In a thrilling finale to the regular season, women’s hockey (21-6-1, 16-5-0 ECAC) shut down both Brown (11-14-3, 7-11-3 ECAC) and Yale (15-13-1, 12-9-1 ECAC) to claim its 16th Ivy League title.
Cornell opened up the contest against Brown fast and furious, applying pressure on the Bears’ netminder Kaley Doyle. Doyle showed up strong in response, saving 18 shots in the opening period, while standout freshman goaltender Annelies Bergmann stopped five to keep the game dead-locked at zero.
Lopsided power-play opportunities favored the Bears in the second, with it having five to Cornell’s one. The Red stood strong during four of those attempts, but Brown found the back of the net on one, which served as a vital difference maker after two periods.
Cornell claimed two minutes of power-play action when sophomore forward Georgia Schiff was elbowed midway through the third, but the Red was unable to find the equalizer during that time. With just over five minutes of regulation left to play, freshman defenseman Piper Grober fired a shot from the blue-line that somehow found its way past Doyle for the game-tying goal. Grober’s goal propelled the Red into overtime.
Six seconds into the extra period, Brown’s Jade Iginla was called for an interference penalty, putting the Red on a four-on-three advantage. After a flurry of shots in front of Doyle, senior forward Izzy Daniel fired one past the Brown netminder to give Cornell its third overtime victory of the season.
The next day at Ingalls Rinks, Yale unleashed an impressive barrage of 20 shots on goal in the opening period, but Bergmann held her ground and thwarted every attempt. As the period concluded, both teams remained deadlocked in a tense 0-0 stalemate.
Cornell seized control early in the second period, capitalizing on a power-play opportunity following an interference penalty against Yale. Sophomore forward Mckenna Van Gelder broke the deadlock by slipping the puck past the Bulldogs’ goaltender Pia Dukaric.
Moments later, the Red cracked a two-on-one break when freshman forward Karel Prefontaine found the back of the net thanks to Daniel’s precise playmaking, doubling Cornell’s lead.
All was not smooth, however, as Elle Hartje of the Bulldogs retaliated with a gritty goal off a rebound, narrowing the deficit to one heading into the decisive third period.
Cornell intensified its offensive onslaught in the final period, seeking to fortify its 2-1 lead. Less than two minutes in, a skirmish in front of the Red’s net resulted in matching minors for Hartje and sophomore forward Avi Adam, creating open ice for a four-on-four exchange. Despite the heightened intensity, neither team managed to alter the scoreboard during this segment.
With Dukaric pulled from the net in the waning moments of the game, Cornell relied on Bergmann’s goaltending prowess to repel any attempts at an equalizer. Her remarkable performance, bolstered by 35 saves, secured Cornell’s 16th Ivy League title in program history, further solidifying Bergmann’s stellar 16-5-1 record in goal this season.
No. 6 ranked Cornell will enjoy a bye week in the first round of the ECAC Hockey Tournament before resuming action in a three-game quarterfinal series from March 1-3. These games will be held at Lynah Rink against the victor of the first-round clash between the Quinnipiac Bobcats and Harvard Crimson.
Correction, Feb. 19, 10:10 p.m.: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Mckenna Van Gelder is a freshman. Van Gelder is a sophomore. The Sun regrets this error, and the article has been corrected.