The No. 6 women’s ice hockey team (17-5-1, 12-4-0 ECAC) scored a total of 21 goals in its weekend slate against Dartmouth (5-17-2, 2-13-2 ECAC) and the Harvard Crimson (4-17-2, 2-13-1 ECAC). Cornell poured on the offense, concluding the home sweep with a 14-0 dismantling of Dartmouth on Friday and a statement 7-2 win over Harvard the next day.
Junior forward Katie Chan — who has been out of the lineup because of injury — expressed her admiration for the team’s performance.
“The team played great,” Chan said. “Obviously we got the results we hoped for.”
The Red’s domination began only a minute into the first period against Dartmouth, when sophomore forward Georgia Schiff found the back of the net. The next 10 minutes of the game would see Cornell applying intense offensive pressure on the Big Green, creating opportunities for freshman forward Karel Prefontaine, junior forward Kaitlin Jockims (short-handed), senior forward Izzy Daniel (short-handed) and sophomore forward Mckenna Van Gelder to each light the lamp.
Despite the Red’s score of five goals on its first nine shots, Dartmouth’s goaltender, Eleanor Roberts, was forced to remain between the pipes for the entirety of the game. The Big Green has just one goaltender on its roster, and the freshman Roberts has played every minute of every game for Dartmouth this season.
With a comfortable 5-0 lead after the opening frame, the Red cruised for most of the second period until a goal by sophomore forward Avi Adam gave Cornell a sudden burst in momentum. The Red added two more goals to the total, both of which came on the power play. Jockims and junior forward Lily Delianedis were responsible for those goals.
Despite starting the third period with an eight-goal lead, the Red’s appetite for triumph wasn’t sated.
Just over five minutes into the third period, the Big Green thought it had finally got on the board; however, luck wasn’t on its side, as a holding penalty nullified the goal and ultimately led to another Cornell power-play goal. The Red would add two more goals onto their nine-point lead in 30 seconds, one of which was Jockims’ third of the night and Cornell’s first hat-trick of the game. Prefontaine would go on to complete her own hat-trick with less than three minutes remaining in the game. Cornell concluded with a jaw-dropping 14-0 victory, partly thanks to freshman goaltender Annalies Bergmann who recorded 11 saves in her first career shutout.
The Red’s pendulum of momentum swung into the next day with ease, as Cornell put 21 shots on the goal in the first period of play against its contentious rival, Harvard. Three of those pucks would make it past Harvard goaltender Alex Pellici to give Cornell a 3-0 advantage going into the second frame.
The second period saw the Crimson tighten up its defense, forcing junior defenseman Ashley Messier to put her nose to the grindstone to net a short-handed goal and give the Red a 4-0 lead. The Crimson flipped the script by scoring two consecutive goals and suddenly making victory a slightly tougher task for the Red.
Despite this, Schiff came in clutch and scored a goal late in the period, and victory was once again in the Red’s grasp.
Riding the high of a much-needed goal, the Red put two more biscuits in the basket in the final frame, which was all it needed to take the victory and sweep the weekend.
With the Red’s outstanding performance this past weekend, it is ready to take on pivotal matches against No. 9 St. Lawrence and No. 3 Clarkson this weekend.
“The matches [against Dartmouth and Harvard] definitely increased our confidence and showed us that we can go all the way,” Chan said. “Especially toward the end of the season, this confidence is so important, not just in yourself, but also in your team.”
This week, the Red hits the road for Canton, N.Y. to take on St. Lawrence on Friday, Feb. 2nd at 6 p.m. Cornell will then head over to Potsdam to take on Clarkson on Saturday at 3 p.m. The games will be streamed live on ESPN+.