After missing the Big Red’s last two games to compete with Hockey Canada, Brianne Jenner had to catch up for lost time.
The Big Red junior forward scored four goals – including a natural hat trick in the second period – and added two assists as the Big Red knocked off Colgate 9-0 at Lynah Rink on Friday afternoon.
“It was a fun game,” Jenner said. “Sometimes you get those chances and it does go it, so it’s nice to have a lucky game where some of my shots went in.”
Jenner, who had just two goals in five games prior to Friday, tripled her season goal total and nearly doubled her point total as she factored in on six of the Big Red’s tallies. Her four-goal game was the first for Cornell since Jillian Saulnier had four in her first career game, also against the Raiders at the start of last year.
Jenner’s six points and four goals was a career high, while Rougeau’s four assists and four points was a career high. Taylor Woodsscored two goals, which were also a career high.
Cornell (7-1, 5-0 ECAC Hockey) remained perfect in conference play and will travel to Colgate (3-8-1, 0-4-1) on Saturday to complete a home-and-home weekend series.
Also scoring plenty for the Big Red was senior alternate captain Laura Fortino, who notched two first period goals, Saulnier, who had three assists, and Lauriane Rougeau, who had four assists.
Katelyn Pippy earned the victory in goal, getting her first career start and making 13 saves. She helped Cornell start out 5-0 in conference play for the first time since 2010 and the third time in the last four years. Cornell’s victory was also its eighth in a row against the Raiders.
“We were all really happy for her,” Jenner said. “For her to come in and have a great start like that, it’s awesome and well-deserved. She’s been working really hard in practice, and as teammates we’re just as excited as she is.”
The Big Red, playing its final contest of a six-game homestand, did not wait long to get on the scoreboard.
The Big Red’s first two goals came in four-on-four situations as Cornell skaters took advantage of extra space on the ice. The first, just five minutes into the came, resulted from a failed clear by the Raiders that Laura Fortino corralled. Skating down to the right side of goal, she fired a backhanded shot perfectly through the legs of Colgate’s Susan Allen to make it 1-0.
Jenner got the next tally 79 seconds later. A scrum behind the net by Jenner and Jillian Saulnier resulted in Saulnier coming away with the puck. Jenner moved to the other side of the net, took a pass from Saulnier, turned and fired and got the puck over Allen’s left shoulder.
Six minutes after that, Fortino got her second goal of the game on a perfectly executed power play. Passing the puck from left to right and back again, Lauriane Rougeau found Jenner with an open net. Instead of shooting, though, Jenner went back through the crease to a wide open Fortino, and the senior didn’t miss. Cornell took its 3-0 lead into the first intermission.
The second period again belonged to the Big Red as Woods started the scoring. Cornell had a three-on-two breakout, and Jenner carried the puck up the right side of the ice and found Woods in the center of the ice. Skidding to a halt right in front of the goal, Woods faked out Allen and made it 4-0.
That started a three-goal streak by Jenner in a 10-minute span. Her first came as she carried the puck past all Colgate defenders on a breakaway, then deked left around new goalie Ashlynne Rando to make it 5-0.
Her next goal was thanks to a nice pass from right to left by Jillian Saulnier. Her third goal in the frame resulted from a Jess Brownshot from the point. The rebound came out to Jenner, and after jamming at the puck twice, she managed to get it around Rando.
“I don’t know what they were feeding her [with Hockey Canada], but whatever it was, I hope she keeps that going,” coach Doug Derraugh. “When she gets going, boy, and when she gets on the forecheck and she’s moving her feet, you’ve got to watch yourself as a coach. Sometimes when you’re supposed to be watching how your team’s doing, you get focused on watching the things that she does. You’ve got to remember you’ve got to coach the team, too.”
The third period saw two more Big Red goals as Hayleigh Cudmore connected on a pass from Saulnier and Woods got her second of the day on Rougeau’s fourth assist.
Cornell will not play another game until Jan. 15, a span of nearly two months, but the team will play again tomorrow on the road at Colgate at 3 p.m. Cornell will then spend Thanksgiving weekend at Harvard and Dartmouth.
