The visiting Big Red used a hat trick by Jess Brown to edge the St. Lawrence women’s hockey team 4-3 in Appleton Arena on Friday night. The team’s traded goals early on, but two straight by Brown late in the second and early in the third proved to be the difference.
“Like just about every time we play Cornell, it comes down to who can make one more play,” Head Coach Chris Wells said. “Our games the last few years have been that way.”
First-years Nadine Edney and Kayla Nielsen led the Saints with a goal and an assist each on the night, while junior Brooke Webster tallied the other goal for St. Lawrence.
Brown opened the scoring with a one-timer just off the far post midway through the opening frame to give Cornell the 1-0 lead off an odd-man rush into the zone. But Edney pulled St. Lawrence even with her second goal of the season with 1:01 remaining in the first.
The play started when junior defensemen Kirsten Padalis hit Nielsen with a stretch pass to send the Saints into the Big Red zone three-on-one. Nielsen’s initial shot from the slot by saved by Cornell netminder Paula Voorheis, but Edney was trailing the play and was there to bury the rebound to send the team’s into break knotted at 1-1.
At the 3:38 mark of the second, Cornell capitalized on a St. Lawrence turnover deep in their own sonze and once again took the lead when Brianna Veerman stuffed the puck under Sonjia Shelly on the far post after a flat angle shot from Taylor Woods missed wide.
But midway through the frame Webster and Kennedy Marchment connected for a give-and-go through the right circle to tie the game yet again. After hitting Marchment on the half wall, Webster cut into the slot and let go of a one-timer that snuck inside the far post and past Voorheis for her fifth goal of the season.
Brown’s second goal of the night, a power play goal in the final two minutes of the second period, gave Cornell a 3-2 lead. She then notched the hat trick at the 6:42 mark of the third, on one just three Big Red shots on goal in the frame, as the game-winner.
Nielsen cut the deficit to a goal at the 14:44 mark when she stuffed the puck under Voorheis at the side of the net after a shot from Amanda Boulier on the point was tipped on by Sydney Bell and a rebound shot by Edney was saved.
The Saints finished with a 26-20 advantage in shots on goal and outshot the Big Red 13-3 in the final period, but couldn’t find the equalizer.
“We had a fantastic third period where we could have scored a few more but Voorheis made some nice stops, Cornell blocked some shots and we just missed,” Wells added. “Always a fun game to watch when the two of us play and tonight wasn’t any different. It’s going to be the most exciting year to date in the ECAC!”
The Saints (9-8-1, 4-3-0 ECAC) will return to Appleton Arena tomorrow afternoon for their first semester finale; a 4 p.m. ECAC Hockey contest against Colgate.
