PRINCETON, N.J. – The Big Red played another tight game on Saturday, this time emerging with a 4-1 victory at Princeton one day after losing by that margin at Quinnipiac.
The Tigers tied the game at 1-1 early in the third period, but Cornell got three scores after that byJessica Campbell, Lauriane Rougeau and Brianne Jenner to seal the victory at Hobey Baker Rink.
No. 4 Cornell (20-5, 14-3 ECAC Hockey) also kept pace with Clarkson in the league standings, as the Knights eked out a win at Union by a 3-2 score. Both teams jumped ahead of Harvard today, which has two games in hand and has not played this weekend because of Winter Storm Nemo. Princeton (9-14-2, 4-12-2) came into the weekend in eighth in the conference standings but lost both of its games to drop out of a tournament spot.
“From here on out we know how big every game is, and we can’t take any team or any game for granted,” said senior defenseman Laura Fortino, who had an assist on the night. “It was huge for us to come out to build that confidence…especially with this coming weekend.”
Lauren Slebodnick made 14 saves to earn her 17th win of the season, and Erin Barley-Maloney got the scoring started in the first period on the power play. The win was Cornell’s eighth straight over the Tigers and fourth in a row on a Saturday.
Despite only taking two shots in the third period as the Cornell defense remained smothering, Princeton was able to sneak one past Slebodnick, off the left post and into the net off her back. That tied the contest at 1-1 with 18 minutes to go.
The rest of the night belonged to the visitors.
“After they scored that goal, we stuck to what we had to do and we came together as a team,” Fortino said. “It was a really successful win.”
Six minutes after the goal, Campbell took a perfect cross-ice pass from Barley-Maloney in the offensive zone and beat Princeton netminder Kimberly Newell high over the shoulder to give Cornell a 2-1 advantage and silence the Senior Night crowd.
The Big Red held strong defensively and bided its time on the attack, finally converting an insurance goal thanks to a nifty individual effort from Rougeau with only 1:41 left. After taking a pass fromHayleigh Cudmore in the team’s defensive zone, Rougeau raced up the left side of the ice and got around the Tigers defense. She flipped a shot high on Newell, and it went off the goalie’s shoulder and into the net. Newell spun around to try and prevent the puck from going in, but her stick only accelerated the inevitable by knocking it into the net faster.
“That’s Rog for you,” Fortino said. “She has unbelievable skill, and that was an awesome goal by her.”
Jenner concluded the scoring with an empty-netter from center ice assisted by Jillian Saulnier andLaura Fortino with just 19 seconds remaining on the clock.
Cornell also benefitted from its best discipline of the year on Saturday afternoon, taking just one penalty in the game. Rougeau committed a checking penalty a mere 15 seconds into the game, but the remaining 59 minutes passed without a whistle on the Big Red. Cornell had taken at least two penalties in every other game this season.
“We were playing smart and staying within our limitations,” Fortino said. “We were aggressive, but we were aggressive smartly. That really helped us out tonight in limiting our penalties and forcing us to play five-on-five.”
A Princeton penalty, however, got the scoring started on the other end.
The Big Red had three power play opportunities in the first period and converted on the second one. After cycling behind the net, Taylor Woods found Hayleigh Cudmore sneaking down from her defensive post to take a potential one-timer. But Cudmore patiently waited and passed to her right for an open Brianne Jenner in the faceoff circle. Jenner, too, passed the puck off, finding an even more open Barley-Maloney. The senior did not miss with a gaping net in front of her, getting the puck past Newell, who had moved to her left to defend against a shot by Jenner. The assist tied Jenner for seventh all time in school history in that category.
Neither team was able to put a goal on the board in the second period, though the Big Red continued its domination with the puck. At period’s end, Cornell had taken 15 shots to Princeton’s five, but nothing got past Newell or Slebodnick. Cornell concluded the contest with a 46-15 shots on goal advantage.
Cornell concludes its regular-season home schedule next weekend when it hosts No. 5 Harvard on Friday and Dartmouth on Saturday for crucial ECAC Hockey and Ivy League matchups.
