It’s difficult to describe what transpired in the last minute and a half of game two of the ECAC women’s hockey quarterfinals. Down a goal against Union — a team that has served as No. 3 women’s hockey’s kryptonite this season — Cornell managed to score not once, but twice in the game’s final moments to send the team to ECAC championship weekend.
Coming a day after a gritty 3-0 win, the comeback completes a series sweep for the Red over Union, one of two ECAC teams Cornell lost to during the regular season. Thanks to goals with 1:09 and 0:27 left on the clock, Cornell will have a chance to win its fifth ECAC tournament title at home next weekend.
“I know for myself, there is never going to be a doubt that someone is going to score,” said senior forward Gabbie Rud, one of the late goal-scorers. “It's pretty exciting to get the win like that, especially in the last couple minutes of the game to come back from the deficit.”
For the third time this season, the Red (22-4-5, 16-2-4 ECAC) entered the third period Saturday down a goal to Union. Despite outshooting the Garnet Chargers (13-23-1, 8-14-0 ECAC) 29-14 over the game’s first 40 minutes, Cornell struggled for a second day in a row to find a way past Sophie Matsoukas, leading to the 2-1 deficit.
After dominating most of the third period but having little to show for it, head coach Doug Derraugh ’91 used his timeout with 2:55 remaining in the game and pulled sophomore goaltender Annelies Bergmann for an extra skater.
Then, with 1:12 left in the game, an unmarked junior forward Avi Adam lined up a potentially game-tying shot from below the left faceoff circle on an open Garnet Charger net. Instead of tying the game, the shot ricocheted away from the net to the stick of sophomore forward Karel Prefontaine. Hoping to create a scrum in front of the net, Prefontaine fired a slapshot at Matsoukas. Instead of creating a scrum, the shot went in.
“Great,” Prefontaine said when asked about how she felt when the puck crossed the goal line. I don’t think there is a better word to describe it. It felt awesome.”
42 seconds later, Rud sent the 1,680 fans in attendance into pandemonium. The Cornell captain caught a pass in the low slot and pushed the puck past Matsoukas.
“I was just thinking: ‘Try to get it on the net again,’” Rud said. “I kind of blacked out after that. It was really exciting.”
27.5 seconds later, it was official: the Red had avoided an upset and was headed to the ECAC semifinals.
The second game of the best of three series started much like the first with Matsoukas — who made 39 saves in net for Union on Friday night — passing an early test after a Union turnover gave Cornell a three-on-two opportunity 1:35 into the game.
Just as in the previous evening's matchup, Cornell was whistled for the first penalty of the game, when junior forward Mckenna Van Gelder was called for hooking 5:31 into the first period. However, the best chance of the penalty was a one-on-none shorthanded bid by senior forward Lily Delianedis, but her backhand attempt was brushed away by Matsoukas.
While the first half of the opening frame was marked by back and forth play between the two teams, with just under 11 minutes to go in the period Cornell sent a flurry of shots towards the Union net, but much like in game one it seemed as if nothing could get by Matsoukas.
“It definitely gets frustrating when you put up 40 shots a game and you only get [a] few goals,” said Rud. “You just gotta keep working. If we stick to our structure, if we stick to what we do, you know [goals are] going to come.”
Cornell got its first chance of the afternoon with a skater advantage when a Union skater was sent to the penalty box for tripping with 9:33 remaining in the period, but the Red could not convert.
With 3:57 remaining in the period, sophomore forward Delaney Fleming was penalized for high-sticking. The Union power play, which had struggled to test sophomore goaltender Annelies Bergmann in its first four opportunities of the series, seemed to find its rhythm, but the ECAC Goaltender of the Year stood tall.
As the opening period entered its final thirty seconds, Rud connected with a wide-open Adam in front of the left faceoff circle. Just as Adam’s one-timer seemed destined to open the scoring, a Matsoukas kick-save sent both teams into their locker rooms with the score tied.
While Cornell still controlled the first period, outshooting the Garnet Chargers 13-8, it was a less dominant opening frame than the night before when Union was outshot 13-1.
Just as in the first frame, Cornell tested Matsoukas early in the second with a series of close-range and unobstructed efforts, but the Red’s attack remained stymied.
After controlling play for long stretches, Cornell earned its second penalty of the afternoon 7:22 into the period. Shortly into the skater advantage, junior forward Georgia Schiff and a Union skater got into a shoving match after the whistle and were awarded offsetting minors for roughing. Union challenged the call, but the minors were not changed after a review. While the Garnet Chargers killed the initial penalty, Union was whistled for too many skaters on the ice 44 seconds later.
11 seconds into the power play, Cornell finally broke through. A junior defender Grace Dwyer wrist shot from the point worked its way past a screened Matsoukas to give Cornell a 1-0 advantage.
The lead was short-lived. A Cornell misplay in the neutral zone led to a Union two-on-one opportunity. The odd-man rush — which Derraugh had warned about repeatedly before and during the series — led to an uncontested wrist shot from that beat Bergmann.
After successfully killing off a cross-checking penalty, the second period went from bad to worse for the Red. With under a minute to go in the frame, a disorganized Cornell defense left a Garnet Charger skater alone at the top of the right faceoff circle. The ensuing Union one-timer rocketed by Bergmann, giving the visitors’ their first lead of the series.
Despite the deficit, the team entered the second intermission confident it would find a way to win.
“We have been in this spot before this year, and a lot of times had success in coming back,” Derraugh said. “So I think there is a belief in the locker-room that we can when we get down”
Cornell opened the final period dominating play. For seven minutes the puck rarely left Union’s defensive zone, yet the Red had nothing to show for it. Still, Cornell maintained hope.
“We have been in this situation before,” Prefontaine said. “It happened three weeks ago against Union as well, but we’ve been there, we know what we are capable of. I don’t think there was any doubt in anyone’s mind.”
Cornell’s push for an equalizer was halted when senior forward Lily Delianedis was given an unsportsmanlike conduct minor penalty for snowing Union’s netminder. The Red’s penalty kill did its job for the sixth time of the weekend, and the deficit remained at one.
“[Special teams are] incredibly important this time of the year because the games are so tight five-on-five,” Derraugh said. “Tonight, we [got] a power play goal, our penalty killing [was] good again. The margin for error tonight was obviously very thin.”
Despite killing the penalty, Cornell struggled down the stretch in the final period. For the first time all weekend, Union seemed to be the better team on the ice. With 2:55 remaining and time running out, Cornell called a timeout and pulled Bergmann for an extra skater. That risky decision turned out to be one of the best of the season.
“I just said I wanted to make sure that we kept moving the puck north, not allowing them to get set up,” said Derraugh when asked what he told the team during the timeout. “[Union] wanted to slow the game down. I wanted to pick up the pace. So I was like: ‘Hey, let’s get back to pucks quick, let’s move it up quickly, let’s get going before they get set and then lets play down in their end.’”
Cornell will face the winner of tomorrow's Clarkson and Quinnipiac matchup next Friday at 3 p.m. in the first of two ECAC semifinals at Lynah Rink. Unlike the quarterfinals, the semifinals are a winner-take-all contest, with the victor moving on to the ECAC title game the next day. All games played during ECAC championship weekend will be streamed live on ESPN+.
