Box Score

ITHACA, N.Y. – The numbers on the scoreboard might not show it, but the No. 3 Big Red women's hockey team played one of its best games all season in front of nearly 1,300 fans at Lynah Rink on Friday night.

Cornell, with two shutouts in its first four games of the new year, added another one in a 1-0 win against ECAC Hockey and Ivy League rival Princeton.

Though the team scored just one goal, it controlled the puck for most of the contest and outshot Princeton 39-14. The Tigers' defense and goaltending was excellent, but Cornell's was even better in the first start for Amanda Mazzotta since Dec. 3.

Mazzotta (7-2) made all 14 saves that were asked of her and came away with her second shutout of the season. The Big Red has allowed a mere two goals in its last five games.

“It's pretty exciting when you can shut them out or keep them to a low amount of goals,” senior defenseman Amanda Young said. “You know that you've done everything you can do to help the team.”

With the win, Cornell (15-2, 11-1 ECA Hockey) remains atop the conference standings with Quinnipiac. Princeton (8-10-4, 7-7-2), which came into the day in third place, was passed in the league standings by Clarkson and Dartmouth.

“I thought from our goalie out today, we showed relentless effort,” coach Doug Derraugh said.

Rebecca Johnston got the Big Red offense going at the 2:14 mark of the first period. Linemate Jillian Saulnier chipped the puck down the ice, and it bounced off Brianne Jenner's shinpad to Johnston. The defenseman marking Johnston went up to play the puck but got passed by Johnston in the process. The result was a breakaway, and Johnston's aim netted the puck past Tigers goalie Rachel Weber.

In the second period, despite firing an impressive 19 shots on goal, the Big Red was unable to get a puck past Weber. At one point late in the period, Cornell took five consecutive shots on goal while cycling through its lines against a tired Princeton defense.

The final frame saw more dominance from the Big Red, but a late penalty gave the Tigers a six-on-four chance with a pulled goalie. Still, the defense held strong and Cornell came away with the tight victory.

Cornell's win was its sixth in a row against the Tigers, and the Big Red has now swept the two-game regular season series. Cornell also jumped up in the Ivy League standings and is just one point behind Princeton with two games in hand.

Cornell now has two days off before heading to Syracuse for an out-of-conference game on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. The Big Red knocked off the Orange 9-2 earlier in the season.