Box Score

ITHACA, N.Y. – Despite a slow start in the first period, the No. 3 Cornell women's hockey team fought back from behind to defeat league-leading Quinnipiac 4-1 on Friday night at Lynah Rink.

The Bobcats (13-9-2, 9-3-2 ECAC Hockey) came into the night with 20 points in the conference to the 18 points of Cornell (14-2, 10-1). But both teams left tied at 20 points thanks to four unanswered goals by the Big Red and a terrific performance in net by sophomore goalie Lauren Slebodnick (8-0-0, 1.10 GAA).

The Big Red has now claimed five consecutive contests against the Bobcats and swept this year's regular-season series.

With Cornell down a goal early in the second period, freshman Jillian Saulnier tied the game by putting all her weight behind a slapshot from the blue line. The puck saw its way past players in front of the net and Bobcats goalie Victoria Vigilanti just 11 seconds after a Big Red power play expired.

“That first goal is always a big one,” said head coach Doug Derraugh. “We were battling and battling and trying to get something going, so that was a big goal by Jill there. It got the ball rolling.”

Seven minutes later, Cornell broke the tie and took the lead for good. Laura Fortino dropped the puck off with defensive partner Lauriane Rougeau, and Rougeau did most of the work skating around the offensive zone. Sneaking down toward the blue line and worrying the Quinnipiac defensemen, Rougeau instead centered the puck to White for a shot past Vigilanti.

Just two minutes after that, Brianne Jenner added some insurance. Streaking up the left side of the ice on a two-on-one, Jenner opted to use right wing Monika Leck as a decoy and take a shot herself. Jenner's shot went to Vigilanti's right, and the Big Red had a 3-1 lead.

A fourth goal came on a power play flurry midway through the final period. What started as a shot from the left circle by Emily Fulton bounced off Vigilanti and landed at the feet of Laura Fortino. Fortino took a shot, but that rebounded off Vigilanti as well. Finally, Jessica Campbell was there to put the puck away on the third effort.

"Everyone plays a role and everyone contributes," Fortino said. "When you get down to the playoffs and the crunch, you need a full team and you need all four lines to contribute. We're really thankful that we have that on this team."

Quinnipiac got the game off to a lightning-fast start, scoring just 21 seconds into the first period. First-line center Kelly Babstock got a pass on the left side of the net from linemate Kate Wheeler and then returned the puck to Wheeler for a wide open goal.

That was the only puck that got through Slebodnick, who continues this season undefeated and would have earned a third consecutive shutout if not for that goal. Slebodnick made a terrific save on a breakaway by Quinnipiac's Amanda Colin in the game's final minute to keep the Bobcats' total at just two.

The Big Red gets right back to hockey on Saturday afternoon as Princeton comes to Ithaca for a 4 p.m. game. The Tigers defeated Colgate earlier Friday night and are currently in third place in ECAC Hockey.