ITHACA, N.Y. — Kristin O'Neill scored three goals, the first of which came just 11 seconds into the game, and the women's hockey used a four-goal outburst in the first period to surge to a 6-1 victory over the Toronto Junior Aeros in its first exhibition of the season on Saturday afternoon at Lynah Rink.

Maddie Mills assisted on all three of O'Neill's strikes, then capped the scoring with a redirection of Willow Slobodzian's shot in the third period. 

Lenka Serdar cashed in a scramble around the net just inside of six minutes to push the hosts' early lead to 2-0, then Jaime Bourbonnais' blast from the top of the left circle flew by the Aeros' goaltender's blocker to triple the lead. O'Neill's second strike came on the power play, and the Big Red seemed destined for a rout with a 4-0 edge at the 15-minute mark.

O'Neill completed the hat trick with another power-play strike 43 seconds into the second, then Toronto got its lone tally on a shot from distance on the power play that bounced in off a would-be shot blocker. Gillis Frechette had a pair of assists in her Lynah Rink debut, and Sam Burke added a helper in her first collegiate appearance.

Cornell split the backstopping duties evenly amongst its three goaltenders, with Lindsay Browning earning the victory on a four-save first period. Kaity McKenzie and Marlene Boissonnault each made just one saves apiece in the second and third periods, respectively.

The Big Red is back in action at 3 p.m. Sunday, when it hosts the two-time Isobel Cup champion Buffalo Beauts of the NWHL in another exhibition at Lynah Rink.