Box Score (PDF)

ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell women's hockey wrapped its non-conference slate on Tuesday evening, hammering sixth-ranked Boston University 6-2 at Lynah Rink. Senior captain Brianne Jenner posted a monster game – having her hand in five of the six Cornell goals – finishing with a goal and four assists. Senior Emily Fulton also had a big game with two goals and an assist, while junior Jess Brown, freshman Erin O'Connor and junior Morgan Richardson each added a goal and assist. Paula Voorheis (W, 6-6-3) stopped 29-of-31 shots in a splendid performance in net.
 
Cornell (7-6-3) went into the contest looking to make a statement in its final non-conference matchup of the season. Non-conference play had not been kind to the Big Red, which entered play on Tuesday with a 1-4-1 mark, but the Big Red used an opportunistic offense and solid goaltending to gain a huge win over the familiar foe.
 
The Big Red has developed an understated rivalry with Boston University (13-5-2) over recent seasons, as the two squads have matched up fairly frequently in postseason play. The Big Red scored early and often to remain an undefeated 4-0 against the Terriers at Lynah Rink.
 
While both teams were jumping in pregame warmups, excited to resume the heated rivalry after a one-year hiatus, the Lynah Rink Zamboni had other ideas. Puck drop was delayed one-hour and fifteen minutes, as the backup Zamboni was called upon to clean the ice.
 
Once play finally got underway, it was the Terriers that controlled the territorial advantage over the opening minutes. Boston University launched seven early shots on net, but Voorheis – an increasingly calming presence in net with each passing game - made several difficult saves to keep the game scoreless.
 
Jenner staked the Big Red to the 1-0 lead with 5:51 left in the opening period. Freshman blue-liner Erin O'Connor pushed the puck to the right wing boards just inside the Cornell zone. Junior Jess Brown corralled the loose puck in traffic and flipped an arcing "Murphy dump" to the BU blue line. Jenner came flying with speed through the neutral zone to get on the end of the pass and move in on Terrier netminder Victoria Hanson. She faked backhanded and lifted a forehand over the glove and into the twine. The goal was Jenner's 87^th of her career, pushing her into a tie with Cindy Warren (1977-81) for fifth on the program's all-time goal scoring list.
 
The Big Red struck again just 3:23 later on Morgan Richardson's third of the season. With the Big Red keeping the Terriers chasing in the offensive zone, Jenner whipped the puck around the net to Emily Fulton in the right circle. The senior right wing moved the puck across through the crease looking for a deflection, but the puck came all the way off the left wing boards to the left point. Richardson kept the puck in the zone and unleashed a hellacious slapper that found its way through Jenner's screen, beating Hanson short-side for the 2-0 lead. Jenner tallied the secondary assist on the marker, collecting the 200^th point of her Big Red career to pass Cyndy Schlaepfer (1975-78) for fourth on the all-time list.
 
Brown pushed the Cornell lead to 3-0 with 7:45 remaining in the middle period. Richardson started the play with a nice first pass to Kaitlin Doering to exit the zone. The second-line center shuffled the puck to Brown on the left wing. She executed a deft poke to move the puck past an on-charging defender who pinched up on the play. She then made a bee-line for the crease. Moving inside the right circle, she launched a wrister that was blocked by Terrier defender Shannon Stoneburgh. Brown stayed with the rebound and backhanded a rising shot that eluded the traffic in front and the Terrier netminder.
 
With a commanding 3-0 lead entering the final 20 minutes of play, Boston University made a serious push in the opening moments of the third period. The Terriers fired four shots in the first 1:30 of the period, but again Voorheis had all the answers.
 
The dominant Cornell top-line made its presence felt yet again at the 15:51 mark of the period. Senior Jillian Saulnier (2 assists) collected her first helper of the evening as part of a beautiful passing play between the forward trio. Saulnier started the play by making a skillful play to keep the puck in the attacking zone, before eluding a defender and whipping the puck down below the goal to Jenner. The center quickly shuffled the puck to Fulton in the slot who fired a wicked wrister top shelf for her eighth of the season.
 
The lead stretched to 5-0 at just over the halfway point of period. Jenner made a fantastic play to start the scoring sequence, spearing the puck past a pinching BU defender to Saulnier in the neutral zone. The winger moved with pace down the right wing into the attacking zone, while O'Connor jumped into the attack as a flanker on the left wing to set up a two-on-one. Saulnier set up O'Connor who opened up for a shot and smashed a one-timer through the five-hole of Hanson (L, 8-3-1). With the assist, Saulnier tied Schlaepfer (1975-78) for fourth on the program's all-time assist list with 104 career helpers.
 
Cornell capped the scoring 3:29 later while on the powerplay. Jenner, quarterbacking the powerplay from the left wall, moved down along the goalline. She labeled the puck into the crease, where junior Anna Zorn and Fulton were providing a net-front presence. Zorn backhanded a shot that was kicked out by Hanson, but the rebound settled onto the blade of Fulton at the right of the net. She fired it into the wide-open four-by-six for her second tally of the contest and first powerplay goal of the season.
 
Boston University tallied two late markers on goals from Kayla Tutino with 4:20 remaining and Marie-Philip Poulin with 2:04 to play to spoil Voorheis' bid for the shutout. However, the game was already sealed at that point, as Voorheis collected her second victory of the season over a ranked opponent.
 
Cornell will return to action this weekend when it hits the road for a two-game trip at Yale and Brown. The Big Red will faceoff with the Bulldogs on Friday, January 16, while they will drop the puck against the Bears on Saturday, January 17. Opening faceoff for both games is scheduled for 4 p.m.