Five years ago, women’s hockey was in a similar position to where it was on Saturday afternoon.
The 2019-2020 squad was one of the top-ranked teams in the nation — No. 1, to be exact — and was hosting the ECAC championship game at Lynah Rink. It had taken down Harvard in decisive fashion the afternoon prior.
Kristin O’Neill ’20, now a skater on the Montreal Victoire of the Professional Women’s Hockey League, opened the scoring 1:26 in the 2020 title game.
In the 2025 title game, junior forward Mckenna Van Gelder scored 1:13 into the game.
On March 8, 2020, Cornell took a 2-0 lead thanks to Gillis Frechette ’23, scoring just over a minute after O’Neill. Fast forward five years, freshman forward Lindzi Avar potted within a minute of Van Gelder’s to double the lead.
But what the 2025 Cornell team did that the 2020 team did not, was keep that lead.
In fact, it took the lead and ran with it. Exactly five years since its heartbreaking 3-2 loss to Princeton in the 2020 ECAC tournament, Cornell defeated rival No. 5 Colgate, 5-1, in the ECAC championship game on Saturday, ending an 11-year title drought and securing the fifth title under head coach Doug Derraugh ’91.
“[It was] a hard-fought win against a really good team. Really proud of our group,” Derraugh said. “Really proud of the women, pretty excited for them.”
Cornell scored twice within the first two minutes to squash any Colgate momentum. After Colgate halved the score in the second period, sophomore forward Karel Prefontaine made it 3-1 in the third period before the Red tacked on two empty-net goals to ice the win.
The Red also took care of unfinished business — these two teams met in last year’s ECAC tournament semifinal game, one that Colgate took, 5-1. Cornell responded a year later by handing that same score to the Raiders.
“To be able to come out on the other side of this today [is] just an amazing feeling,” Bergmann said. The sophomore netminder finished the game with 27 games, and was named the ECAC Tournament MVP after stopping 81 of 83 shots she faced across both games.
Cornell’s rapid start was kickstarted by Van Gelder, who buried a loose puck after a scrum ensued in front of Colgate netminder Hannah Murphy. The goal came just 1:13 into the game.
And before the public address announcer could finish the announcement of Van Gelder’s goal, the lead was doubled.
“Coming into a big game like this, you’d think I’d be super nervous, but I’m not, just because I know my team has my back,” Avar said. “It takes every single one of us.”
Avar secured her team-leading 15th goal of the season by firing the puck past Murphy’s glove side. The tally came just 25 seconds after Van Gelder’s, sending the 1,870 fans at Lynah Rink into a fit of roars.
“I think that also played a huge part [in] the start of the game,” Derraugh said. “We had that kind of atmosphere yesterday in that Clarkson game, so we were accustomed to it. I think it really shocked them.”
The home-ice advantage — unique to the women’s ECAC tournament as the men’s tournament is held annually in Lake Placid, New York — was essential.
“I think the crowd helped us immensely today, especially coming back from a three-overtime game,” Derraugh said. “The crowd was just roaring today.”
Cornell cooled down after its scorching start, but maintained control of the first period. Other Cornell skaters earned prime opportunities, including junior forward Avi Adam all alone in front and senior defender Ashley Messier on the wraparound later on in the period, but Murphy stood tall.
When tested, Bergmann showed little fatigue after stopping 54 shots in Friday’s triple-overtime semifinal win. The ECAC Goaltender of the Year batted away all eight Colgate shots in the first period.
The Raiders finally found an answer to Bergmann in the second period, halting a shutout streak spanning 108:15 minutes of play, dating back to the second period of Friday’s game. Derraugh challenged a preceding play that had occurred at the 10:52 mark (29 seconds before the goal) for a major penalty, no evidence of an illegal hit was found and the goal stood.
Cornell nearly escaped the second period — one that Colgate had controlled — relatively unscathed, but a referee finally put one arm in the air after senior forward Kaitlin Jockims had slashed the stick of a Colgate skater with 29 seconds left in the period.
1:31 of Raider power play time would bleed into the final frame, with the Red 20 minutes away from securing its first ECAC title since 2014.
But the Raiders could not find the back of the net, as Colgate continued to look disjointed amidst the Cornell pressure, with even star forward Kristýna Kaltounková whiffing on a one-timer for the Raiders.
Cornell continued to apply pressure as Jockims skated freely out of the box. At the 12:47 mark, Colgate’s Jaimee Spring lifted her stick up high on a Cornell skater, sending the Red to its first power play of the evening.
Having converted twice on the power play the night prior, both thanks to senior forward Lily Delianedis, Cornell’s skater-advantage unit took the ice looking to make it 3/4 on the power play across the championship weekend.
That it would do.
Junior defender Alyssa Regalado’s initial shot from the point was deflected wide by Avar, but the puck bounced off the rear boards and right onto the tape of sophomore forward Karel Prefontaine, who buried it into the open net and gave the Red its much-needed breathing room.
“I think the turning point for us was when we killed the penalty and then got the power play and got that power play goal,” Derraugh said.
That third goal is something Cornell could not find on March 8, 2020.
“This team, what they’ve done really well all year long, regardless of the score, regardless of the game, regardless of anything — they just keep doing the same thing over and over and over again and they don’t go off script,” Derraugh said.
Lynah Rink let out one collective sigh of relief as Prefontaine skated to a Cornell bench overflowing with excitement.
Two empty-netters, one by Jockims and the other by senior forward Katie Chan — a former member of Colgate — iced the title for the Red.
“I’ve had games like this, where we do what we did, and we finish it off,” Derraugh said. “And then I’ve had games like [2020], where you don’t.”
With the win, Cornell secures an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.
“It’s a little cliche, but it’s what you dream of as a little kid, and that’s why you play the game,” Avar said. “It’s a phenomenal feeling. You’re not going to forget that.”
The Red awaits its national tournament fate, as seeding will be finalized at 11:30 a.m. on the NCAA tournament selection show. With the win and a University of Minnesota loss to Wisconsin in the WCHA title game, Cornell vaulted up to third in the Pairwise ratings. That placement should hold, giving Cornell hosting privileges for NCAA regionals.
“Job’s far from done,” Avar said.
Jane McNally is a senior editor on the 143rd editorial board and was the sports editor on the 142nd editorial board. She is a member of the Class of 2026 in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. You can follow her on X @JaneMcNally_ and reach her at jmcnally@cornellsun.com.
