POTSDAM, N.Y. – Graduate student Lindsay Browning made 44 saves and sophomore forward Lily Delianedis scored twice to lead the Cornell women's hockey team to a 3-2 victory over Clarkson in its regular-season finale on Saturday at Cheel Arena.
 
By sweeping the road games against the North Country teams for the first time since Dec. 5-6, 2014, Cornell (14-12-2, 12-8-2 ECAC Hockey) moves up to sixth in the final league standings. That will align the Big Red with third-seeded Colgate for a best-of-three ECAC Hockey Championships quarterfinal series next weekend at Class of 1965 Arena in Hamilton.
 
Cornell seized control on Saturday's game midway through the opening period with a pair of goals just 62 seconds apart. Junior forward Gillis Frechette picked off a pass on the forecheck and threatened from the left circle. Her feed into the middle was slammed by sophomore forward Kaitlin Jockims between the legs of Clarkson goaltender Michelle Pasiechnyk. The goal was Jockims' eighth of the season and gives her five-game scoring streak.
 
With Frechette also drawing a slashing penalty on the play, Cornell immediately went on a power play after the strike. That paid dividends when junior forward Izzy Daniel sent a puck from the right point toward the slot that was redirected in by Delianedis.
 
While the goals gave the appearance of a period that saw the ice tilted in the direction of the Clarkson goal, the reality was quite the opposite. Graduate student Lindsay Browning had to be at her best with 19 saves over the opening 20 minutes before the Big Red eased some of the pressure early in the second period. But while the Golden Knights didn't score on their power play halfway through the stanza, it did help them gain back the momentum.
 
Another power play in the final minutes of the period finally provided the platform for Clarkson's goal, scored by Nicole Gosling's backhanded sweep-in of a rebound just 37 seconds before the intermission.
 
But that's as close as the hosts would get. Cornell rode out the storm until Delianedis' second goal of the day splashed an empty net with 10 seconds remaining. It was her team-leading 14th goal of the season.
 
The quarterfinal series will take place Friday to Sunday with game times expected to be finalized in the coming days.