After 230 days, women’s hockey action returned to Lynah Rink as the Red opened the 2026-27 season Friday night, hosting the No. 15 Vermont Catamounts for the first time since 2007.
The Red (1-0-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) entered the contest undefeated against Vermont at Lynah. Following the final whistle, Red improved to 7-0-0 at home against the Catamounts with a tightly contested 3-2 victory.
“I always like playing strong teams at the start of the year,” said head coach Doug Derraugh ’91. “You expect the first game to have a lot of energy.”
The Catamounts (3-2-0, 0-0-0 Hockey East) gave the Red trouble last season, beating Cornell in Burlington, Vermont before the Red captured the second game of the series to avoid a sweep.
The Red would not let the Catamounts surprise it again.
Cornell came out of the gates flying, hemming Vermont in their own end for large stretches of the first period. The Red showed no signs of early season jitters.
Senior forwards Karel Prefontaine and Beatrice Perron-Roy joined senior defenders Abby Thibodeau and Piper Grober in the opening shift of the game.
The four seniors, along with freshman forward Renee Bishop, set the tone of the game, and perhaps the season itself, early.
“I thought we came out with a lot of energy,” Derraugh said. “I thought we were very disciplined. We had some power play opportunities and took advantage of that.”
In addition to the confidence of the seniors, freshman forwards Jillian McLaughlin and Zahra Nauhaus impressed. In fact, Derraugh praised all of the Red’s freshmen.
“[The freshmen] showed a lot of poise early on,” Derraugh said. “They brought a lot of energy to the group.”
The Red’s consistent offensive zone time throughout the first period led to two skater-advantage opportunities.
While the Red went scoreless on its first power play, it made sure to capitalize on its second.
Rotating toward the top of the point, Grober received a pass from McLaughlin, and threw a seemingly harmless shot on net. Screened by a Vermont forward at the top of the slot, the Catamounts goaltender reacted late to the shot, which slid post-and-in.
The power play goal put the Red up 1-0 with 3:32 left in the first frame.
“I got a nice pass from [McLaughlin],” Grober said. “I saw that [a Vermont defender] was coming at me, I just tried to get [the puck] through.”
The Red was dominant in its first period of the season, but the job was far from finished.
The Catamounts awoke in the second period, pressuring the Red for the first time.
Posting nine shots in the second frame compared to two in the first, the Catamounts consistently threatened senior goaltender Annelies Bergmann and the zero on the scoreboard.
Vermont began sending defenders on rushes with their forwards, creating a much more chaotic environment on the ice.
Due to Vermont’s aggression, the Red lost its disciplined neutral zone structure.
“I thought we were trying to be too individualistic through the middle of the ice,” Derraugh said. “That sort of tilted the ice in Vermont’s favor.”
It felt like something had to give — either the Red would punish Vermont’s riskier approach or the Catamount’s gamble would pay off.
After a tripping penalty was called on the Red with 10:09 left to play in the second frame, the Catamounts opened the floodgates, besieging the Red’s defense with a minute of continuous power play zone time.
Finally, Vermont defenseman Linnea Misner fired a shot from the point that beat Bergmann, evening the score at one apiece.
It would not take long for the Red to respond.
Less than a minute after the Catamounts’ equalizer, junior forward Lindzi Avar forced a turnover and the puck bounced to sophomore forward Shannon Pearson, who beat Tara Bach, the Vermont goaltender, restoring the Red’s lead.
“I thought it was a good forecheck by [Avar] and [Delaney Fleming],” Pearson said. “I just shot [the puck] right away and it went in.”
The chaos continued following Pearson’s goal. Sophomore forward Riley Scorgie rushed up the ice, skating past a Vermont defenseman to set up freshman forward Kayla O’Donnell with an opportunity in front of the net.
While Bach saved O’Donnell’s initial shot, the puck ended up in the back of the net after a collision between the two players. The officials ultimately disallowed the apparent goal for goaltender interference, which was confirmed after a Cornell challenge.
At the period’s end, the score stood at 2-1, though Cornell still held a commanding 23-11 lead in the shot column.
The third period saw the Red return to a more structured style of play, limiting Vermont odd-skater rushes while still threatening on offense.
On its second power play of the period, the Red found insurance.
From the top of the far circle, Prefontaine released a fade-away one timer which rebounded off of Bach. Finding the loose change, Grober potted the rebound for her second power play goal of the night.
“That was just a battle in front,” Grober said. “[Avar] did a good job taking away the goalie’s eyes and getting some whacks [at the puck], I just put it in [the net] from there.”
The tally put the Red up 3-1 with 12:32 remaining in the third.
The two teams traded power play chances as the final frame continued, with the Red suppressing the Catamounts attempts at a comeback.
That was until a Red turnover exiting the defensive zone led to a Vermont goal that squeaked through Bergmann, giving the Catamounts light down the stretch of the third.
With 25 seconds remaining, Cornell took a high sticking penalty which gave Vermont a six on four opportunity with its goaltender pulled.
The Red held on, clearing the puck in the dying moments and skated to a win in its first game of the season.
“Vermont’s not going to be happy about the result tonight,” Derraugh said. “They’re going to come back and push back in game two.”
The Catamounts will return to Lynah Rink tomorrow to play the second and final game of the series.
Puck drop is scheduled for 3 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Eric Joy is a member of the Class of 2029 in the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning. He is a Sun Staff Writer and can be reached at ewj36@cornell.edu.
Eli Kwait is a member of the Class of 2029 in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He is a Sun Staff Writer and can be reached at ekwait@cornellsun.com. You can also follow him on X @EliKwait.
