Women’s hockey played Colgate twice in two weekends.
Though Cornell battled, its results didn’t change.
For the second time in just over a week, women’s hockey fell to Colgate in a heartbreaker.
After going down 1-0 early, the Red battled back to tie the game in the second, before conceding the game-winning goal with just four minutes left in regulation, ending Cornell’s season in crushing fashion. It was the fourth time Colgate had beaten the Red this season, albeit the closest of the meetings.
As had been the case all season, freshman goaltender and Ivy League Rookie of the Year Annelies Bergmann was nearly impenetrable for Cornell, stopping 31 shots across the three periods, including 14 in the first. Unfortunately for her and her team, Cornell struggled to maintain control of the puck in the attacking zone, leaving the Raiders to continually pressure the Red’s defenses.
The first period started as the teams traded chances, but Colgate quickly gained the upper hand. Seven minutes into the period, freshman forward Karel Prefontaine was called for tripping while aggressively forechecking, giving Colgate the first power play of the game. Although the skater advantage resulted in multiple chances for the Raiders, the sticks and bodies of Red defenders helped Bergmann keep the puck out of the back of the net during a frantic two minute kill.
Even with the penalty killed, the Red struggled to find offensive rhythm, and Colgate capitalized for the first goal of the afternoon. Just 20 seconds after a Colgate 2-on-1 forced an incredible save from Bergman, a Colgate forward grabbed the puck behind the Cornell net and threaded a pass to Kristýna Kaltounková, who was left alone in the slot. Her one-timer beat Bergmann and the Raiders took the lead.
The first period ended with the score 1-0, and with Colgate outshooting Cornell 15-7. The second period however, would be the Red’s best. Cornell outshot Colgate 8-7 in the middle frame and spent impressive amounts of time in the Raider defensive zone. Seven and a half minutes into the period, senior forward Izzy Daniel provoked a tripping call against a Raider defenseman, and the Red had their first and only penalty of the game. Although the Red did not score, they had multiple solid chances and came out of the power play with momentum.
Just as the power play ended, a Red skater was pushed in front of the Colgate net and knocked Colgate goaltender Kayle Osborne’s stick out of her hand. After a blocked shot, the puck found its way to junior forward Kaitlin Jockims, who took advantage of Osborne’s missing equipment by firing a shot towards the top corner of the Colgate goal. Osborne, still stickless, could not stop the puck, and the score was tied. After an extended conversation with the Colgate bench, the referees embarked on a lengthy review, but the goal stood. The Red then proceeded to kill a second Colgate power play, and the score remained tied entering the third period.
The third period unfolded similarly to the first. Colgate controlled the puck for long stretches of play, and the Red were seemingly unable to push the puck past the neutral zone. When Cornell did get shots towards the net, they met the sticks and body’s of Colgate defenders. Osborne was forced to make only five saves in the final frame, compared to Bergmann’s 10. Even with the Raider offensive onslaught, Cornell hung on. Bergmann made save after save, stopping a point-blank shot on a Raider rush with 14 minutes to go, as well as on a 1-on-0 opportunity for 2023 Patty Katz award runner up Danielle Serdachny with nine minutes left in the period.
With four minutes to go in the game, the Red’s “bend but don’t break” defense finally caved in. A trailing Colgate skater was left alone at the top of the right faceoff circle, and her shot snuck by Bergmann. The Raiders had scored a go-ahead goal late in the third period against Cornell the week before in the ECAC semifinals, and the Raiders mobbed the goal scorer Allyson Simpson after she had done the same in the NCAA quarterfinals just eight days later.
The Red attempted to respond, giving their best offensive pressure of the period in the last two minutes after pulling Bergmann for the extra attacker, but it was not enough. An empty-net goal for Colgate as the clock wound down sealed the deal and punched the Raider ticket to Durham and the Frozen Four.
The Red were left to ponder what would have happened if they could have defeated the Raiders in either of their final two encounters. Cornell will lose senior goaltender Deanna Fraser and senior forward Abby Ruggiero, but the toughest player for the Red to replace will be senior forward, ECAC Player of the Year, and Patty Kazmaier Award top-three finalist Izzy Daniel, who led the Red in goals and assists and was third in the nation in points per game entering the weekend.
The 2023-2024 Red won the Ivy League, made it to the ECAC semifinals and won a game in the NCAA tournament. This was Cornell’s best season since its 2019-2020 campaign, when the team was awarded the number one seed in the NCAA tournament before the season was cut short due to COVID. This year’s team, impressively, did not lose to a single opponent outside the top-15 nationally, and lost only three games at home. This year’s squad was also loaded with freshman talent, including Bergmann, Prefontaine and defenseman Piper Grober, a young core that should continue to contribute in the coming seasons.
Multiple Cornell skaters will participate in the United States camp before the 2024 IIHF Women’s World Championship in Utica, New York in April.