After holding off No. 10 women’s hockey for 15 minutes, Harvard’s defense crumbled and Cornell routed the Crimson at a rocking Lynah Rink for a second straight year, this time by a score of 5-1. The win over Harvard (2-6-0, 1-6-0 ECAC) pushes Cornell’s winning streak in Ivy League play to eight, stretching back to last season.
“It was electric,” said junior forward Mckenna Van Gelder. “The house was pretty packed out there. We had the full pep band which is always a blast when they’re here. The crowd gets wild.”
“There was so much energy throughout the building, you can see all of our fans come out and support us,” said sophomore goaltender Annelies Bergmann. “We love their support, and it was just super fun out there.”
The evening started with a ceremonial puck drop from Ivy League Executive Director Robin Harris and Cornell Athletics Director Nicki Moore in honor of 50 years of Ivy League women’s sports championships. Then, play got underway in front of a crowd of 950 in Cornell’s first Friday night home game of the season.
The Red (5-3-1, 4-1-0 ECAC) dominated play in the opening minutes, registering the first five shots of the game, but Cornell could not find the net. Play evened out until a Harvard skater was whistled for hooking seven minutes into the period.
However, the skater advantage ended 23 seconds ealy after another hooking call, this time on senior forward Lily Delianedis. The Crimson could not figure out a way by Bergmann — the reigning ECAC Goaltender of the Week — or Cornell’s penalty kill, which came into the weekend ranked 10th in the nation, and the score remained even.
“We tried to be a little more aggressive on our penalty kill, so we were trying to slow them down more through the middle of the ice, trying to get pressure at the blueline so they weren’t able to just enter the zone and get set up,” said head coach Doug Derraugh ’91. “I thought we did a pretty good job of that tonight.”
The Red finally opened up the game’s scoring with 4:14 left in the first period. Van Gelder skated the puck from the blue line to behind the Harvard net before wrapping a pass around the net to junior forward Avi Adam who shot the puck off the top crossbar and into the back of the net to make it 1-0.
Feeding off the momentum with under a minute left in the first period, freshman forward Lindzi Avar received a pass from senior forward Katlin Jockims and skated toward the left circle before firing the puck past Harvard goaltender Emily Davidson. The goal was Avar’s fourth at Lynah in just three games.
Less than 20 seconds after Cornell’s second goal of the game, a Harvard skater was sent to the penalty box, leading to Cornell’s second power play of the period.
With just 12 seconds left in the period, Van Gelder slipped by the Harvard penalty kill and received a pass from sophomore defender Piper Grober at the top of the crease. Instead of trying to slip the puck by the lunging goaltender, Van Gelder seemingly opted for a SportsCenter-worthy, between-the-legs pass to Delianidis, who flicked the puck past the sprawled out Harvard netminder for Cornell’s third goal in less than five minutes.
“That [behind-the-legs pass] was actually supposed to go in the net, but I always know that Lily [Delianedis] is coming back door for support. So it worked out for the better,” Van Gelder said. “The goalie bit, so I’m calling that a fake shot pass to Lily”
The first intermission did little to stem Cornell’s offense, which came out firing in the second period. 20 seconds into the period, senior forward Katie Chan forced a turnover deep in Harvard’s defensive zone. Chan’s pass flew through the slot and found the stick of Delianedis, who was left undefended left of the net. The preseason All-ECAC selection fired a one timer into the Harvard net for her second goal of the game.
“I honestly think it was just the atmosphere we played in tonight. It was our first home game with a really big crowd,” Van Gelder said. “We played together. We had fun. The bench had so much energy.”
The Red was still not done. After Cornell killed Harvard’s second power play of the evening, sophomore forward Karel Prefontaine skated into space and scored on a hard shot from the right circle. Prefontaine’s goal came on her first game back from an injury that caused her to miss the past two weekends.
“She is a real dangerous player,” Derraugh said. “There [are] very few players that have a wrist shot like hers, and when she gets an opportunity to use it she can be really dangerous.”
Cornell’s fifth goal of the game caused Harvard coach Laura Bellamy to replace Davidson with Ainsley Tuffy in net. Tuffy would go on to save all 16 shots she would face.
Harvard’s lone goal came just before the second period’s halfway point, when a rebounding puck found a Crimson skater in the low slot. The Harvard forward — Paige Lester — proceeded to beat Bergmann glove side. Aside from the goal, Bergman was perfect in net, saving 19 Crimson shots. The 2023-2024 Ivy League Rookie of the Year has allowed just two goals in her last four games.
“I’m just having fun out there. I think, honestly, you play your best when you’re having fun and you play hockey to have fun,” Bergmann said.
Later in the second period, what seemed like a Van Gelder goal was waved off thanks to a cross checking call on junior forward Avi Adam. Adam would commit a second penalty minutes into the third period, but Cornell would kill both penalties. In the final period, despite a third Cornell power play followed by a hectic stretch of four-on-four play, neither team found the back of the net, and the game ended with a score of 5-1 in favor of Cornell.
The Red will be back tomorrow afternoon to take on winless Dartmouth at 3 p.m. with action streamed live on ESPN+.