ITHACA, N.Y— Graduate student Lindsay Browning made 27 saves, but ECAC Hockey-leading Quinnipiac broke through for three goals in the second period before riding out a 4-0 victory on Friday afternoon at Lynah Rink.
The teams skated through a scoreless first period in which Cornell (3-5-1, 2-4-1 ECAC Hockey) started off on the front foot with four of the game's first shots on goal in just over four minutes. The run of play from there largely belonged to #6 Quinnipiac (12-1-2, 6-1-0) through its surge to a big lead after 40 minutes.
Veronica Bac got the scoring started at the 1:58 mark. Maddy Samoskevich curled back on a breakout through the neutral zone to allow teammates to change, then wired a pass steered on by Maya Labad to create a quick two-on-one. Bac's shot from slot beat goaltender Lindsay Browning on the stick side.
About two minutes later, Taylor House doubled the lead on a redirection of a point shot from Olivia Konigson. The Big Red then looked poised to keep the deficit at two after minutes, but Labad created a turnover in the offensive zone that was turned toward goal. Alexa Davis made a sprawling block of Lexie Adzija's shot, but Labad cashed in the rebound.
Cornell's last gasp to get back in the game came on a rush with 12:36 left in third when Lily Deliandis' shot from the left circle lodged itself under the outstretched left pad of Quinnipiac goaltender Logan Angers.
Cornell tallied a season-high 42 shots with 19 on target while the Bobcats took 53. Both teams served a pair of two-minute penalties, with Quinnipiac capitalizing on its second woman-up advantage when Jess Schryver scored on the power play at 10:30 in the third to push the Bobcats' lead to four goals. Angers made 19 saves for her second shutout of the season.
"I've got to say, we had a pretty good first period, so there's some positives to take from that— but still not the outcome we're looking for," said associate head coach Edith Racine. "We've got a young team, so we've just got to learn from it and get ready for tomorrow," Racine added.
The Big Red will look to regroup when it faces #10 Princeton tomorrow at 3:00 at Lynah Rink.