Box Score (PDF) |
Highlights |
Postgame Comments
ITHACA, N.Y. — Senior goaltender
Paula Voorheis made 29 saves to earn her ninth career shutout and, for the second consecutive night, a freshman scored the game-winning goal as
Amy Curlew's second period power-play tally proved to be all the #7 women's hockey team would need to get a 1-0 win and a two-game ECAC Hockey Championship quarterfinal series sweep of Colgate on Saturday at Lynah Rink. It was the seventh-straight meeting between the two teams that was decided by one-goal-or-less.
"It's what we've come to expect with these two teams," said head coach
Doug Derraugh. "Every game has been low scoring, high-intensity."
From the opening face-off, Colgate carried the offensive flow of the game - attempting 22 shots to Cornell's 11 - but the Big Red defense was up to the task with 10 blocked shots in the opening frame. It was the fourth-straight meeting between the squads that played to a scoreless first period.
The physical play between the two teams resulted in Cornell earning a power-play 7:59 into the middle frame. After sophomore
Diana Buckley won the draw to the left of Julia Vandyk, the Big Red pressured the Raiders below the goal line. Curlew's goal then started with a shot from senior
Hanna Bunton toward the bottom of the right circle. The rebound popped out to Buckley in the slot, and she alertly slipped a pass to a wide-open Curlew on the back post for a tap-in goal.
The Raiders tried to pull the goal back but Voorheis answered every shot. With 6:10 to play in the second period, she cut down the angle on a two-on-one rush from Colgate and absorbed a shot from Shae Labbe on the left shoulder -- one of 11 she would stop in the period.
"I felt really good," said Voorheis. "Even if I let out a rebound, I felt like they [the defense] were always on top of it, so I could play aggressive and do my thing."
Neither team generated offense in the early going of the third period but as the clock ticked under 10 minutes to play, the pace of the game quickened and the Raiders fired away. The Cornell defense continued to sacrifice their bodies, with freshman
Kristin O'Neill finishing with a game-high six blocked shots, two of which came in the final three minutes of play. Colgate pulled Vandyk with about 90 seconds to play but with just seconds left on the clock, Voorheis stoned Jessie Eldrige's doorstep bid at the post - her 12th save of the period - to give Cornell the win.
In what could be her final weekend playing at Lynah Rink, Voorheis stopped 60 of 61 shots over the course of the two-game series, yielding just a single goal, and finished her career against the Raiders with 6-2-1 record.
Colgate held the final edge in shots on goal, 29-17, while Cornell finished with 22 blocked shots. Vandyk (20-11-2) stopped 16 shots for Colgate, which ends its season with a 22-11-3 record. Cornell moves to 19-7-5 overall.
With the victory and other results from around the league, the Big Red will now advance to the league's championship weekend at Clarkson. Cornell opens play with a semifinal game against #5 St. Lawrence on Saturday, March 4.