SCHENECTADY, N.Y. — The women’s hockey team scored a goal in each period and sophomore goaltender Marlène Boissonnault stopped 13 shots on Saturday afternoon, giving the Big Red a 3-1 win over the Union Dutchwomen at Messa Rink. Cornell outshot Union, 44-14, in the game.
Playing against a Union (2-8-0, 0-2-0 ECAC Hockey) squad that had proved it could hang with ECAC Hockey teams, Cornell (3-1-0, 1-1-0 ECAC Hockey) got off to a solid start in the first period and forced Amelia Murray to make seven saves in the first nine minutes of play.
Cornell led in shots, 8-1, at the halfway point of the frame, and sophomore Lenka Serdar finally put the Big Red up 1-0 at the 12:50 mark.
After Serdar won a faceoff in the Union zone, freshman Paige Lewis took the puck to the boards and worked the it back-and-forth with sophomore Pippy Gerace below the circle before finding Sedar in the slot. Serdar was able to control the puck with her skate and sent a shot past low and past Murray for the 1-0 lead.
Boissonnault only faced two shots in the first period, some of which was due to the defense in front of her blocking eight Union shot attempts.
It was much of the same Cornell attack in the second period and even with being whistled for a penalty 1:57 into the second frame, the Big Red continued to dominate and freshman Kristin O’Neill created two scoring opportunities despite being a man down.
Just seconds into the penalty kill, O’Neill intercepted a Union pass at the blue line and was stoned on the breakaway by Murray, but the freshman stayed persistent and finished her second chance when she forced a turnover at the hash marks and finished the puck past Murray for the 2-0 lead on the shorthanded goal.
The Big Red would go on to add a third goal 7:28 into the third period with six attackers on the ice on a delayed penalty call against Union. On a regroup in the Cornell zone, sophomore Diana Buckley shoveled a pass to O’Neill who sent a long pass to Kaitlin Doering. The senior co-captain skated the puck over the blue line between two Union defenders and got a shot off that squeaked through Murray’s pads.
Cornell held the 3-0 lead until the 19:30 mark of the third period, when four Union players swarmed the Big Red net on a power-play and Alli Devins poked the loose puck into the net to make it 3-1.
Boissonnault (2-0-0, 1-0-0 ECAC) stayed steady in net throughout the game, stopping nine shots in the second period and three in the third to finish with 14 saves. Murray finished with 41 saves for Union in the first start of her career.
Cornell will have a few days off before heading to Colgate on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. for another ECAC Hockey matchup.
