ITHACA, N.Y. - The no. 6-ranked Cornell women's ice hockey team defeated the Union Garnet Chargers 3-1 at Lynah Rink on Saturday evening. The Big Red clinched a first-round bye and home-ice for the quarterfinals of the ECAC Hockey tournament.

Grace Dwyer, Kaitlin Jockims, and Mckenna Van Gelder scored the Big Red goals in the contest. Van Gelder, Georgia Schiff (two), and Ashley Messier collected helpers. Deanna Fraser registered 13 saves on the evening.

A toughly battled first-period saw both teams standing tall on the defensive end for just over 17 minutes of action. Maya Jones of the Garnet Chargers would start off the scoring, giving Union a 1-0 lead after the first.

The second period would be more of the same, but this time it would be Cornell to bring the game even as Dwyer would find the back of the net during a mad-scramble in front of the Union goaltender.

The Big Red and the Garnet Chargers would go back-and-forth with opportunities in the first-half of the third stanza. With just under two minutes to play in regulation, Jockims skated around a couple of Union defenders and put the puck past Matsoukas for the go-ahead tally.

As the Garnet Chargers were gearing up for an extra-skater attack, Van Gelder registered the insurance marker to put the game on ice. Fraser earned her fifth win between the pipes, improving her record to 5-1-0.

Next Up
The no. 6-ranked Cornell women's ice hockey team will travel to Brown and Yale next weekend in a series that boasts Ivy title implications.