POTSDAM, N.Y. --- Only one team would emerge from Cheel Arena on Friday afternoon with its unbeaten streak still intact, and it was No. 5/5 Clarkson, who halted Cornell's win streak at four with a 2-0 win in Game 1 of the ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals.

Genevieve Bannon opened the scoring for the Golden Knights late in the first period and Cayley Mercer sealed the win with an empty-net goal in the final minute of the game.

The Big Red had the game's first chance less than a minute in, when senior Cassandra Poudrier broke down the right wing into the Clarkson zone and looked for classmate Jess Brown in front of the net. Brown's redirect skidded wide of the net. Midway through the frame, freshman Pippy Gerace dug a puck out of the corner and fed junior Kaitlin Doering, who tried to tuck a shot inside the near post, but Clarkson goaltender Shea Tiley shut the door.
 
Moments later, Cornell goalie Paula Voorheis, defending ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week, came up with a big pad save on Clarkson leading scorer Mercer, who sent in a blast from the right circle. The Golden Knights broke the scoreless tie with 4:16 left in the first period when Bannon came up the wing and tucked a low shot in on the near side.
 
The Big Red headed to the power play just 22 seconds after the goal was scored, and senior Taylor Woods had a quality chance on a redirection of Poudrier's shot from the point.
 
Cornell then had to kill its own penalty that flowed over into the second period. Olivia Howe and Mercer tried to connect early in the second period, but Voorhies intercepted the pass and covered up.
 
The Big Red penalty kill continued to be solid, killing off another penalty in the early goings of the second with minimal threat. Shortly after the expiration of the penalty, Mercer streaked up the left wing and fired on Voorhies, who made the stop, but the puck fell behind her towards the goal line. Sophomore Erin O'Connor scooped it up to get Cornell out of danger.
 
In the latter half of the second period, with Tiley out of position, Zorn sent a backhand pass from the corner to the front of the net, but the Clarkson defense cleared it away. A moment later, Mercer broke free down the middle, but freshman Micah Hart hustled back to keep her to the outside and force her to shoot wide.
 
Early in the final frame, Mercer got the puck alone in the right circle, but Poudrier dove to make a huge shot block and keep it a one goal game. Moments later, Voorheis made another big stop on Mercer, sliding across the crease to rob Mercer who had gotten a pass on the back door.
 
O'Connor had a pair of shots that tested Tiley about midway through the third, one in a two-on-one with Sydney Smith and another as a blast from the top of the right circle.
 
Shortly after, Renata Fast came in all alone on Voorheis and tried to make a move, but Voorheis followed her every step of the way and slid over to make the pad stop and keep Cornell within striking distance.
 
The Big Red found itself killing a penalty with about eight minutes to go, but solid defense, two more big shot blocks from Poudrier and a handful of saves from Voorheis kept the Golden Knights from doubling their lead and marked Cornell's 12th consecutive successful penalty kill. Poudrier leads the team with a career-high 85 shot blocks, including 14 in the last three games.
 
When Cornell pulled Voorheis in favor of an extra attacker, Mercer tucked a shot away into the empty net. Voorheis finished with 25 saves.
 
The same two teams will take the ice Saturday at 3 p.m. at Cheel Arena for Game 2 of the best-of-three series.