ITHACA, N.Y. – For 15 minutes, Cornell had no goals. Sixty seconds later, the Big Red had three.
A whirlwind sequence of three goals in 59 seconds vaulted No. 2 Cornell to an 5-1 victory against St. Lawrence in the Big Red’s home opener on Tuesday night. Emily Fulton, Brianne Jenner and Alyssa Gagliardi had the Big Red goals in that wild minute.
Freshman Anna Zorn added a goal in the third period for the Big Red (2-1) and Fulton – who also had an assist – got her second of the night to give the Big Red its final total and help avenge a loss in last season’s ECAC Hockey Tournament Final to this same St. Lawrence (0-5) squad.
Fulton’s first goal came on a brilliant individual effort as she stole the puck from a Saints defenseman in the Big Red attacking zone and beat Carmen MacDonald high and to the right with 4:59 showing on the first-period clock.
Thirty seconds after that, Jenner put home a rebound off a shot taken by Jess Brown after Brown took a pass from Fulton.
Before the home fans got back in their seats, though, the Big Red was at it again. Jillian Saulnier took a shot from the left point, and the puck was saved by MacDonald. But a funny bounce sent the puck behind her and off the glass. The puck ricocheted off the glass, back over the net and right into the goal crease, where Zorn was there to tap it to Gagliardi and a 3-0 lead. That third goal in 59 seconds caused the Saints to pull MacDonald from the game in favor of freshman Giulia Mazzocchi.
In the second period, neither team was able to score, though the Cornell defense shone bright as it had to kill off more than four consecutive minutes of St. Lawrence power play. Cornell also outshot the Saints 14-8 in the second period but was unable to find twice as Mazzocchi swatted away all 14 pucks that came her way.
The third period, though, saw the Big Red get back on the scoreboard. Fulton got her third point of the night when she scored a power play goal 13 minutes into the period, tipping a shot from the point by Gagliardi past Mazzocchi.
Zorn then earned her second goal of the year on a two-on-one breakaway with Brianne Jenner. Zorn had the puck on her stick last as she roofed it over Mazzocchi.
The Saints, continuing the lightning pace of goal scoring, added their only goal of the night on the power play 1:14 after Zorn scored her second with Rylee Smith nudging the puck past Cornell’s Lauren Slebodnick after a shot from the point by Brooke Fernandez bounced off a friendly body and left Smith with an open look.
Slebodnick was terrific in net otherwise, stopping 16 shots and allowing her fewest goals of the year to pick up her second win.
