An inability to score consistently at even strength plagued women’s hockey during its three-game losing streak entering Friday afternoon’s contest with Clarkson. In the rematch of last spring’s triple-overtime ECAC semifinals instant classic, Cornell seemed to finally figure out its offensive woes, scoring four times during five-on-five play and adding on a power-play goal.
However, the Red’s (10-6-2, 6-4-1 ECAC) numerous defensive mistakes led to an uncharacteristic high-scoring tie.
“We’ve been trying to find ways to score more goals. We did that,” said head coach Doug Derraugh ’91. “Unfortunately, we didn’t keep [the puck] out of our own net enough. So we’ve got to find that balance.”
The Red began the game dominating possession of the puck, and earned the first power-play opportunity of the contest thanks to a holding call on Clarkson just under four minutes into the period.
Cornell looked lethal during the skater advantage — holding the puck in the offensive zone for the first 52 seconds of the penalty without a whistle — but could not find a way past netminder Holly Gruber.
“We started off on the right foot,” said senior defender Alyssa Regalado. “We came out very aggressive. We were hard on pucks. We were winning our races and battles.”
Although the Red came out of the gate well, it would be Clarkson who struck first. The Golden Knights used slick passing to pull junior goaltender Annelies Bergmann out of position on an odd-skater rush. Clarkson’s ability to score on backdoor feeds off of breakaways became a theme of the game, effectively neutralizing Bergmann.
“Players off the puck have to work harder defensively,” Derraugh said. “I think through the neutral zone tonight, there were times where the players that were not on the puck carrier were just watching the play, and then when we lost a battle, or a puck went the wrong way, we weren’t in position then to recover.”
Cornell quickly responded to the early deficit. 26 seconds after falling behind, senior forward Avi Adam evened the score at one when a rebounding shot deflected off the boards behind the Clarkson net and onto her stick.
“I was just trying to get it back to the crease as quick as I could before the goalie got over,” Adam said. “I ended up banking it off her back, and it went into the net.”
Midway through the period, the momentum began to swing. After initially struggling to maintain puck-possession in its offensive zone, Clarkson began to repeatedly test Bergmann and eventually broke through on another two-on-one chance with 4:23 remaining in the opening period.
Cornell entered the first intermission trailing by a goal despite outshooting its opponent 8-7.
The second frame was the Red’s best of the game. Sophomore forward Lindzi Avar nearly rifled in a goal from between the circles a minute into the stanza, but instead it was Regalado who tied the game just 1:32 into the period.
“I talked to [junior forward Delaney Fleming] in between periods, about how we’re seeing the play, and how I’m going to communicate with her more out there,” Regalado said. “I just saw her driving the net, and I know she’s got a great shot, and I thought, if there’s a rebound there, I want to be able to capitalize on that.”
Cornell kept its foot on the gas pedal, with Clarkson unable to register a shot-on-goal for the first 7:30 of the period.
The Red eventually took a 3-2 lead on a well executed two-on-one of its own when junior forward Karel Prefontaine managed to sauce a pass over the stick of a Golden Knight defender to fellow junior forward Beatrice Perron-Roy, who flicked the puck over the glove of Gruber and into the back of the net.
“I thought we created more speed through the neutral zone,” Derraugh said when asked what his team did right offensively. “I thought we were attacking with pace, and I thought — especially in the second and third [periods] — we started putting more pucks to the net, with people going to the net.”
Clarkson responded just 37 seconds after falling behind for the first time when a Cornell defender lost track of a Golden Knights forward on the weak-side of the crease.
With the score knotted at three, freshman forward Nora Curtis was cross-checked just as the horn sounded to mark the start of the second intermission, giving Cornell a power play to start the final period.
A well-placed centering pass from Adam led to a go-ahead goal from Avar less than a minute into the skater advantage. The Red doubled its lead less than three minutes later when Adam lit the lamp with a powerful one-time shot from the right circle.
“I honestly was just trying to get the puck to the net, I didn’t really pick a specific spot,” Adam said. “We've been talking a lot about crashing the net, getting pucks to the net and bearing down and getting gritty goals. … I honestly didn't know it went in until the crowd made noise.”
All Cornell needed to do was defend for 16 minutes and the Red would control second place in the ECAC standings. Instead, a pair of Clarkson power-play goals midway through the frame tied the game.
“Penalties hurt us in the third today,” Derraugh said. “I think we took a couple of penalties that we didn’t need to take. So we’ve got to be a little bit better that way for sure.”
Cornell nearly found a game-winning goal with a minute to go, instead earning a late penalty on a tripping call. The Red used the extra skater to control the opening minutes of overtime, before being called for a penalty of its own with 52 seconds remaining in the extra period. The Golden Knights could not score, and Cornell took the shootout 2-0 (shootouts do not award points, instead serving as ECAC Hockey’s fourth postseason position tiebreaker).
While failing to come away with three points despite the impressive offensive performance isn’t ideal, the tie — which snaps the three game losing streak — is progress.
“I think we’re taking a step in the right direction,” Adam said. “We’re putting pieces together, and I think we’re gonna eventually — hopefully tomorrow — put a complete game together.”
The Red will take on St. Lawrence Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m at Lynah Rink. Action will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Alexis Rogers contributed reporting.
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.
