ITHACA, N.Y. – Kristin O'Neill scored a goal, then added a pair of assists on the women's hockey team's spurt of three goals in a span of less than two minutes in the second period to fuel a 4-0 victory over Dartmouth on Saturday afternoon at Lynah Rink. Marlene Boissonnault made 23 saves to post her 10th career shutout.
 
Cornell (3-0, 2-0 ECAC Hockey) rebounded from a disjointed start to the game, which saw Dartmouth (0-3, 0-3) muster some of its most dangerous chances after Big Red turnovers.
 
"I didn't think we were ready to play," said head coach Doug Derraugh. "We were soft on pucks and made soft passes."
 
But the Big Red still managed to scratch out the game's first goal on the rush. Devon Facchinato worked the puck out of the corner in the Cornell zone to turn Grace Graham up ice. She picked her head up just short of the blue line to find O'Neill gathering a head of steam on the far side, then slotted a perfect pass across the neutral zone. O'Neill sailed outside her defender, then picked a spot under Kayla Wormsbecher's glove and inside the far post for her third goal of the young season.
 
"We knew we needed shore up some things for the second and third periods, and we did," Derraugh added.
 
The Big Red blew the game open with a second-period burst to quadruple the lead. Jaime Bourbonnais' four-on-four rocket from beyond the top of the right circle made it 2-0, then clever passing from Maddie Mills and O'Neill set up Micah Zandee-Hart's drive into an open net for a four-on-three goal. Just 39 seconds after that, Pippy Gerace's second-effort goal blew the doors open.
 
The Big Red has its first road trip next weekend when it visits Yale at 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2 and Brown at 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3. Both games are set to be broadcast on ESPN+.