The NCAA women’s hockey tournament contains 11 teams: the five conference winners, and the next six-best teams as determined by the NCAA Percentage Index, a statistical formula commonly referred to as the NPI.
As women’s hockey’s losses have mounted, it’s beginning to become clear that the Red will have only one path to play in a third consecutive NCAA tournament: win in Lake Placid, the site of ECAC Hockey’s championship weekend.
“We’re at a point now where we pretty much are going to have to win the ECAC tournament to get in the NCAA Tournament, or at least get to the [ECAC] championship game,” said head coach Doug Derraugh ’91.
At first glance, Cornell’s (12-8-2, 8-5-1 ECAC) current position of 12th in the NPI does not seem far from the safety of an at-large bid. However, at least one of the 11 tournament teams will come from the New England Women’s Hockey Alliance — a conference without a team near the top 11 in the NPI — meaning that there will be at a maximum five at-large bids.
While Cornell will play three teams ahead of it in the rankings — including Princeton and Quinnipiac this weekend — the Red likely still need to make it to the ECAC tournament semifinals to get an NCAA tournament bid, even with wins over the Tigers and Bobcats.
With a mediocre 2-5-1 record since the start of December, Derraugh recognizes his team has a long way to go if it wants to be playing in March.
“Where we are right now, I don't think is going to win the championship,” Derraugh said. “So how do you go from where we are right now, to build in the blocks that are going to allow us to then have a chance to win the championship?”
While Derraugh’s current focus is making sure his squad is playing its best in late February when the ECAC tournament kicks-off, the Red have an opportunity to give its ECAC tournament chances a serious boost this weekend. While all 12 ECAC teams make the conference’s tournament, the top four receive a first-round bye and home ice for the best-of-three quarterfinals.
Currently, Cornell sits sixth in the ECAC standings at 25.5 points, although the Red have a higher points per game rate than Brown which has 26 points through 16 conference games played to the Red’s 14. In fourth place — with 29.5 points — is Quinnipiac, while Princeton sits at the top of the standings with 34.
Scouting the Tigers
Princeton (17-4-0, 12-2-0 ECAC) has taken ECAC Hockey by storm this season, entering the weekend on a 13 game winning streak despite being picked to finish sixth in the preseason coaches poll.
The Tigers are led offensively by a ferocious top-line trio of ECAC points per game leader Mackenzie Alexander, ECAC goals leader Issy Wunder and captain Emerson O'Leary who have powered Princeton to average 3.6 goals per game. But the Tigers have been a great goal-scoring team in the past without much in the way of regular or postseason success since the pandemic.
Now, Princeton’s goaltending and defense have matched its elite offense. In net, Uma Corniea sits top-10 in the nation in saves percentage, goals-allowed average and shutouts. And as a team Princeton has allowed just 30 goals this season, tied with Wisconsin for fewest in the nation.
When Cornell hosted the Tigers on Dec. 6, the Red played flawlessly for 58 minutes, but allowed a trio of goals in rapid succession midway through the second period.
“I thought we played well against Princeton, and I felt like even though we lost the game, we could have easily won,” Derraugh said.
With a 5-2 record against Ivy League opponents, a Cornell loss to Princeton on Friday means an “Ivy championship is pretty much out the window,” according to Derraugh.
Scouting the Bobcats
While the Red’s 3-2 home loss to Princeton was closely contested, Cornell’s 3-0 defeat at the hands of Quinnipiac (19-5-2, 9-4-1) was less inspiring.
“Quinnipiac, when we played them, they outplayed us,” Derraugh said. “I thought we didn't get many chances, they shut us down pretty good. So, we're hoping to create more opportunities.”
Unfortunately for the Red, the Bobcats enter the weekend on a roll defensively, having shutout or held opponents to a single goal in seven of its last nine games. On the other end of the ice, Kahlen Lamarche has terrorized ECAC defenses. The junior leads the conference in points and sits six goals off the national lead.
A win over Quinnipiac on Saturday would cut the Red’s ECAC standings deficit behind the Bobcats to a single point, with the Hamden, Connecticut squad owning a more difficult schedule for the final three weeks of the season.
Pearson Emerges
After scoring the Red’s first goal of the season, freshman forward Shannon Pearson had been absent from the scoresheet until scoring a second goal against St. Lawrence in Cornell’s Jan. 10 win over the Saints. 10 days later, Pearson notched her third goal of the season to keep the Red from being shutout for a second time by Penn State.
“I think it's just [keeping] the same mindset and growing and being pushed by all my teammates and [that’s] helped me develop,” Pearson said.
While Derraugh sees areas for her to improve on — knowing what to do with the puck before she receives it and adjusting to college-level physicality are examples — he also sees plenty to be excited about.
“She’ll be a good player,” Derraugh said. “She’s come a long way here just in this season, so we’re excited about her future.”
The Red will begin its second to last road weekend versus No. 7 Princeton at 7 p.m. on Friday in Princeton, New Jersey. The next day, Cornell will take on No. 6 Quinnipiac at 3 p.m. in Hamden, Connecticut. Both games will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Eli Fastiff is a senior editor on the 143rd editorial board and a member of the class of 2026 in the College of Arts and Sciences. You can follow him on X @Eli_Fastiff and reach him at efastiff@cornellsun.com.
