In an impressive display at Medstar Capitals Iceplex in Washington, D.C. on Friday, Nov. 24, Cornell women’s ice hockey (11-2-1, 6-2-0 ECAC) secured a decisive 4-1 victory against the St. Thomas Tommies. With this win, the Red extended its record to 11-2-1, while the Tommies fell to 5-11-0 on the season.
Freshman defense Piper Grober celebrated her first career goal for the Red, contributing alongside junior forward Katie Chan, sophomore forward Avi Adam and senior forward Izzy Daniel, who extended her point streak to 14 games with a goal. The scoring plays also involved notable assists from Daniel, Grober, junior forward Kaitlin Jockims, sophomore defense Grace Dwyer, sophomore forward Mckenna Van Gelder (two assists) and junior forward Lily Delianedis (two assists).
Cornell swiftly took control of the game, generating a prime scoring opportunity right after the opening faceoff, only to be denied by Tommie netminder Calla Frank. The momentum continued as Delianedis and Daniel set up Chan for the first goal of the game, followed closely by Grober’s inaugural Cornell career goal, pushing the lead to 2-0.
In the second period, Adam widened the deficit to three with a goal assisted by Grober and Dwyer. The dominance persisted into the third period, where Daniel, who is leading the nation in points, secured her second point of the night with a power-play goal, providing the Red with a comfortable lead. The Tommies managed to notch their sole goal of the night with an impressive tip-in from Maddie Brown late in the final period.
In the goaltending department, senior Deanna Fraser backstopped Cornell, making 13 saves and maintaining her unblemished record.
The next evening in the concluding match of the D1 in D.C. games at Medstar Capitals Iceplex, the Red experienced a setback, succumbing to a 5-1 defeat against the top-five ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers. Cornell’s record dropped to 11-3-1, while the Gophers advanced to 11-2-0.
The lone goal for Cornell was notched by Chan, with the assist credited to junior defender Alexa Davis.
Minnesota took control early in the game, scoring two goals in the opening period, including one during a short-handed situation when the Red were on a power-play. In the second period, Abby Murphy extended the Gophers’ lead with another goal, making it 3-0. Cornell managed a response as Davis set up Chan for a breakaway goal, narrowing the Gopher advantage to two.
However, the Golden Gophers couldn’t be stopped, and they added two more goals in the final period.
Freshman goaltender Annelies Bergmann endured her third loss of the season despite making 27 saves.
With this series, Cornell concludes the first half of the season. It was a rather successful first half, with the Red going unbeaten in its first 10 games, before falling to No. 9 Quinnipiac on Nov. 17. Cornell will return to the ice on Friday, Jan. 5 against Clarkson University and the next day against St. Lawrence University.