Box Score
Photo Gallery (by Patrick Shanahan)

ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cornell women's ice hockey team got two goals and an assist from Chelsea Karpenko and cruised to its 15th straight victory, improving to 19-1 on the season with a dominant 6-1 triumph over Central New York foe Colgate on Friday evening at Lynah Rink. The Big Red remained unbeaten in ECAC Hockey play at 13-0-0, while the Raiders slipped to 7-15-2 (4-8-1 ECAC Hockey).

Cornell's excellence in special teams proved to be the big difference, as the home team scored on three of its six power play opportunities and killed off all five of the Raiders' extra-skater chances. The Big Red opened a 6-0 lead before the visitors got on the board with a breakaway goal with under two minutes remaining.

All three of Karpenko's points came in extra-skater situations, while Cornell's penalty-kill unit also scored a fantastic short-handed goal by Rebecca Johnston. Johnston was also credited with an assist in the win. Catherine White, Laura Fortino and Kendice Ogilvie chipped in with goals, while Hayley Hughes posted a pair of assists. In goal, Lauren Slebodnick made 12 saves and allowed just the one goal in improving to 5-0-0 on the season.

Cornell scored four unanswered goals in the first period, including a power play and a short-handed goal, to take control of the contest. Karpenko and Ogilvie scored just 11 seconds apart to make it 2-0, before Fortino slammed home a shot from just outside the crease on a perfectly executed power play, the Big Red's second extra-man goal of the period. Johnston closed out the scoring in the first when she deftly skated through the entire Colgate squad and beat Sass between the legs for a shorthanded score and a 4-0 lead with less than two minutes to play before intermission. The Big Red capitalized on two of the Raiders' three first period penalties and killed off both opportunities on the extra-man by the visitors.

Colgate settled down in the second period, and while Cornell had territorial control throughout, was not able to replicate the number of scoring chances in the second 20 minutes. Slebodnick continued her dominance in goal, however, stopping all four shots that got through to her in the period.

With the game mostly in hand, Cornell turned up the heat again in the final 20 minutes, scoring a pretty power play goal at the 10:28 mark when Karpenko's shot off quick puck movement came just 23 seconds into the their third-period power-play chance. White's score after a scrum in front of the net capped the scoring for the Big Red. Colgate got on the board with a late breakaway goal by Brittany Phillips to end Cornell's shutout opportunity.

The two teams will meet again tomorrow at 4 p.m. in Hamilton, N.Y., for the back end of the home-and-home series.