On Friday night at Lynah Rink, women’s hockey outshot Quinnipiac 34-18, had three power-play chances to the Bobcats' one, and dominated play throughout the second half of the game. But faced with a red-hot goaltender, Cornell could not find a way to put the puck in the back of the net, and fell 3-0 to the Bobcats.
“I mean, I just don't think we played to our fullest,” said senior forward Mckenna Van Gelder. “They came out tougher than we did, so that's something we definitely got to fix. [It] just came down to execution at the end of it, because we got stronger as the game went on.”
The Red (10-4-1, 6-3-0 ECAC) seemed trapped on its side of the blue line to start the first period. Junior goaltender Annelies Bergmann provided a calming presence, coming up with stops when challenged, and a good defensive play from Van Gelder broke up a two-on-one 2:30 into the game. It was not until eight minutes had passed in the first that Cornell managed its first shot on goal when senior defender Grace Dwyer hit a streaking senior forward Avi Adam, who fired a shot from left wing.
“They did a really good job of tilting the ice early on,” said head coach Doug Derraugh ’91. “They put a lot of pressure on us. I thought we started handling it better after the 10-minute mark, and from that point, I thought it was a pretty even game.”
As the halfway mark of the opening frame passed, the Red was able to find a little more structure, thwarting zone entries and gaining more offensive zone time. However, multiple odd-skater rushes for the Red turned up shotless.
With 3:10 remaining, a sprawling Bergmann stopped a Bobcat wrap-around bid after a dump-in took an odd caromed off of the endwall. And, with just under a minute remaining, the Red took a two-minute minor high-sticking penalty that gave Quinnipiac its lone power play of the night. As the buzzer sounded to end the first, both teams took coinciding minor penalties and went to the locker room frustrated: the Red for a slow start to the game, and the Bobcats for going scoreless in a period that saw them outshoot Cornell 12-2.
The Bobcat power play — which came into Friday’s matchup converting at a 16.9 percent clip — was unable to score as the second period began. However, two minutes into the middle frame, a Bobcat offensive zone faceoff win led to a shot from the point which deflected off the post and was then pushed past Bergmann, giving Quinnipiac a 1-0 lead.
The Red looked to answer back, finding several grade-A opportunities, including a senior defender Alyssa Regalado shot that Quinnipiac’s goaltender Felicia Frank headed out of play. However, it was Quinnipiac’s highest scoring defender, Makayla Watson, who found the game’s next goal, speeding by a Cornell defender on the right wing and deking Bergmann to put the Bobcats up 2-0.
Then, with 7:51 remaining in the second period, the Bobcats’ Emerson Jarvis found open ice down the left wing and whiffed on a shot that bounced off a Cornell forward’s skate and found its way back to Jarvis, who potted Quinnipiac’s third of the night.
As the clock ticked down in the second, the Red found a couple more high danger opportunities as a freshman forward Riley Scorgie wrister from the slot and a Regalado shot from the blue line were both stopped by a screened Frank.
While the Red outshot Quinnipiac 9-4 in the middle frame, it was a matter of capitalization that enabled the Bobcats to win the period, with three out of the team’s four shots finding the back of the Red’s net. Despite the tough period on the ice, Cornell’s spirits remained high entering the second intermission.
“I think that everyone on the ice, around the bench, kept the energy up, which is tough when you're losing,” Van Gelder said. “So that was good. We’ll take that tomorrow for sure.”
Cornell would need to bear down to mount a comeback in the third. The Red pressed early, finding prolonged offensive zone time. And, with 14:08 remaining in the third, a Quinnipiac hooking penalty sent the Red to its first power play.
However, Cornell was only able to put one shot on net during the skater advantage. Just a minute later, the Bobcats would head to the box again, this time, for high-sticking. Cornell unsuccessfully challenged the call, appealing for a five-minute power play, and forfeited the team’s timeout.
The Red threatened, but was unable to find its first goal of the game despite spending the majority of the power play set up in the offensive zone. Right as the power play expired, Frank denied Van Gelder on a back-door feed from sophomore defender Rose Dwyer. Seconds later, the Red drew yet another penalty (cross-checking) and headed to its third power play. But with few high-quality looks, the Red’s best-in-the-nation power play concluded the game 0/3.
“I thought we moved it around really well and got some good looks. They have a really high pressure penalty kill and I thought we did a good job of handling it,” said Derraugh. “We got some point blank opportunities with people that we wanted shooting the puck and just we didn't score.”
With an offensive draw at 5:48 remaining, Cornell pulled Bergmann. On the six-on-five advantage, a goalmouth scramble, cross-ice pass and countless wrist shots failed to ignite the comeback. Frank continued to stifle the Red’s offense and, as the final buzzer rang out, ended the night with 34 saves and a shutout. The loss marks the first time the Red have been shut out on home ice since 2022, and the fourth straight Friday game to end in a loss.
The good news for the Red? Cornell has won every game this season following a loss.
“We forget about it really quick, we don't let it drag us down,” Van Gelder said. “Now we go into Saturday with a clean slate and we play like Friday's game never even happened.”
Cornell will play its final home game of 2025 on Saturday against Princeton, with puck drop slated for 3 p.m. and action streamed live on ESPN+.
