Last Weekend
Quinnipiac
The Lady Rouge played six hours ahead of their scheduled game time to try and get in the game before the storm set in. While this is by no means an excuse for a loss, it is definitely something to consider when evaluating the Big Red's performance on Friday afternoon. The first game started out slow, but Quinnipiac came out strong. The Bobcats found the scoreboard first at 15:34 of the first period, on even strength. The second period saw the same thing happen, with Quinnipiac scoring 6:30 into the period. The third period the Big Red tried to mount a comeback. It started late, after Quinnipiac scored a shorthanded goal on the Lady Rouge. Unable to let it end there, the Lady Rouge scored on the same power play, with Brianne Jenner netting the lone Big Red goal. Cassandra Poudrier and Hayleigh Cudmore assisted on the goal. The Bobcats finished the scoring, however, with just five seconds left in the game to end the game with a 4-1 score, oddly identical to that of the men's game. The women were handed a loss by a team hungry for a win on a day which they played much earlier than expected. What is most telling is how the women responded to the loss: with a convincing win the next day.
Princeton
In spite of the four penalties taken the previous day, the women played an incredibly disciplined game, taking only a single penalty early in the first. But the Lady Rouge would not let the first end there. Erin Barley-Maloney took the first goal of the game, assisted by Brianne Jenner and Hayleigh Cudmore almost halfway into the period. The Big Red capitalized on a power play for the second time in the weekend. The second period remained scoreless, in spite of twenty shots on goal between the two teams, heavily in favor of the Big Red. In the third, Princeton tried for a comeback. They scored less than two minutes into the final frame, knotting the score at 1. But the game was not over. Jessica Campbell notched an even-strength goal, assisted by Erin Barley-Maloney and Hayleigh Cudmore. With under two minutes remaining, Lauriane Rougeau got an insurance goal assisted by Cudmore and Barley-Maloney. And if that were not enough, Brianne Jenner got an empty netter, from Jill Saulnier and Alyssa Gagliardi. The Lady Rouge skated to a 4-1 win over the Tigers, just one point behind Harvard in the Ivy League standings and tied with Clarkson right now for the number two seed with two games in hand over Harvard in the ECAC standings given that Harvard canceled both games this weekend due to Nemo.
This Weekend
Harvard
This Friday, Cornell hosts Harvard at Lynah Rink. Currently, Harvard has played two less games in the ECAC due to the storm last weekend. It will be making up one game (Brown) on the 19th and the other (Yale) at another date to be determined. Harvard and Cornell are first and second in the Ivy League respectively with a single point between them and three Ivy games remaining. Odds are, the winner of this game will also win the Ivy League. In terms of the ECAC standings, Harvard has 29 points in 14 games to Cornell's 30 points in 16 games, tied with Clarkson.
In their last game, Harvard bested Cornell 3-1, with an empty net goal. Cornell was outshot 33-22, took six penalties to Harvard's four, and all goals but the last empty netter were scored on even strength. However, since then, Harvard has lost games in the ECAC and Cornell will need to look at the games the Crimson has lost and tied in order to see how best to win.
Harvard's sole ECAC loss was to Clarkson, a team that Cornell split with this season. The Clarkson-Harvard game was laden with penalties, thirteen almost evenly split between the teams, with Clarkson scoring two of its three goals on the power play. The other key to the Knights's win was outshooting the Crimson. In the tie with Dartmouth, it seems that the Big Green were able to solve Bellamy. Dartmouth was outshot and the penalties were even at four.
Cornell will need to gain control of the game, the way it usually does: with solid goaltending and a steady stream of shots. Both of Harvard's netminders are at the top of the nation, with Maschmeyer, who we previously faced, tallying two of the three losses and one of the ties. Bellamy tallied one loss and one tie. Whichever netminder Cornell faces will be up for the challenge, but so will Slebodnick. Every year that Slebodnick has been at Cornell, she has beaten Harvard. She and Mazzotta split time her freshman and sophomore years, so she has only seen the Crimson once a season before this one. But if Slebodnick should be in net on Friday (and there is no reason to think she will not), she will have another shot at that win over the Crimson. Cornell will need to find the back of the net on Friday in front of a PACKED Lynah.
Dartmouth
While the game everyone will be looking at this weekend will be Harvard, there is a lot to be said about Saturday afternoon's final regular season game against Dartmouth. The last time the Big Red and the Big Green clashed was in November. Slebodnick backstopped the Big Red to a 2-1 OT win, with the Lady Rouge scoring both of their goals on the power play with the shots even at 30.
Dartmouth only played one game over the weekend, with their game against Yale being postponed to Tuesday, due to the storm. Tuesday night the Big Green ***
In order to beat the Big Green, Cornell will need to use its power play and penalty kill. Dartmouth is almost as penalized as the Big Red, getting roughly 5 penalties per game. They will be able to solve them as long as they are playing their game. Added incentive includes the fact that Saturday is Senior Night, celebrating Fortino, Rougeau, and Barley-Maloney.
52 - Jenner
38 - Saulnier
21 - Cudmore
18 - Campbell, Rougeau
16 - Fulton, Poudrier
15 - Barley-Maloney, Woods
14 - Fortino, Gagliardi
8 - Brown, Leck
7 - Murray, Zorn
4 - Pittens
3 - Richardson
2 - Slebodnick
1 - Cook