Last month, women’s hockey was shut out at home for the first time in three years by Quinnipiac. Seven weeks later, Cornell once again went scoreless against the Bobcats. Felicia Frank, Quinnipiac’s star netminder, saved all 39 shots she faced en route to the Bobcats’ 4-0 win, frustrating a Cornell offense that scored six goals the night prior.
Quinnipiac (21-5-2, 11-4-1 ECAC) dominated the first period. Unable to slow down the Bobcats, the Red (13-9-2, 9-6-1 ECAC) spent most of the frame in its defensive zone chasing the puck.
“I thought we had a bad start tonight,” said head coach Doug Derraugh '91. “We were trying to make plays, but we weren't. I didn't think we were winning our battles early on in the game. I didn't think we were physical enough. They came out with more physicality.”
Junior goaltender Annelies Bergmann kept the game knotted at 0-0 for the majority of the period, squeezing shots and allowing few rebounds.
However, with under four minutes left in the frame, the Bobcats’Avery Bairos stole the puck from a Cornell forward, wheeled down the left wing, and shoveled a pass to Bryn Prier — who hacked away at the puck sitting near Bergmann’s right post and on the third attempt, found room to put Quinnipiac up 1-0.
Continuing the momentum, just 24 seconds later, the Bobcats would strike again. With a pass to Quinnipiac’s leading scorer Kahlen Lamarche, the Bobcats drew a Cornell defender and, sensing an opening, Lamarche dished the puck to Laurence Frenette who one-timed the puck into a sprawling Bergmann. The acrobatic save produced a rebound which Frenette drove home, giving the Bobcats a two-goal lead.
The Red came out with some jump to start the second period, finding its first quality zone time of the game. However, scoring opportunities were hard to come by. Quinnipiac defenders stayed attached to Cornell attackers, allowing the Red little room to operate.
“They’re big, they’re physical, they don’t let you get to the net easily,” Derraugh said. “They box out well. They give you the outside, but don’t let you get inside.”
Three minutes into the stanza, finding a rare patch of open ice, junior defender Piper Grober walked into the offensive zone and fired a shot off the post, and a senior defender Grace Dwyer wrister was stopped by Quinnipiac’s netminder Felicia Frank moments later.
A Quinnipiac hooking penalty seven minutes into the middle frame gave the Red the first power play of the game. Instead of capitalizing on the opportunity, the Red turned the puck over at the offensive zone blueline and gave Quinnipiac an opportunity the other way. A wide-open Bobcat forward fired a wrister off the pads of Bergmann that found Prier for her second goal of the day.
Down three, the Red needed an offensive spark in the final frame. However, the third period was much the same. With two power play opportunities, the Red was unable to find an answer and ended the day 0-3 on the skater advantage.
“I thought the [first] unit created some pretty good chances there,” Derraugh said. “Tonight, we had some rebound chances, some chances in tight. The other unit, I didn’t think was quite as sharp, [and] obviously we gave up the shorthanded goal.”
Lamarche tallied her 30th goal of the season with Bergmann pulled, tying the Quinnipiac single-season goal record. And, Frank earned her league-leading eighth shutout of the 2025-26 season.
The Red will look to regroup for an important Ivy League home series next weekend, facing Dartmouth at 6 p.m. on Friday night and Harvard at 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. Both games will be streamed live on ESPN+.
