Box Score

ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell and Harvard were tied at 3-3 in the third period thanks to a crafty Crimson goal. The game didn't stay tied for long.

Eight seconds after Harvard got back into the game, freshman forward Jillian Saulnier got her 12th goal of the season off a faceoff win and terrific team passing. Fellow freshman Emily Fulton ripped a slapshot on a breakaway for an insurance marker less than two minutes later, and the Big Red pulled away from the visiting Crimson with a 5-3 victory on Saturday evening.

Cornell (5-1, 4-1 ECAC Hockey) was coming off its first loss of the season on Friday night, and it appeared the team was in danger again when Harvard (3-1, 3-1) forward Kaitlin Spurling tied the game 12:37 into the final period.

But the faceoff was won cleanly by Cornell. Fulton picked up the puck and fed it to Jessica Campbell, who found Saulnier entering the offensive zone on the left side. Saulnier cut inside and beat Harvard goaltender Laura Bellamy to give the home team the lead and cause 1,254 home fans to go from stunned silence to instant cheering.

Shortly thereafter, with Harvard needing a goal to retie the game, Fulton stole a puck from a Crimson defender, walked in all alone on Bellamy, cocked back and ripped a slapshot high and right to seal the game.

Missing four players to the Canadian National Team and skating with only three true defensemen, No. 2 Cornell rallied back after Friday's loss to knock No. 10 Harvard from the ranks of the unbeaten. The Big Red outshot the Crimson 36-21, and Lauren Slebodnick made 18 saves in net.

Cornell went down 3-1 in the first period on Friday, but it found itself ahead early Saturday night thanks to two power play goals.

Saulnier was first, scoring her 11th goal of the year thanks to quality cycling on the power play. Chelsea Karpenko passed from the low left up high to Alyssa Gagliardi on the blue line, and Gagliardi fed Saulnier across the rink for the goal.

Karpenko got one of her own less than two minutes later when Catherine White went around the net and found Karpenko waiting for a pass in front. The pass was true, and Karpenko put the shot away for the 2-0 lead. The team's power play is now second best in the country (14-40, 35 percent).

Three seconds after a penalty on Gagliardi expired, though, the Crimson struck. Still essentially on the power play, Harvard kept its passing going and Sarah Edney fired one off the post and into the net past Cornell starting goalie Lauren Slebodnick.

The Big Red extended its lead in the second period when a three-on-two broke out. Gagliardi carried the puck into the right side of the zone, took a shot, and it rebounded off Harvard goalie Laura Bellamy to Catherine White. White scooped up the rebound and put it in the net for the 3-1 lead.

But Harvard scored the next two goals, tallies by Hillary Crowe and Spurling to tie the game and make things interesting late in the third period.

Cornell continues to lead the nation in scoring offense thanks to its seven goals per game, and returns to the ice next weekend with its first ECAC Hockey road trip of the year. The team will play at Princeton on Friday night at 7 p.m. and then has a game at Quinnipiac on Saturday at 4 p.m.