Box Score (PDF)
 
ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell women's hockey finished up its regular season home slate on Saturday afternoon, falling 3-2 to Dartmouth at Lynah Rink on Senior Day. The Big Red honored the illustrious careers of seniors Emily Fulton, Brianne Jenner and Jillian Saulnier in an emotional post-game ceremony at center-ice.
 
In fitting fashion, the senior top-line combined for both goals and all four Cornell (14-10-3, 12-6-2 ECAC Hockey) points, but it would not be enough on this day. Dartmouth (13-11-2, 9-9-2 ECAC Hockey) goaltender Robyn Chemago (W, 13-11-2) stood on her head with 44 saves – including 19 stops in the decisive third period – to spoil the party for the Big Red.
 
Lindsey Allen netted the game-winner for the Big Green with 13:32 left in the game. Ailish Forfar set up the puck for Allen between the circles. She stepped into the shot, not catching the puck flush, but the puck fluttered through traffic in front and over the shoulder of Cornell netminder Paula Voorheis (L, 12-10-3) to put the visitors up 3-2.
 
Saulnier went out with a bang in her final regular season home game at Lynah. She netted both Big Red goals – her 10^th and 11^th tallies of the season – to stake Cornell to a 2-1 lead in the first period. Jenner and Fulton each added helpers on Saulnier's second tally, which came on the powerplay.
 
It was an ominous beginning for the Big Red, as Forfar scored her first of two goals on the day just 24 seconds into the game. The Big Green top line worked the puck down low in the Cornell zone. Forfar made a nice wraparound move to get the puck in the crease to Laura Stacey who was crashing hard on a center drive. Stacey's initial shot was denied by Voorheis, but the rebound was swept in by Forfar for the early 1-0 lead.
 
Cornell answered back eight and a half minutes later on an excellent individual effort from Saulnier. As the two teams battled for possession just outside the Dartmouth zone, the senior left wing chipped the puck into the Big Green zone, eluded a defender, and corralled the puck at the right half wall. She made another adept deke to slither just inside the right circle, before snapping a wrister past Chemago to equalize the game.
 
The senior gave the Big Red the lead just over five minutes later. With Dartmouth defender Olivia Whitford sitting in the box for tripping, Cornell put the powerplay unit to work. Fulton set up the play from the right point, making a beautiful cross-ice pass to Jenner in the left circle. She surveyed the scene, before labeling a pass between the circles that Saulnier one-timed into the four-by-six.
 
The score would remain the same until late in the second period when Forfar knotted the game with her second of the game. Stacey started the play by moving the puck behind the net. Allen corralled it behind the net and whipped it through the crease. Forfar was sitting wide-open at the far post to tap the puck into the open cage.
 
Cornell would dominate the play down the stretch, after Allen's goal put the Big Green up 3-2. Chemago stood tall to make stop after stop. The Big Red put on one final push with 30 seconds left, Saulnier and Jenner combined to put three pucks on net during a ferocious net front scrum, but Chemago denied each one in turn to preserve the victory for Dartmouth.
 
With the loss, Cornell remains in fifth-place heading into the regular season's final weekend. Although the first-seed is now out of reach, the Big Red can still finish as high as second if it gets help from other league games. Cornell (26) trails current fourth-seed St. Lawrence (27) by one point, while it leads sixth-seed Princeton (25) by one-point.
 
Cornell will return to action on Friday at 7 p.m. when it heads to Troy, N.Y., to face Rensselaer. The Big Red will wrap up the regular season the following afternoon when it takes on Union at 4 p.m.