After blowing a two-goal lead and getting outshot in regulation, women’s hockey capitalized on a mistake from Quinnipiac (25-10-1, 13-9-0 ECAC) goaltender Logan Angers to win 3-2 in overtime. It wasn’t easy, but No. 6 Cornell (23-6-1, 17-5-0 ECAC) is now just one win away from the ECAC semifinals and championship weekend.
The game started off fast, as neither team showed any signs of nerves one might expect from a playoff matchup. The first clear opportunity of the game came just over a minute into the opening period, when the Red forced a turnover in the neutral zone, but Cornell was unable to capitalize on the opportunity. The Red followed that first shot attempt with three more in the succeeding thirty seconds but were unable to open the scoring.
“I think they were ready for the game,” said Ivy League Coach of the Year Doug Derraugh ’91 after the game. “We wanted to try and get pressure on Quinnipiac early if we could, and so we did a good job of that.”
Despite an ensuing sustained period of Quinnipiac pressure, Cornell would strike first. 5:34 into the game, junior forward Kaitlin Jockims collected a missed shot behind the net and shoveled the puck across the crease where sophomore forward Georgia Schiff was waiting. While Angers was recovering from defending against Jockims, Schiff slotted the puck into the back of the net and gave the Red a 1-0 lead. It was Schiff’s sixth goal of the year and her first in over a month.
Feeding off the momentum of its early first goal, Cornell proceeded to pummel Angers with shots and maintained dominant zone control, forcing repeated icing calls on the Bobcats.
Cornell’s offensive pressure culminated in one of the statistically best college hockey players doing what she does best. After being named Ivy League Player of the Year just two days ago, All-ECAC first team senior forward Izzy Daniel entered Friday’s game second in the nation in assists per game, and added to her total. Daniel gathered the puck just past the center line, deked a pair of Bobcat defenders before driving in on goal past the faceoff circle. Daniel then flicked a centering pass to junior forward Lily Delianedis and fired a wrister past the goaltender.
“Izzy does that quite often where she drives wide, and she’s always got her head up. [She’s a] really smart hockey player,” Derraugh said. “She just seems to have great peripheral vision and could find that open player.”
A Cornell penalty with 7:34 to go in the first slowed the Red’s momentum and forced the team back into an extended defensive posture for the first time since the opening minutes of the game. During the power play, a cross checking penalty on sophomore defender Alyssa Regalado Quinnipiac 30 seconds of 5-3 play and another minute and a half of a skater advantage. Despite the extended advantage, the Red fended off any Quinnipiac chances. While the first period would see another Bobcat powerplay, Quinnipiac was unable to close the deficit, and Cornell closed the first period of the quarterfinals with a 2-0 lead.
The second period started off slowly but picked up about five minutes in as Quinnipiac scored its first goal. When Quinnipiac’s Sadie Pert won a faceoff in the Red’s defensive zone, standing behind her on the edge of the faceoff circle was reigning ECAC rookie of the week Kahlen Lamarsh, who unloaded on a wrister that shot by freshman goaltender and Ivy League Rookie of the Year Annelies Bergmann to bring the Bobcats within one goal of tying the game.
Trying to respond, Cornell fired off an impressive 10 straight shots over an almost six-minute stretch, but was unable to answer. In spite of the Red’s solid play, Quinnipiac netted the second goal of the period when a rebound off a Bergmann save fell right into the crease and, during the ensuing melee, deflected off the skate of sophomore forward Avi Adam and past the goal line. The period ended even in shots (16) and shots on goal (eight) between the teams, but Quinnipiac had come back from down two to tie the game up.
“I didn’t think we had such a bad second period, it just happened that they got [those two goals],” Derraugh said. “It was kind of what both teams probably expected — a close game that could go one way or the other.”
The third period saw both teams stand tall in their defense zones, preventing the puck from finding the back of the net. The Red’s defense was highlighted by multiple saves by Bergmann, who finished off regulation by making an impressive save with 28.9 seconds left, sending the game into overtime.
As per ECAC tournament rules, the game moved to a five-on-five overtime period where the first goal scored would decide the game. Just 18 seconds into overtime, Cornell was called for its fifth minor penalty of the afternoon, when Dwyer was sent to the box for hooking.
Cornell won both the initial faceoff and the one after Quinnipiac was called offsides to kill the penalty. As the penalty expired, a long pass to freshman forward Karel Prefontaine bounced off the boards behind the Quinnipiac Goal. Angers had initially come out to play the puck and was stuck in no-man’s land.
“I saw her getting back, but I knew that a shot would probably make it harder for her than just like trying to skate it in,” Prefontaine said. “She was farther back [from] her net, so I had the perfect angle.”
Prefontaine’s shot flew by the vulnerable Angers, and Cornell claimed the 1-0 series lead.
“It’s great. It’s a good feeling. …That’s all the words I’ve got. It’s great. It’s awesome.” Prefontaine said.
With the win, Cornell needs just one more win to claim the best-of-three series against Quinnipiac.
“The job’s not done yet,” Prefontaine said. “We’ve got another game tomorrow. We know they’re going to come out strong because they’re a good team.”
Game two of the quarterfinals will take place on Saturday March first at 3 p.m. at Lynah Rink. With a win, Cornell will advance to the ECAC semifinals and championship weekend. With a loss, a third game Sunday will be required. Both Saturday’s and Sunday’s (if necessary) games will be streamed on ESPN+.