Women’s hockey set its season high for penalties in a 4-3 home win against Colgate on Nov. 15. The team received seven calls across 60 minutes, while a last-minute penalty against the Raiders (a call which set Colgate’s own season high at nine) was the difference-maker that pushed Cornell to an overtime win.
On Saturday, the penalty count once again reflected the depth of the traveling partners’ rivalry. By the end of the second period, the teams had spent a collective 20 minutes in the box — at final time, they’d logged 13 total penalties.
The tooth-and-nail nature of the game reflected its high stakes; No. 11 Cornell had a spot in the ECAC semifinals on the line, and No. 13 Colgate’s season hung in the balance. Added to the pressure of a historic rivalry, those stakes turned the match from intense hockey to a sparring match for the second consecutive night.
Ultimately, Cornell (20-10-2, 14-7-1 ECAC) hung on through penalty chaos to hold a lead for all but the opening eight minutes of play, securing a 3-1 win that extended its postseason and delighted the home crowd. Colgate (19-15-1, 13-8-1 ECAC) ended its season without the chance of an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.
“That definitely was playoff hockey,” said head coach Doug Derraugh ’91. “Very physical, very fast. I think it certainly prepared us well going into next week.”
Just before the halfway point of the first period, the Red earned its first power play, giving Cornell the chance to launch a coordinated attack after 10 minutes of back-and-forth momentum.
Cornell still boasts one of the top power play units in the country, coming in at sixth nationally with a 28% success rate, but the opportunity didn’t pay off until 14 seconds after the timer ran out.
Despite regaining their fifth skater, the Raiders struggled to rein in the Red’s building momentum and kept in a clustered defensive formation. Junior forward Delaney Fleming took advantage of the coverage gaps, passing the puck to unobstructed sophomore defender Rose Dwyer.
Dwyer’s high shot from the top of the faceoff circle deflected off a Raider body and into the near corner of the net, putting Cornell on the board 12 minutes into the first period.
“We had it cycling through the [offensive] zone, and I saw a [Colgate defender] on her knee,” Dwyer said. “I just made a move and shot it, and it ended up going in. It was good energy from the whole team and everyone who was on the ice.”
The goal was Dwyer’s third of the season. The team has had 16 different goal-scorers throughout the season, and only four have notched 10 or 11 tallies — this relatively even distribution of scoring has given a variety of players time in the spotlight.
“I don’t think we have a goal scorer in the top 50 in the country,” Derraugh said. “We need it from the aggregate. We need Rosie Dwyer to step up and score a goal for us. It’s got to be a team thing. Different people on different nights have been stepping up.”
The 1-0 lead held strong into the first intermission, despite Cornell receiving another power play with a minute left on the clock. Though the Red wasn’t able to capitalize on the advantage — which was split between the end of the first and beginning of the second period — it set the tone for the second frame.
Cornell took the first seven shots of the period uninterrupted, until a penalty on Fleming broke up the Red’s early dominance. The Raiders only managed one shot on goal before an interference call on Colgate evened out the skater count and seemed about to give Cornell a minute and a half of power play time after Fleming returned to the ice.
However, the Red didn’t get any time to use the extra skater. Senior forward Avi Adam replaced Fleming in the penalty box just as the Red went on the advantage.
After the three-penalty series came to an end, the teams only had three minutes of mutual full strength before both sophomore forward Lindzi Avar and Colgate’s Taylor Senecal received penalties. Not a minute after time ran out on that four-on-four, Fleming and Colgate’s Alexia Aubin took their own turns in the box.
In less than 11 minutes of second-period play, the teams had taken a collective 14 penalty minutes.
“[There were] too many penalties,” Derraugh said. “Probably both coaches felt that way, as far as us not being disciplined enough. The second period was kind of a wild affair in that way.”
After the chaos, the intensity waned, and play returned to a steady rhythm, though Cornell suffered one more penalty that ate up the last 1:45 of the frame.
The final period began at a measured pace; it took six and a half minutes for another penalty to be called, this time against the Raiders.
Cornell mounted a fierce attack, and a minute into the power play, saw payoff for its coordinated attack. Junior defender Piper Grober’s shot ricocheted off the pads of Colgate goaltender Brooke Davis, and Adam followed up the rebounded puck to bury a one-timer in the net.
The power-play goal, a breakthrough for the unit after struggling to finish on four attempts the night before, gave the Red a crucial buffer to its lead heading into the final 10 minutes of the game.
“It was a big momentum shift to get that two-goal lead,” Adam said. “I was close to the goal line in the slot, and I figured I had to shoot it as their goalie was out of position.”
Not long after, that goal would be necessary to hold onto the advantage. Senior defender Alyssa Regalado took a cross-checking penalty that gave Colgate the chance to fight back. Elyssa Biederman followed up a blocked shot while junior goaltender Annelies Bergmann was off her balance, netting the Raiders’ first goal of the game.
Colgate pulled its goalkeeper for the final three and a half minutes of play, but it couldn’t find a second six-on-five goal in the series. In the final seconds, senior forward Georgia Schiff broke away and beat out her defender to bury an open-goal score that finalized the victory.
“You can feel the energy of the crowd behind you, and everyone’s got you,” Adam said. “It was exciting, for sure. At the end there, during Georgia [Schiff’s] empty net goal, I couldn’t even hear myself think. It was so loud in there.”
Adam wasn’t the only one who fed off the crowd’s energy. Bergmann also gave credit to the Lynah Faithful in helping her move to a perfect 6-0 in the ECAC quarterfinals.
“I’ve said it so many times before: that’s why we chose Cornell — that crowd out there,” Bergmann said. “Everyone comes from the area, and it really just makes it so special.”
The Detroit native was excellent for a second consecutive night, outdueling the rookie Davis despite facing 31 shots to Davis’ 26.
“I give a lot of respect to their goalie, being a freshman and standing strong. She’s the reason they were in it that far,” Bergmann said. “But I think the experience really helps in those moments. You’re able to stay calm even when the tensions are high, and even if you give up a goal in the late minutes — which obviously isn’t ideal — you’re able to screw your head back on straight and just keep going.”
The second win of the weekend secured the ECAC quarterfinal victory for the Red, ensuring Cornell’s spot in the ECAC Hockey championship weekend starting March 6. Its first opponent will be decided after the remaining quarterfinal series wrap up on Sunday.
The ECAC semifinals on March 6 will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Alexis Rogers is the sports editor on the 143rd editorial board. She is in the Class of 2028 in the College of Arts & Sciences, and she can be reached at arogers@cornellsun.com.
