HAMILTON, N.Y. – The No. 7 women's hockey team battled hard against No. 3 Colgate on Saturday afternoon, but ultimately fell to the Raiders, 5-4, at the Class of 1965 Arena. Cornell had three-point performances from both Paige Lewis (2G, 1A) and Lenka Serdar (1G, 2A) – new career highs for both – in the high-scoring affair.
 
The Raiders got on the board first after a goal by Bailey Bennett seven minutes and 24 seconds into the first period, but just as Colgate was quick to respond to the Big Red's first attack last night at Lynah Rink, Cornell did the exact same thing in Hamilton as Lewis tied things up just over two minutes later.
 
The team would explode for two more goals in the first period to take a 3-1 lead. Serdar notched her score two minutes and 16 seconds after Lewis' goal to put Cornell up 2-1 and Lewis went on to punch in her second score of the game 18 minutes into the period to extend the Big Red's lead, 3-1. However, with just .07 seconds remaining in the first period, the Raiders' Shae Labbe converted on a power play to make it a one-goal game at intermission.
 
Grace Graham lit the lamp for the team early on in the second frame to once again give the Big Red a two-goal advantage, 4-2, but Colgate scored the final three goals of the game to pull ahead and edge Cornell for the 5-4 decision. The game-winning goal came from Jessie Eldridge just over 15 minutes into the third frame in a shorthanded situation.
 
The squad had an opportunity to at least equalize in the final moments of the game as a penalty on Shelby Wood put Cornell on a power play for the final 1:56 of the match, but no one was able to get the puck past the goal line. Amy Curlew had a great look on goal with about one minute left to play as the Big Red opted to pull Marlene Boissonnault for an extra attacker, but Colgate's Julia Vandyk made a clutch save with her leg to deny her.
 
One final golden chance came from Sarah Knee in the final few seconds as she sent in a Hail Mary shot from a distance that just hit the crossbar and flew over the cage.
 
After this weekend's results, Cornell is now in a four-way tie for first place in ECAC Hockey play heading into the break. Clarkson, Colgate and Quinnipiac all join the Big Red with 12 conference points.
 
The team will be back in action from Jan. 5-6, traveling to Princeton and Quinnipiac to kick off the new year.