ITHACA, N.Y. – The women’s hockey team scored three unanswered goals enroute to a 3-1 win in over Mercyhurst in the season opener on Friday afternoon at Lynah Rink.
The Big received both the game-tying goal and the game-winning goal from freshmen.
Cornell (1-0-0) maintained possession in the Mercyhurst end for the first five minutes of play, but Mercyhurst (1-3-1) earned a power play eight minutes into the game and was able to capitalize on the man-advantage. The Lakers won possession out of the corner and defenseman Molly Blasen fed Jillian Skinner right on the faceoff dot and she was able to find Rachel Smith waiting on the left post for the tap in past goaltender Paula Voorheis.
Cornell picked up the pace again, though, and answered back less than two minutes later to tie up the game at one apiece due to some great individual efforts from the Big Red.
Sophomore Lenka Serdar blocked a Lakers shot near the point and then followed up the deflection with a diving clearance of the puck into the neutral zone. Freshman Valérie Audet out-skated a Lakers defenseman to the free puck, broke into the offensive zone on a breakaway, deked goaltender Sarah McDonnell to the ice and slotted the puck home for her first career goal.
Voorheis stayed sharp in the second period when tested, including a nice glove save through traffic on a tipped shot at the 15:09 mark.
With the game still tied at the halfway point, it was another freshman in Jaime Bourbonnais who would break the deadlock.
Senior co-captain Caitlin Doering won the netural zone draw back to Bourbonnais, who turned and found sophomore Pippy Gerace skating up the left wing. Gerace muscled her way into the zone and cut in across the circle. Gerace’s shot attempt misfired but took a bounce to Bourbonnais and the freshman fired it into the upper right side of the net for the 2-1 lead.
Voorheis protected the Big Red lead a few minutes later when she stoned a Laker who was fed across the crease on a two-on-one break. The senior would finish with 19 saves – including 10 in the third period – on 20 Merchurst shots.
Bourbonnais’ first career goal would hold up to be the game winner, but defenseman Erin O’Connor added a power-play insurance goal at the 10:52 mark of the third period.With the Big Red moving the puck around the Lakers’ zone, Serdar and Sarah Knee worked the puck over to O’Connor who walked the puck across the blue line before firing a wrist shot past McDonell.
Seven Big Red players registered a point, with Bourbonnais and Audet registering the first of their careers and Serdar earning two assists.
Cornell fired 23 shots on goal and forced McDonnell to make 20 saves.
Cornell and Mercyhurst will face off again tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. on the ice of Lynah Rink.
