Box Score

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The No. 3 Cornell women's hockey team came from behind twice and eventually pulled away from Syracuse on Tuesday night, earning a 6-3 victory after netting three goals in the final period.

Chelsea Karpenko, birthday girl Erin Barley-Maloney and Catherine White all scored in the third to knock off a pesky Syracuse team that twice took one-goal leads.

The Big Red has now won six games in a row and three in a row against Syracuse. Cornell moved its out-of-conference record to 5-1 and swept the season series from the Orange.

Though the Big Red (16-2) handily defeated the Orange (8-14-2) by a 9-2 margin in Ithaca in November, Friday night's game was anything but a guarantee.

Cornell fell behind early in the first period when a shot by Nicole Ferrara got through the legs of Amanda Mazzotta. The puck didn't have enough steam to get across the line, but the Orange's Margot Scharfe was there to tip the puck in for her eighth goal of the year.

The Big Red got back into the game thanks to an incredible shot by Rebecca Johnston. Skating the puck into the zone herself, Johnston dumped the puck to linemate Jillian Saulnier. Saulnier eventually gave the puck back to Johnston, and from a difficult angle along the left boards, Johnston fired a shot all the way across the net and over the far shoulder of Kallie Biladeau.

The Orange once again took the lead in the second period, scoring on the power play to end the Big Red's streak of consecutive penalties killed at 26. Holly Carrie-Mattimoe skated the puck across the blue line and fired a shot at goal. Hayleigh Cudmore was defending Carrie-Mattimoe well, but the puck took an unfortunate bounce off Cudmore's stick and went high over the shoulder of Amanda Mazzottta.

But once again, less than two minutes later, the Big Red got back into the game as Syracuse started making huge turnovers. In the Cornell offensive zone, Johnston got a great poke check steal right in front of the net and found Brianne Jenner for a one-on-one with Billadeau. Jenner went right to left and beat the goalie to tie the game at 2-2. Jenner extended her team-high point streak to 11 games on that goal.

Less than a minute later, Johnston got her second goal of the game thanks to another Syracuse turnover. Kaillie Goodnough couldn't handle a back pass, and Saulnier got control of the puck with open ice in front of her. Saulnier's breakaway shot was saved by Biladeau, but Saulnier got her own rebound along the boards, passed across the ice to Johnston, and Johnston roofed the puck with a backhand over Biladeau's left shoulder.

“Both teams caused turnovers tonight, maybe unforced errors you might call them, which cost both of us at times tonight,” head coach Doug Derraugh said. “Turnovers will kill you in the game of hockey.”

That goal for Johnston – her third point of the night – moved her up to fifth all-time in Cornell history for point scoring with 158 points. She passed Amy Stanzin, who played from 1982-1985.

Once the final period began, the Big Red began to pull away. On the power play, with quick passing from blue line to slot by Laura Fortino and Lauriane Rougeau, Karpenko fired a slapshot past Biladeau for her first goal since Dec. 3 at Mercyhurst and her 14th goal of the year.

Just 15 seconds later, on her birthday, Barley-Maloney got her third goal of the season when Saulnier centered a pass from behind the net beautifully onto Barley-Maloney's stick. The senior tapped the puck in five-hole, and the Big Red held a 5-2 lead.

Though Syracuse stayed in the game with a goal two minutes later by Scharfe, Cornell put any comeback bids to rest when White scored with under 90 seconds left in the game. Karpenko started the play by chipping the puck into the zone to Jessica Campbell, and Campbell made a terrific no-look pass behind her to White. White picked the puck up, skated left to right and went backhand high over Biladaeu.

Coming off a shutout on Saturday against Princeton, Amanda Mazzotta returned to net for Cornell and made 21 saves. Two of the goals she allowed were on the power play with just one coming even strength.

This was just the start to Cornell's five-game road trip. On Friday, the Big Red head to No. 9 Harvard for a 7 p.m. game. The next day, Cornell will be in Hanover, N.H. for a 4 p.m. game at Dartmouth.