This has been updated.
Despite graduating the best player in college hockey, being picked to finish third in the pre-season poll and starting the year 1-3-1, No. 4. women’s hockey has won the ECAC regular season championship. The Red defeated Brown, 6-2, at Lynah Rink on Friday night.
It’s the first time Cornell has topped the conference since the 2019-2020 season, and the seventh time in program history. All seven of the titles have come during head coach Doug Derraugh’s ’91 tenure, and three of those times, Cornell has gone on to win the ECAC Tournament.
By securing the top spot in the ECAC, Cornell (20-4-4, 16-2-3 ECAC) is guaranteed home-ice advantage throughout the ECAC Tournament.
While the Red have mostly dominated Ivy League play so far this season (including a 2-1 win over Brown in Providence, Rhode Island on Nov. 9, Cornell’s Valentine’s Day win over the Bears was a back and forth affair. After jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first, Brown scored twice in quick succession in the second period to tie the game.
However, Cornell pulled away in the third period, notching three goals in the final frame to add some new hardware to its collection. The depth that has propelled Cornell to so much of its success this year was on display again, as six different skaters contributed goals in the contest.
As was the case for both of Cornell’s matchups last weekend, the Red dominated possession of the puck for most of the first period, firing 14 shots at Brown netminder Rory Edwards. But unlike last weekend, Cornell would convert on its first period dominance.
After killing an early Brown power play, senior defender Ashley Messier got the scoring started for the Red with 9:57 to go in the opening period when she rifled a wrist shot from the point by Edwards. The goal was Messier’s seventh — the most of any Cornell defender this season — and earned the future University of Minnesota Duluth transfer her 20th point on the season.
7:29 after Messier lit the lamp, senior forward Gabbie Rud stole the puck in the neutral zone and beat Brown’s netminder on the ensuing breakaway to double the Red’s lead. Like Messier, the goal gave Rud 20 points on the season.
While the first period was all Cornell — the Red outshot the Bears 14-4 — Brown struck back in the second. 8:17 into the frame, the Red were called for too many players on the ice, Cornell’s second penalty of the game. 1:07 into the power play, Brown halved Cornell’s lead when a shot deflected off junior defender Alyssa Regalado’s stick into the back of the net. Four minutes later, the Bears tied the game on a quick shot after a Brown faceoff win.
After the second Brown goal, the game’s intensity ratcheted up as both teams fought to find a third goal.
That goal would come with just 39 seconds remaining in the second period thanks to sophomore forward Delaney Fleming. The Ohio State transfer fired a rebounding puck past Anya Zupkofska, who had replaced Edwards in net to start the period.
Having regained the momentum before the second intermission, the Red came out firing to start the third period. Skating alongside Rud on a rare two-on-none rush, junior forward Mckenna Van Gelder got in on the scoring action 36 seconds into the final frame to bring Cornell’s lead to 4-2.
Then, 4:46 into the period, freshman forward Lindzi Avar would add another insurance goal, her tenth goal at Lynah Rink and 14th of the season.
Senior forward Kaitlin Jockims capped off the third period scoring explosion when she tallied an empty-net goal during a six on four Bears skater advantage. The score was Cornell’s first shorthanded goal of the season, and the assist gave Rud her third point of the game.
While allowing two goals on 17 shots didn’t improve her .938 save percentage, sophomore goaltender Annelies Bergmann made a number of key saves down the stretch to seal Cornell’s seventh straight win over the Bears.
After the game, ECAC commissioner Doug Christiansen presented Cornell’s captains with the regular season championship trophy in front of the cheering Lynah Faithful.
Despite having clinched the top seed in the ECAC tournament, Cornell’s Saturday matchup with Yale is still important to the Red. The matchup will still affect the Pairwise ratings — the mathematical formula which determines NCAA tournament seeding — where Cornell currently sits third. Another win keeps Cornell in the driver’s seat to host an NCAA Tournament game, as the top four finishers in Pairwise are awarded home ice for the national tournament.
Saturday also represents a key day on any season's schedule: Senior Day. The Red will honor its 11 seniors, and Derraugh indicated that many who rarely see the ice could see playing time thanks to the win over Brown.
The Senior day matchup with Yale will commence at 3 p.m. with action streamed live on ESPN+.
Eli Fastiff is a senior editor on the 143rd editorial board and a member of the class of 2026 in the College of Arts and Sciences. You can follow him on X @Eli_Fastiff and reach him at efastiff@cornellsun.com.
