Box Score (PDF)

POTSDAM, N.Y. – Cornell women's hockey fell short in its quest for a third straight ECAC Hockey Tournament Championship on Sunday afternoon, falling short in a 7-3 loss to Harvard at Clarkson's Cheel Arena. The loss drops Cornell to 19-11-3 on the year, putting the team's fate for the NCAA Tournament in the hands of the selection committee.
 
The ninth-ranked Big Red looked to be sitting in good position, as senior winger Jillian Saulnier marked her second of the game on the power play with 18:57 remaining in the game to push Cornell ahead 2-1. The Big Red would finish 3-for-4 with the advantage in the game, but it wouldn't be enough. Harvard tallied six times – including five unanswered in the final 17 minutes – to take home its sixth ECAC Hockey Tournament Title in program history.
 
"We played them real even through the first two period, both teams had their chances," Head Coach Doug Derraugh said postgame. "We got that early goal, but gave up a couple tough ones and you got to give credit to Harvard for capitalizing on the chances we gave them."
 
Saulnier would finish with two goals in the game and three total for the weekend; earning a spot on the All-Tournament team for the second straight season. Junior defender Cassandra Poudrier would also be named to the All-Tournament team for her all-around strong play on the weekend.
 
Sophomore Hanna Bunton would add the other Cornell goal; marking two straight games she found the back of the net in a strong tournament for the fast improving second year player.
 
Senior center Brianne Jenner would finish with one assist on the afternoon, while senior winger Emily Fulton would assist on all three Cornell goals in the game. Juniors Taylor Woods and Anna Zorn would both add one helper.
 
Sophomore goaltender Paula Voorheis played a strong game, not indicative of her final goal line. She finished with 29 saves, including several big stops over the first two periods, before a difficult third period finish.
 
Cornell flipped the script than what we have seen in recent contests, flying out of the gates to grab an early lead in the first period. Junior Taylor Woods and sophomore Kaitlin Doering both generated strong early chances, but Maschmeyer was up to the task. Cornell continued to attack the blue-line with speed, which turned into a power play advantage when Fulton was slashed by Harvard freshman Haley Mullins on a two-on-one with Saulnier.
 
The Big Red worked quickly to convert with the player up. After gaining the red-line, junior Anna Zorn found Fulton working the top of the left circle. She fed a tape-to-tape pass to Saulnier who was cutting between the circles. She snapped a wrister that beat Maschmeyer to the stick side to stake Cornell to an early 1-0 lead.
 
Cornell continued to put pressure on Harvard, earning another power play when the Crimson's Sydney Daniels was sent to the box for an offensive zone interference penalty. The Big Red nearly put a second past Maschmeyer as Jenner was denied on a backhand re-direct from the top of the crease. Later, Fulton nearly picked the short-side corner, but the Crimson netminder was able to get a glancing shoulder to the puck.
 
Harvard sprang to life following the penalty kill, as Lyndsey Fry got behind the Cornell defense for a clean break. Her forehand-to-backhand move was smartly turned aside by Voorheis, who was rock solid in the period. The glorious chance generated some momentum for the Crimson, which they would use to equalize the game.
 
Cornell took its first penalty of the game when Woods was sent to the box for interference with 3:15 left in the period. The Crimson would capitalize on senior Sarah Edney's second goal on the weekend. Miye D'Oench found the blue-liner open in the high-slot with her wrister taking a deflection off a Cornell skate and finding its way past the outstretched pad of Voorheis with 1:53 left in the first.
 
The middle 20 minutes was a very tactical period for both sides, as both teams buckled down in the defensive zone. For the second straight period, Cornell showed good jump early on to generate a few good looks. Saulnier was denied twice off of an offensive zone faceoff, as Maschmeyer stopped two with the pad. Minutes later, Saulnier and Jenner nearly hooked up on a two-on-one. Saulnier swung out wide and labeled a hard pass to the crease, where Jenner crashed hard. Her re-direct shot high of the crossbar, as she knocked the puck off its moorings.
 
Harvard turned up the intensity down the back stretch, nearly moving ahead. Voorheis denied Mullins on a swift leg save, as a puck squirted free into the slot. Play would be bottled up in the neutral zone for the next five-minutes, followed by a glorious near chance for Harvard as senior Samantha Reber snapped a wrister from 20 feet off the pipe to the left of the Cornell netminder.
 
The Crimson went back to the power play with 7:16 remaining, as Saulnier was called for checking. However, it was the Big Red this time that gained from momentum with a strong kill to keep the period scoreless.
 
Cornell also had a near goal off an attacking zone draw with under four minutes remaining in the second. Jenner won the puck back to junior Cassandra Poudrier at the right point. She launched a slapper that was kicked by Maschmeyer's pad, but the rebound lay in the crease. Jenner tried to pull it from her backhand to her forehand, but the puck drifted just inches wide of the cage.
 
With under 30 seconds remaining, sophomore Hanna Bunton made an excellent play to pressure the puck in deep to allow the Big Red a much needed line change. She continued the forecheck and eventually stole the puck from Abbey Frazer, who then hooked up Bunton to give Cornell a carry-over power play chance into the third period.
 
It looked like the play would prove the difference, as Saulnier would tally her second of the game shortly into the advantage in the third period. Fulton peeled off the top of the left circle and wristed a puck on net. Maschmeyer made the save, but Jenner did well to keep the play alive hacking at the loose puck. The rebound squirted free to the goalie's left, where Saulnier hacked it into the yawning cage.
 
The lead unfortunately was short-lived, as Harvard would storm back with five straight tallies to put the game out of reach. Karly Heffernan would pull the Crimson level, snapping a wrister over the glove of Voorheis, after the Crimson won her a loose puck from the right wall.
 
Sarah Edney put the Crimson ahead for the first time in the game just 51 seconds after Heffernan's tying goal. She launched a slapper from the right point that found its way through a massive screen in front and into the top corner of the net.
 
Now chasing the play, Cornell couldn't keep up with Harvard down the stretch. Junior Mary Parker tallied her first of two on the day, as the Crimson worked on a power play with 12:36 remaining. Her centering feed took an odd deflection off a Cornell defender's skate and trickled under the right pad of Voorheis. Harvard added another two goals in a 17 second stretch as Lexie Laing and Parker scored back-to-back.
 
Cornell pulled one closer with just under four minutes remaining, as Hanna Bunton put in her second goal of the weekend with the power play on the ice. Fulton made a nice play to win the puck free to Woods in the left circle. She skated down low, before whipping a pass to Bunton in the slot, who powered it into the twine.
 
The goal gave the Big Red life, as Jenner nearly scored on the ensuing shift. She stripped the puck behind the net, before wheeling out front for a backhand shot that was trapped between the arm and chest pad of Maschmeyer.
 
Miye D'Oench capped the scoring with an empty-netter with 1:44 remaining in the game.
 
With the loss, Cornell will now look to Sunday evening's selection show to see if it will receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, which will play the Quarterfinal Round next weekend. The Big Red figures to be in a battle with Clarkson, North Dakota and Minnesota-Duluth for the final at-large berth. The NCAA Selection Show will air at 7 p.m.