On Tuesday in State College, Pennsylvania, the difference between a tie, win or a heartbreaking loss seemingly came down to a single call from the referees. With women’s hockey and No. 4 Penn State in a scoreless deadlock with under seven minutes remaining in regulation, the Nittany Lions challenged a no-call on a sophomore forward Lindzi Avar hit deep in Cornell’s offensive zone.
In what had been an extremely physical game, the hit did not seem to stand out initially. Yet after an extended review brought on by a Penn State challenge, the referees awarded Avar a five-minute major penalty for hitting from behind, sentencing the Red to spend most of the remaining game-time on the penalty kill.
“I thought it could have gone either way, I don’t think it was the wrong call,” said head coach Doug Derraugh ’91. “I thought it was borderline.”
Despite the tough call, Cornell (10-6-1, 6-4-0 ECAC) still had hope. The Red entered the game with the second-best penalty kill in the nation, and had already denied two Penn State (17-1, 12-0 AHA) power-play opportunities — including a five-on-three — earlier in the game. For nearly half of the five-minute disadvantage, it seemed like Red’s combination of penalty-killing tenacity and superb goaltending would be enough.
It wasn’t. With 2:32 remaining in the penalty and 4:24 in the game, a free Penn State skater fired a wrist shot from between the faceoff circles by the outstretched glove of junior goaltender Annelies Bergmann and into the back of the net. Cornell managed to kill off the remaining Nittany Lion advantage, but could not find an equalizing goal, and Penn State’s lone power-play goal was the difference. The 1-0 loss extended the Red’s losing streak to three games, the longest stretch since the 2022-2023 season.
“I thought we played hard,” Derraugh said. “[It] came down to special teams. Would have been nice to get one on the power play, which we didn’t do, and then obviously a tough penalty at the end.”
While there are plenty of positives to take from the Red holding the upper hand against one of the best teams in the country for almost 60 minutes, the loss will be painful for a team hungry for better results after a disappointing end to the first half of the season.
“Really hardfought game for us coming out of the break,” Derraugh said. “The girls have been off for a couple of weeks [and], I thought we played hard.”
The Red started the game well, but both squads saw chances in the opening 20 minutes. Bergmann was first called upon less than two minutes into the game, when a stickless Cornell defender was unable to stop a Nittany Lion from skating through the Red defensive zone and in on goal. Bergmann turned away the Penn State backhand bid with her left pad, narrowly avoiding an early deficit.
Nittany Lion netminder Katie DeSa also had her work cut out for her in the opening frame, with the Red controlling the puck for large swaths of the period. The reigning Atlantic Hockey America Goaltender of the Year denied a pair of junior forward Beatrice Perron-Roy chances six minutes into the period, and two minutes later managed to keep senior forward Avi Adam from jamming a loose puck in the crease into the back of the net.
The Adam chance remained the best opportunity for either team until late in the period, when Cornell committed a pair of penalties 47 seconds apart. First, junior forward Karel Prefontaine was whistled for tripping. Then, Adam tripped a different Penn State skater while trying to poke the puck away on the penalty kill. But despite playing with two less skaters for over a minute, Cornell managed to kill both penalties and entered the first intermission with the score tied.
Similarly to the first period, Cornell dominated the opening 15 minutes of the second stanza, but could not get by DeSa. The Red began the frame with multiple great rebound and redirect opportunities, the best of which came when a junior forward Delaney Fleming shot from the point kicked off the stick of senior forward Georgia Schiff at the top of the crease.
Placing forwards in front of opposing goaltenders has been a point of emphasis for Derraugh during his team’s recent even-strength offensive struggles, and it remains an area for improvement.
“I think we’ve still got to do a better job of getting to the net off the puck,” Derraugh said. “I thought we did a pretty good job of getting shots, but I just think the players off the puck missed some opportunities for rebounds and such.”
Eventually, eight minutes into the middle period, Cornell’s pressure forced a Nittany Lion defensive mistake when a turnover caused by a forechecking Fleming led to a body checking penalty on Tessa Janickee — the fourth-most penalized player in the nation.
Cornell’s power play, which entered the game ranked first in the nation, pummeled DeSa with shots but could not find a way to score thanks to multiple sliding saves from the Nittany Lion netminder.
After killing the penalty, Penn State’s offense began to click and Bergmann spent the final five minutes of the frame making impressive saves. Her first stop of the sequence came after a Nittany Lion forward deked around a Cornell defender, before firing a shot at point-blank range. Then, a minute after senior defender Alyssa Regalado singlehandedly broke up a three-on-one breakaway, Bergmann turned away another near-crease Penn State opportunity.
“I thought she was real solid there tonight,” Derraugh said when asked about Bergmann’s 31-save performance. “[She] made a lot of big saves for us, kept us in it right until the end.”
The series of Nittany Lion chances late in the period were the best the hosts had seen all game, and Cornell seemed thankful to reach the second intermission with the score tied despite tallying five more shots than Penn State in the frame.
Cornell struggled in the opening minutes of the third period, with Bergmann being forced to make multiple difficult saves, but the Red eventually stabilized and earned a pair of penalties in the middle of the period. While Cornell saw more chances in its final power plays, it was again stymied by DeSa.
At the first stoppage after the second of the penalties expired, the Penn State bench challenged Avar’s hit, the beginning of the end for Cornell.
DeSa finished the contest with 35 saves, marking the second time in three games Cornell has been shut out thanks to a 30-plus save effort.
The Red will return to Ithaca for 10 days before its next series against Clarkson and St. Lawrence at Lynah Rink.
“I thought it was a good sign, the energy and the effort, coming off of the break,” Derraugh said. “I think that's a good sign getting ready for league play in the next week-and-a-half.”
Cornell will face off against Clarkson on Jan. 9, 2026 at 3 p.m., before facing St. Lawrence 24 hours later. Both games will be 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.
