Box Score (PDF)ITHACA, N.Y. – Sophomore goalie
Paula Voorheis stopped 40 shots and
Cassandra Poudrier's third period goal gave the Cornell women's ice hockey team a 1-1 overtime tie with defending NCAA champion Clarkson on Saturday afternoon at Lynah Rink. It was the second tie in as many days for Cornell, as the squad moved to 6-6-3 (5-2-2 ECAC Hockey), while the Knights closed the weekend 13-6-2 (7-2-2 ECAC Hockey).
The Big Red hoped to complete the season sweep against their North Country rival, after dispatching the Golden Knights on their home-ice back in December. Clarkson had other ideas, as the squad came out flying to fire 30 shots on net through the opening 40-minutes of play. The sophomore netminder was the equalizer in the game, stopping a career high 40-of-41 shots to keep the Big Red in it.
Cornell jumped out to the 1-0 lead at the 14:09 mark of the third period. Although the Big Red failed to capitalize with 1:33 of powerplay time just a few minutes earlier, the team used the advantage to generate some momentum after being trapped in its own zone for sizeable stretches of the opening 40 minutes. Poudrier started the play working the puck into the neutral zone to
Jess Brown. The junior – who tallied a hat trick in this season's previous matchup against the Golden Knights – made a fantastic spin-o-rama move to wheel past the Clarkson defender. She charged hard to the near post, before backhanding a feed to
Caroline DeBruin who was making a hard center drive through the slot. The sophomore fired a shot through a screen that was kicked out by Clarkson goaltender Shea Tiley (T, 13-6-2). The puck drifted back out to the slot to the stick of Poudrier, who wristed it back through the crowd of humanity in front of the net, tickling the twine to the stick side of Tiley for her first goal of the season.
After securing the one goal advantage, penalties troubled hindered the Big Red for the majority of the final 14 minutes. Cornell took three penalties over the final 14:09 and Clarkson capitalized with the player advantage with 7:23 remaining in the game. With
Morgan Richardson off for tripping, the Golden Knights set up in the attacking zone. Cayley Mercer started the play, moving the puck from along the goal line to Erin Ambrose at the right point. Ambrose moved the puck to her point partner Renata Fast, as the two players traded spots at the point. Fast fed the puck back to Ambrose who unleashed a powerful slapper. Shannon MacAulay provided a perfect screen in front of Voorheis, who never saw the puck as it beat the locked-in goalie to the blocker side.
Things looked bleak for the Big Red just 1:26 later when
Emily Fulton was given a five-minute major penalty for checking, putting Cornell down a player for most of the remainder of the game. The Cornell penalty kill rose to the occasion, keeping the Golden Knights from establishing the zone in an unbelievable display of effort and determination.
The Big Red took the game into overtime and later was given a powerplay opportunity of its own. Brielle Bellerive was given a five-minute major and game misconduct for checking from behind, giving Cornell a powerplay for the final 2:41 of the extra session. Cornell created several good looks with the advantage, with the best coming on a silky passing play between
Jillian Saulnier and
Brianne Jenner. The senior captain unleashed a laser one-timer that drifted just wide, hitting the side of the cage. Head coach
Doug Derraugh called a timeout with 53-seconds remaining, but the Big Red could not get set up for one final look, ending the game in a 1-1 tie.
Cornell will complete the three games in four days stretch on Tuesday evening when it concludes its non-conference slate. The Big Red will welcome fourth-ranked Boston University for a 7 p.m. faceoff at Lynah Rink.
