It took 55 shots and an extra period, but women’s hockey (19-6-1, 14-5-0 ECAC) pulled out a 1-0 win over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (13-16-3, 5-15-0 ECAC). The next day, the Red defeated the Garnet Chargers (8-22-2, 3-15-2 ECAC) 3-1 and clinched a first-round bye and home ice for the quarterfinals of the ECAC Hockey tournament.
Cornell came into Friday night as victors of five of its last six matches, including three wins against ranked opponents. Throughout that unbeaten span, the team had not been shut out. However, the Red’s offense met its match against a red-hot RPI team and goaltender.
RPI also entered the match on a winning streak having won four straight, including an impressive win against then No. 14, Yale. RPI was looking to continue its run for eighth in the ECAC and the chance to host the first-round playoff game.
The first period opened with chances for both teams, including a hard wrist shot from RPI’s Marah Wagner just over three minutes into play that prompted a blocker save by freshman goaltender Annelies Bergmann.
About halfway through the first, a scrum in front of the Cornell goal led to an RPI player ending up on top of Bergmann.
“Yeah I [didn’t] see much — all I know is she [the RPI player] pushed me back, [and] I couldn’t get up,” Bergmann said.
As play continued with Bergmann and an RPI skater down in the net, multiple Cornell players began to tussle with a different Engineer at net front, attempting to clear the crease for Bergmann. After the play was whistled dead, the officials had a lengthy discussion and sent junior defender Ashley Messier to the penalty box for roughing.
After the chaos and the tough call, the Red successfully killed the minor penalty, allowing just one shot. With six minutes to go in the period, Cornell was awarded a power play of its own when Ellie Kaiser was sent to the RPI penalty box for hooking, but couldn’t find the back of the net.
The second period began similarly to the first, with both teams trading opportunities but failing to find the back of the net.
With almost seven minutes gone by in the middle frame, junior forward Claudia Yu was called for slashing, and the Red was back down to four skaters. However, the Red’s penalty kill yielded the Engineers just two shots. The momentum from the kill culminated with a wrister from junior forward Lily Delianedis, which rang the crossbar and sent Lynah into a fit of groans.
The second half of the period was dominated by the Red, which outshot RPI 15-5 after Yu’s penalty had been killed and 20-10 in the period overall.
The Red entered the third hoping its late second-period momentum would carry over, but three Cornell penalties in the first five minutes stalled the Red’s push. Thanks in large part to Bergmann, the Cornell penalty kill was able to last for the five minutes of shorthanded play.
“When I think I play my best is when I don’t think about the game and when I kind of just go out there and have fun — my game is just playing loose and having fun,” Bergmann said after recording her second consecutive shutout.
With 6:32 to go, sophomore defender Grace Dwyer was sent to the penalty box for tripping, her third penalty of the period and Cornell’s sixth of the night. The ensuing power play gave the Red their closest scare of the night, when a puck bounced over the head of Bergmann and seemingly was headed over the line.
However, the puck was swiftly cleared out from behind Bergmann and off the goal line to keep the score even. That score would hold until regulation concluded, prompting 3-on-3 overtime.
In overtime, senior forward Izzy Daniel –– the NCAA points leader –– made her presence felt, setting up her teammates, getting the puck to the net multiple times and even stopping a promising RPI breakaway with a well-executed backcheck.
Just when a tie seemed inevitable, freshman forward Karel Prefontaine took the puck from near the sideboards and brought it towards the slot before passing to junior forward Lily Delianedis, whose wrister found the back of the net and sent her team and an anticipatory Lynah Rink into jubilant celebrations. It was her second overtime game-winner this season.
In the end, the Red outshot the Engineers 55-33 but led shots on goal only 24-19.
With the win, the Red turned its attention to honoring its departing seniors at its Saturday senior day match against Union.
The majority of the first period would see both teams standing tall on the defensive, with both teams only mustering a combined seven shots on goal. The pace would pick up after Union’s Maya Jones found the back of the net just over 17 minutes into play.
After fumbling the lone Union goal, senior goaltender Deanna Fraser tightened up her defense and registered 13 saves on the evening, not allowing Union to put another on the board for the rest of the game.
“[Seniors] are such a vital part to our success,” Bergmann said.
The Red brought all the fire in the second period. A little over 12 minutes into the game, sophomore forward Mckenna Van Gelder would manage to score amidst chaos right in front of Union’s goaltender. With the score tied at one apiece, the rest of the period would pass with both teams trying to gain the advantage, to neither’s success.
The second half of the third period was definitely the most action-packed of the game as the Red would register two goals in the last three minutes of play.
With under two minutes remaining in the third period, junior forward Kaitlin Jockims maneuvered around a pair of Union defenders and shot the puck past Union’s Sophie Matsoukas for the go-ahead goal. The final goal of the game came not even a minute later when the Garnet Chargers were preparing for an extra-skater attack. Van Gelder would score her second goal of the game on an assist by Daniel and cement the victory for the Red.
The two wins secured Cornell a spot in the ECAC quarterfinals, avoiding the dreaded first round. The Red will also have the privilege of playing its quarterfinal games at home on the first day of March.
For now, the Red will set its sights on winning the Ivy League title with its matches this weekend against Brown and Yale on the road. The Red plays Brown on Friday, Feb. 16 at 6 p.m. and Yale the next day at 3 p.m. Both games can be streamed live on ESPN+.
Eli Fastiff is a Sun contributor and can be reached at [email protected].