Last season, women’s hockey took on its Upstate New York rival Colgate four times, including twice in the postseason. Four times the Red lost. This season, the challenge and importance of the matchups remain: Cornell and Colgate are tied for first in the ECAC standings.
Cornell will take on Colgate in the annual home-and-home series. The Red will face the Raiders in Hamilton on Friday afternoon before returning home to Ithaca for a Saturday matinee.
The four matchups between the two teams last season varied in importance and competitiveness. The first two contests came early in the second half of the regular season.
In game one, played in Ithaca on Jan. 12, 2024, the Raiders jumped out to a 4-0 lead before the Red could answer. A three-goal third period was too little too late and then-No. 8 Cornell dropped game one of the series, 6-3. The next day in Hamilton, the Raiders again jumped on the Red early, scoring three goals in the first period which would prove to be the only scoring of the afternoon.
While the regular season matchups were dominated by the Raiders, the postseason contests were tighter. In the Class of 1965 Arena, Cornell and Colgate met for a third time in the ECAC playoff semifinals.
After falling behind early, the Red battled back and tied the game 1-1 six minutes into the third period, thanks to then-sophomore defender Grace Dwyer’s goal. However, Cornell could not hold on for the full 60 minutes — surrendering four straight goals in the game’s last ten minutes — and was eliminated from the ECAC playoffs by a 5-1 score.
Eight days later, Cornell and Colgate would meet for a final time in an NCAA regional final matchup held in Hamilton. Like in the previous matchup, the two teams took a 1-1 game deep into the third period before the Raiders found a way past then-freshman goaltender Annelies Bergmann with just under five minutes to go. Despite multiple late chances, Cornell could not equalize, spoiling a 31-save effort from Bergmann and ending the Red’s season.
While the result did not change, each time Cornell played Colgate, the Red’s play improved.
“I felt in the [regular] season, I didn’t think we were real competitive with them, but I thought by the end of the year we played them real competitively,” said head coach Doug Derraugh ’91.
When asked about what specifically cost the Red last season against the Raiders, Derraugh noted Cornell’s special teams struggles. Colgate went 3/5 on the power play against Cornell in the team’s two playoff matchups, while the Red went 0/3 on the skater advantage.
This year’s Cornell team ranks eighth in the country in power play percentage, but dead last in power play opportunities. Meanwhile, Colgate leads the nation in power-play goals, sits third in opportunities and ranks fourth in percentage.
Special teams is not the only place Colgate ranks highly in. Across the board, the Raiders are one of the best teams in the nation and sit tied atop the ECAC with Cornell.
The matchup between the ECAC’s best is also one between two national heavyweights. Aside from the No. 6 and No. 5 poll rankings, the two teams are statistically among the best in the NCAA. Colgate boasts the third-best offense while Cornell ranks ninth. The Red have the fourth-best defense while the Raiders have the sixth-best.
“Colgate has been one of the top teams in our conference the last couple of years,” Derraugh said. “They’ve got all the ingredients for having a real strong team.”
Cornell, meanwhile, is coming into the weekend scorching hot. The Red are on an 11-game unbeaten streak, notching a win against then-No. 6 Clarkson and a tie against then-No. 10 St. Lawrence last weekend. While he noted the team made some mistakes against St. Lawrence, Derraugh described the win over Clarkson as his team’s “most complete game” of the season.
“[There] should be some real fun games this weekend,” Derraugh said.
Action between Cornell and Colgate is set to begin Friday in Hamilton at 3 p.m., and the teams will square off again 24 hours later in Ithaca. Both games will be streamed live on ESPN+.