Box Score (PDF)
ITHACA, N.Y. – Senior
Hanna Bunton scored three goals in the third period and sophomore goaltender
Marlène Boissonnault stopped all 13 shots she faced to help lift the women's hockey team to a 4-0 win over Brown in an ECAC Hockey matchup at Lynah Rink on Friday night. It was the second hat trick of Bunton's career and the first shutout of Boissonnault's career.
The first period didn't result in offensive opportunities for either team, as the Bears (3-5-0, 1-4-0 ECAC Hockey) and Big Red (4-2-0, 2-2-0 ECAC Hockey) combined for just nine shots in the period.
The second period saw an uptick in pace – and Cornell outshot Brown 13-4 in the frame and went on to outshoot them 31-13 in the game – but neither team found the back of the net. Freshman
Kristin O'Neill nearly put the Big Red up by one five minutes into the frame when she broke into the offensive zone on a breakaway but she couldn't beat the left pad of Monica Elvin.
"It was very similar to the first three games that we played in the league where we were getting opportunities to score and creating chances but we just weren't able to finish on our opportunities," said head coach Dough Derraugh.
The Big Red came out energized in the third period and was able to find the back of the net just over two minutes into the frame when Bunton notched her first of the season. Senior
Sydney Smith was able to muster a shot through traffic that bit the side of the net and sophomore
Pippy Gerace bounced on the loose puck before slotting it to Bunton at the far post where she was able to send it past Elvin.
It was just over seven minutes later that Bunton found the net for the second time, this time from the blue line and on the power play, as sophomore co-captain
Micah Hart fed her from the right circle and the shot squeaked through traffic and into the net.
Even with a 2-0 lead, the Big Red kept pressing and showed tenacity on the penalty kill. Faced with a six-on-three man-down situation due to two penalties and Elvin on the bench in favor of an extra attacker, O'Neill blocked a shot and then broke out of the defensive zone. As she skated towards the empty Brown net and tried to get a shot off, a pair of Brown defensemen closed in and took her down but the referees awarded the goal and Cornell went up 3-0 with under two minutes to play.
Right as some four-on-four hockey expired at the 19:11 mark and Smith returned to the ice, Bunton was able to finish off her hat trick with her second power play goal of the net when she tipped home a shot from Hart. It was Hart's second helper of the evening.
It was the first hat trick for Cornell since
Jess Brown did it against Yale in a 6-4 win last season.
Though never tested with more than five shots in a period, Boissonnault (3-0-0) remained focused to earn her first career shutout, while Elvin (2-3-0) stopped 31 shots for the Bears.
Cornell returns to the ice of Lynah Rink tomorrow at 3 p.m. when it takes on Yale in another ECAC Hockey matchup.
