Tompkins Weekly

Big weekend for Big Red hockey teams



Forward Tristan Mullin celebrates a power-play goal in Cornell’s game three win over Union on Sunday. The Big Red won the series 2-1 despite losing the opening contest.

Forward Tristan Mullin celebrates a power-play goal in Cornell’s game three win over Union on Sunday. The Big Red won the series 2-1 despite losing the opening contest.

Women’s Hockey
The Cornell Big Red has displayed a powerful offense, a suffocating neutral zone defense, and goaltending level with the elite teams in the country.

Because of this, it came as no surprise that the Big Red earned one of the four At-Large bids into the NCAA Tournament.

While coming up short in the ECAC championship game to Clarkson might have cost Cornell a chance at a top-four seed, the defeat positioned the Big Red against an evenly matched Northeastern Huskies squad in the quarterfinal round.

The three-seeded Huskies entered the single elimination game with a 27-5-5 record, while Cornell entered with a 23-5-6 record.

In its previous appearance, Cornell fell behind 2-0 to Clarkson in the conference championship but wasted little time jumping out to a 2-0 lead of its own over the Huskies at the end of the first period of play.

Amy Curlew netted her fourth goal of the season with just over 13 minutes gone by in the opening frame, and Grace Graham capitalized on a power-play chance with 32 seconds left in the first.

Senior goaltender, Marlène Boissonnault turned aside all nine Huskie chances in the second period to take the Big Red into the dressing room with the same 2-0 scoreline with just 20 minutes left to play.

The third period brought about an unraveling for Cornell, as mid-way through the period, Veronika Pettey negated Boissonnault’s shutout and put the Huskies within one, before Skyler Fontaine tied the game five minutes later.
As the team had needed multiple times already this postseason, the Big Red once again headed to overtime and needed just 5:19 into the extra frame before freshman Gillis Frechette scored on a breakaway to send Cornell to just its fourth NCAA Frozen Four berth.

 

Men’s Hockey
The Big Red got back to work on Friday night as it hosted the seventh-seeded Union Dutchmen in the ECAC Quarterfinals, having earned a first-round bye.
In game one of the best-of-three series, the Big Red fell behind mid-way into the second period before countering with two goals from Matt Nuttle and Kyle Betts to take a 2-1 lead into the second intermission.

The third period was less than kind to the Big Red as it gave up a pair of goals to the Dutchmen to fall 3-2 in the opening game, despite outshooting Union 34-19.

With its back against the wall in the win or go home situation, Cornell wasted little time reminding Union that Lynah Rink belonged to the Big Red as Brenden Locke scored just 1:21 into the game. Locke’s goal was followed by a Mitch Vanderlaan goal just 41 seconds later to put the Big Red up 2-0 in just over two minutes of action.

Into the second period, the Big Red captured a 3-0 lead with an even-strength goal from Noah Bauld, his first tally of the season.

In the third period, Alex Green would seal the game for Cornell as the defenseman recorded his first goal on the season to give the Big Red a 4-0 win, taking the series to a decisive game three.

Riding high off of the shutout of the Dutchmen in game two, the Big Red gave Union very little time to settle into game three as Noah Bauld scored his second in as many games just 57 seconds after the opening faceoff.
Union, realizing their season was in jeopardy, answered with two goals, 1:12 apart, to take a 2-1 lead just over five minutes into the game.

After taking to the ice for the second period and facing a 2-1 deficit, the Big Red found the tying answer off the stick of Beau Starrett mid-way through the period.

With an even score and the benefit of home-ice, Cornell was determined to not let the series slip away in the third period and took advantage of a power-play just three minutes into the frame on a goal from Tristan Mullin. Following the go-ahead goal, Cornell would add an insurance goal just 42 seconds later to clinch a 4-2 win and 2-1 series victory.

The quarterfinal win sends Cornell to the ECAC semifinals at Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid against the eighth-seeded Bears of Brown.

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