No. 9 Cornell women’s ice hockey continued its ECAC schedule with two games against fellow Ivy rivals, Dartmouth and Harvard.
The Red (6-2-0, 4-2-0 ECAC) headed up to New Hampshire to face Dartmouth (1-5-0, 1-5-0 ECAC) on Friday. After an offensive outburst by Cornell against Clarkson on November 5, the game against the Big Green was no different.
After gaining the initial lead just under four minutes in with a goal in by sophomore forward Lily Delianedis, the Red was quickly overtaken. Dartmouth scored four unanswered goals in the first giving them the 4-1 lead heading into the locker room.
Going into the second period, Cornell was forced to play catch-up, something they were all too familiar with after slow starts in previous games. The Red did not succumb to the pressure, however, and scored five unanswered goals in the second to give them the 6-4 lead. Two of the five goals were from freshman forward Georgia Schiff and one from freshman forward Mckenna Van Gelder, freshman defenseman Alyssa Regalado and sophomore forward Kaitlin Jockims.
The Big Green attempted a comeback in the third, but only managed one more goal just under halfway through the period. The clock ran out and the Red survived to get the 6-5 victory.
“We had a slow start,” said senior forward Gillis Frechette. “I don’t think we were necessarily worried we were gonna lose the game, I think we still had confidence we were gonna pull through but definitely not the start we wanted and sort of had to claw our way back and get that win.”
Looking for a better start, the Red traveled to Bright-Landry Hockey Center in Boston to face Harvard (2-4-2, 2-4-2 ECAC) on Saturday.
Unfortunately, the Crimson’s defense proved too strong, as the Red was shut out. Cornell managed 30 shots on goal during the entire game, but none managed to escape by Harvard goaltender Alex Pellicci.
Having to work so hard to recover during the Dartmouth game on Friday definitely affected the game against Harvard.
“[It] definitely hurt us, against Harvard, having to come into that game more tired than we would have wanted,” Frechette said.
“I think we played well against Harvard…the puck just kind of wasn’t going in on us and the puck was bouncing off [Pellicci’s] stick and things like that…I know sometimes it doesn’t clock as much as you’d want it to. I think there’s a lot to learn and take from that game that we can use when we play them next.”
The Cornell-Harvard rivalry has a long history but the one thing both teams value is the home-ice advantage. The Red has an away record against the Crimson of 13-27-5.
“Harvard’s always a tough opponent, it’s a good rivalry, they always play really well at home,” Frechette said. “We have a lot of fans but they definitely always come out strong at home…you know you’re gonna get their best when you play them at Harvard.”
As tough as it is to play Harvard in Boston, it’s even tougher for the Crimson to face the Red at Lynah.
“I think when we play them at Cornell, it’s sort of the opposite, we always come out really strong and we have a lot of support in the stands when we play them [at Lynah] so I think it definitely makes the rivalry more contentious, which [are] always fun games to play in,” Frechette said.
Hoping to bounce back, women’s hockey will head to Nashville, TN to compete in the Smashville Women’s Collegiate Showcase on Thanksgiving weekend. The Red will face Northeastern (12-1-1, 10-1-1 Hockey East) on Saturday, before facing Princeton (3-3-0, 1-3-0 ECAC) once again on Sunday.
“We’re definitely excited to be going to Nashville, it’d be a fun atmosphere to play in,” Frechette said. “Especially to play Northeastern, playing out of conference is always a good way to test yourself against other leagues or show the rest of the country how good the ECAC is…and [how] Cornell can match up against the other teams and the other top-10 teams in the country.”