ITHACA, N.Y. — Senior Jess Brown’s second hat trick of the season and three points from freshmen Pippy Gerace and Micah Hart propelled women’s hockey to a wild 6-4 win over Yale on Friday night at Lynah Rink. The victory, Cornell’s first on home ice this season, marks the Big Red’s 13th straight win over the Bulldogs and lifts Cornell over Yale in the ECAC Hockey Standings.
In an exciting back-and-forth battle, the Big Red jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period before the Bulldogs answered with three of their own in the second to even the score. Cornell scored the first goal of the third to go ahead 4-3, but Yale once again came back to tie before a pair of goals from Brown put the game away.
Brown opened the scoring 10:18 into the game on the power play, poking home Micah Hart’s shot from the point. Less than a minute later, Gerace got the puck on the right wing and found junior Brianna Veerman in the slot, who fired home past Yale goaltender Hanna Mandl into the top right corner to double the Big Red’s lead.
Gerace then got one of her own, her first of the night, at 14:30 of the first. Classmate Christian Higham found Gerace in front of the net, and Gerace flicked it in to give Cornell the 3-0 advantage.
Yale was awarded a penalty shot with 1:23 remaining in the first. Junior goaltender Paula Voorheis stepped in for the Big Red, turning away Janelle Ferrara’s shot.
The Bulldogs, however, began their comeback at 9:31 of the second when Jamie Haddad got a shot past Boissonnault. Emily Monaghan cut Cornell’s lead to one just moments later, before Eden Murray knotted the score at three with just eight seconds to go in the middle stanza. The Bulldogs outshot the Big Red 10-4 in the second.
With two crucial ECAC Hockey and Ivy League points on the line and the score even in the third period, Veerman, Higham and Gerace went into the Yale zone three-on-two. Veerman came up the left wing and dropped the puck to Higham in the slot. Higham’s initial shot was denied, but Gerace was there to put home the rebound as she was falling to her knees for her second of the night and sixth of the season at 8:39 of the third.
Hanna Astrom answered for the Bulldogs with just 5:05 left in the game, blasting a shot from the tops of the circles past Voorheis, who had come into the game at the start of the third period.
Yale took a penalty moments later, and Brown used the man-advantage to net the game-winner. Sophomore Erin O’Connor got the puck on the point and sent a pass in to Brown, who was at the left post and beat Yale goaltender Kyra O’Brien with a low shot.
With 50 seconds left, Brown completed the hat trick, notching her eighth goal of the year. Sophomore Sarah Knee found Brown in the neutral zone, and Brown went into the zone one-on-one with a Yale defenseman. Brown made a move around the defenseman and fired a high shot past O’Brien for the insurance goal.
Boissonnault made 13 saves through the first two periods, and Voorheis made a total of four on the night.
The Big Red will face another ECAC Hockey and Ivy League foe on Saturday when Brown comes to Lynah Rink for a 4 p.m. matchup.
