Box Score POTSDAM, N.Y. – No. 3 Cornell had multiple quality opportunities to get a game-tying goal in the final 1:35 on Friday night, but No. 2 Clarkson held on for a 2-1 win on home ice in a battle between the top two teams in ECAC Hockey.
 
An all-around even game with plenty of penalties, the Knights' game-winning goal came in the third period off the stick of Shannon MacAulay on the power play.
 
With 1:35 left, Cornell called a timeout and pulled goalie Lauren Slebodnick, but reigning ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Year Erica Howe made all the important saves to keep Cornell from forcing overtime.
 
Clarkson (13-2, 7-0 ECAC Hockey) moves into first place in the league while Cornell (9-3, 7-2) slips into third based on its head-to-head results with Clarkson and Harvard.
 
MacAulay's game-winner game 12:03 into the final period, starting with the Big Red unable to corral a pass it nearly intercepted and could have then cleared out of the zone on the penalty kill. Instead, MacAuley got the puck along the right boards and centered it into the crease. A scramble in front after an intial save by Slebodnick wound up with the puck back on MacAuley's stick. She roofed it over Slebodnick to give the Knights a 2-1 lead.
 
Brianne Jenner and Jillian Saulnier had terrific chances for a goal with under two minutes left, but Howe made saves on both and covered the puck with 1:35 to go. That's when Cornell pulled Slebodnick to get the extra attackers, and a frantic 90 seconds ensued. Lauriane Rougeau, Saulnier, Laura Fortino and Alyssa Gagliardi all had shots go wide of the net, and the final whistle sounded as the Knights clanged an empty-netter attempt off the post.
 
At game's end, Cornell had taken nine penalties. Though the team killed off all but one, that one proved to be the winning strike.
 
The night opened with a penalty-laden first period as Cornel began the frame with a too-many-players call. The Big Red killed off that penalty and three more, though things could have been worse as Kelly Murray and Rougeau took penalties 24 seconds apart.
 
The long five-on-three for Clarkson was negated, though, when Danielle Skirrow tripped Gagliardi just five seconds into the large advantage. That still left the Knights with a four-on-three power play for more than a minute and a half, and Slebodnick came up big with multiple saves. She had 10 saves at the end of the first period, while Cornell managed just five shots on Howe.
 
The second period saw five more penalties – including three on Cornell – but it also saw the game's first goals.
 
Clarkson's Brittany Styner got on the board when a shot from the left point by Hailey Wood was deflected in front by Carly Mercer. The deflection went off Slebodnick's pads, but the rebound went right to Styner, who buried the puck in the open net just five minutes into the period.
 
After a series of penalties on each team, the Big Red finally struck with a four-on-four opportunity. Gagliardi started the play by taking the puck off the left boards and feeding Erin Barley-Maloney. The senior passed to Rougeau at the right point, and Rougeau took a slapshot on net. The puck ricocheted off the skate of Clarkson's Jennifer Shields and went through the legs of Howe, knotting the contest at 1-1 with 11 minutes left in the period.
 
That set up the exciting third period that sent the home fans happy in a contest between two of the top three teams in the nation. Cornell suffered consecutive losses for the first time since January 2010.
 
Cornell is right back to action at 4 p.m. on Saturday as it heads to Canton for a battle with nearby St. Lawrence. Cornell defeated the Saints 5-1 in their non-league meeting earlier in the year.