to play faster. We need to buy into what we’re talking about,” Derraugh said. “I think being a young group, we want to be patient here. But certainly we’ve got to improve each and every week. Looking at today, it doesn’t look like we’re improving. It looks like we’re going in the wrong direction right now.”
After a pair of losses two weekends ago, the Red returned home to Lynah Rink on Nov. 5 hungry for a win. During the first 10 minutes against the Bulldogs, the Red started off with intensity, taking several close shots on goal. However, the team’s confidence faltered after two rapid Bulldog goals by the 14th minute.
The Red struggled to regain its footing, failing to block five more Bulldog goals, including a short-handed score during the third period. Yale went on to win, 7-0.
Despite the frustrating loss, the Red continued to cheer each other on, banging the boards for every block, save and shot throughout the match.
“The team stuck together. Obviously the score was not great, but I did think that the energy was still good on the bench,” Derraugh said. “I think they got a lot of energy, and I think they want to put the work in and want to get better.”
The following afternoon, the Red faced off against Brown (0-4-2, 0-3-1), again at Lynah Rink.
The Red started off the first period with a renewed energy from the previous day’s loss. In the first period alone, the Red put up 28 shots against Brown’s goaltender. None, however, landed and the period ended, 0-0.
Brown scored in the second period, raising the intensity of the match. The Red evened the score when junior forward Izzy Daniel made a pass to senior forward Gillis Frechette, who scored on a power play.
With only 35 seconds left in the period, Daniel put up another shot, and senior defender Athena Song snapped up the rebound with a pass to sophomore forward Lily Delianedis, who scored, putting Cornell ahead, 2-1.
About 16 minutes into the third period, Brown slipped another goal past fifth-year goaltender Lindsay Browning. However, the Red returned with vengeance, pulling Browning for an extra attacker. With a mere minute and 30 seconds left in the game, Delianedis sent the puck to sophomore forward Claudia Yu, who scored to force overtime.
With only a few minutes remaining in the game, sophomore defender Ashley Messier and Frechette were sent to the penalty box, resulting in a 4-on-3 power play for Brown, providing the Bears with an opportunity to secure their first win of the season. The Red, however, was able to maintain its position on the ice with a close save from Browning, earning the tie.
Derraugh said he noticed improvements in the team’s performance on Saturday compared to the previous match.
“I saw some things that were a little bit better tonight. I think we made some improvements from where we were Friday night,” Derraugh said. “I liked the way we came back. We didn’t quit when we were down and got the tie.”
The Red will face Syracuse (4-5-2, 3-1-0) at Lynah Rink on Tuesday evening, Nov. 9, and will go back on the road for the weekend, with matches against Union College (2-10-1, 0-6-0) and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (4-8-0, 2-4-0).