This past weekend, women’s hockey (10-0-1, 6-0-0 ECAC) hit the road to take on Harvard (0-7-1, 0-7-1 ECAC) and Dartmouth (2-7-1, 1-7-1 ECAC) and returned with its undefeated streak intact.
On Friday night, the Red took down the Crimson in a sweeping 5-1 victory and handed the Crimson its seventh loss of the season.
Early in the first period, Cornell faced difficulty when sophomore forward Avi Adams was called for cross-checking. However, the Red escaped the man-advantage unscathed and used the momentum to score the first tally of the game just moments later. Junior forward Kaitlin Jockims found the back of the net to score her fourth goal of the season and Cornell’s first of the game. The momentum would slow for the Red a few minutes later, as freshman defenseman Piper Grober was called for tripping, but Cornell would once again kill off the minor penalty.
The Crimson would commit a penalty late in the frame that would allow for Cornell’s first power play of the game. The Red put up nine shots, including six on goal, in the two-minute span — the ninth of which, shot by sophomore blue-liner Grace Dwyer, made it past the Crimson defense. With a two-point lead cushioning Cornell, junior forward Katie Chan found the back of the net on the second Cornell power play of the night with assists from Dwyer and senior forward Izzy Daniel.
Daniel potted one of her own 10 minutes into the second period to extend the lead to 4-0. Hoping to get a breath of fresh air, Harvard opted to switch its goalie. However, the switch wasn’t enough to swap the red-hot team, with junior forward Lily Delianedia scoring the fifth Cornell goal of the night late in the second frame.
With nothing to lose, the Crimson took their opening early in the final period and netted their only goal of the night. The rest of the frame would end with neither team willing to budge, securing Cornell’s ninth win of the season. The Red’s 9-0-1 record after its beatdown of Harvard set a new record for the best start in program history.
The game against Dartmouth on Saturday was reminiscent of the one the day before, as the Red came out victorious in both. The first period was a stalemate, with neither team able to jump the advantage and score a goal. The highlight of the opening frame for the Red was senior goaltender Deanna Fraser making four critical saves, setting the tone for the rest of the game.
Four minutes into the second period, the opportunity to take advantage of a Dartmouth penalty slipped out the Red’s hands as it failed to convert. However, just seconds later, Daniel scored the first goal of the game and her 11th of the season. Riding on the high, Daniel netted a slap shot off a pass from Delianedis not even 10 minutes later.
The final period saw the Red scoring two more goals, one of which was scored by junior forward Ashley Messier and the other by Daniels. It seemed like the Red was cruising through the game, but in a sudden burst of momentum, the Big Green netted two goals in the final three minutes of the game. Still, the impressive rally-attempt proved to be insufficient and the Red would take its tenth win of the season.
Looking to continue its undefeated streak, the Red returns home to take on Quinnipiac on Friday at 6 p.m. and Princeton on Saturday at 3 p.m. Both games can be streamed on ESPN+.