ITHACA, N.Y. – The No. 6 women's hockey team made a triumphant return to Lynah Rink in 2018, blanking Dartmouth 2-0 on Friday night.
 
"I think both teams played a good team game today," said head coach Doug Derraugh. "There wasn't a lot of great chances for both teams. Maybe early on we had a number of chances that didn't cash in and then it became a close game the rest of the way. I think we limited their chances very well but they did a nice job in the d-zone of clogging things up and not giving us those real grade-A chances and not giving us those second and third opportunities."
 
Goaltender Marlene Boissonnault had quite the day, not only making 17 saves to preserve the shutout, but also recording her first-career point with the secondary assist on the insurance goal. The junior now has two shutouts on the season and four in her collegiate career.
 
Cornell (10-6-1, 7-4-0 ECAC) kicked things off in the second period with a goal by Maddie Mills eight minutes and 50 seconds in. After Kendra Nealey recovered the puck from the boards, Kristin O'Neill took control and charged into the offensive zone. After a bit of back-and-forth between O'Neill and Mills, Mills found some space on the left side of the net and cashed in for the game winner.
 
"It's so fun playing with Kristin," said Mills. "She has great speed and vision…we're also pretty good friends so it's just a lot of fun playing with one of your best friends out on the ice every day."
 
The freshman leads the team in goals (10) and game-winning goals (3).
 
O'Neill herself would strike on a power play 16:33 into the final frame to put the game to bed. Following a clear by Dartmouth (4-11-1, 2-8-1 ECAC), Boissonnault stopped the puck for Sarah Knee to pick up. Knee dished it out to O'Neill in the neutral zone and O'Neill peppered in a shot from the far circle that splashed into the back left corner of the net.
 
Despite the first period failing to see any goals, the Big Red came out with fire, notching 13 shots on goal while Dartmouth only had five. However, the Big Green turned things up a notch in the second, ending the frame with just a slight 9-10 shots on goal disadvantage.
 
But in the end, Cornell was far more dominant, topping the shooting category 31-17.
 
The team is back home at Lynah Rink tomorrow, hosting Harvard for a Saturday 3 p.m. contest.