Women’s Hockey Falls Twice to Rival Cornell

Back+on+Home+Ice

Back on Home Ice

Colgate Women’s Ice Hockey was back on home ice this weekend, January 25 and 26, for a pair of rivalry games against the sixth-ranked Cornell University. The Raiders were 3-1-2 coming off their Christmas break into Friday’s matchup and were looking to continue their hot play into the homestretch of the season.

The number eight Raiders got off to a fast start, but Cornell was the first to strike halfway through the first period on a power play to make it 1-0. However, Colgate fought until the whistle. With two seconds left in the period, senior Shae Labbe sent the puck to the front of the net and senior Jessie Eldridge buried it to tie the game at 1-1. Sophomore Malia Schneider also picked up an assist on Eldridge’s goal. The goal made Eldrigde the program’s all time leader in scoring, tied with Sam Hunt with 141 points total to her name.

Both teams went back and forth with scoring chances in the second period, but it was Cornell who picked up the power play goal with two minutes left in the period to make the score 2-1. With three minutes into the third period, first-year Eleri MacKay tied the game up at two with assists from senior Olivia Zafuto and her twin sister Delani Mackay. Cornell wasn’t done though, and they were able to finish out the third period with two more goals to take game one on the weekend 4-2.

The Raiders were back in action on Saturday in Ithaca for a rematch against the Big Red. Cornell was the first to score in the first period to make it 1-0. The Raider’s then took to the power play late in the period to try to tie it up. However, Cornell scored a short handed goal to take a 2-0 lead.

Despite being down to start the second period, the Raider’s did not give up. Three minutes into the second period, Eldridge cut the Raider’s deficit in half with assists from Zafuto and Schneider. The goal made her the sole holder of the program record for points and pushed her over the 20-goal mark for the second season in a row.

Colgate kept the pressure going and scored with seven minutes left in the period, when Eldridge scored her second goal of the game making the score 2-2. Schneider also picked up her second assist of the game.

Once again, Cornell was able to use a strong push late in the game to pull away and take the win. They scored two goals within a minute of each other in the third period to take a 4-2 lead and hold on.

Despite the losses, the Raiders are fourth in the ECAC and remain ranked in the national polls at number 10 ECAC rivals Princeton, Clarkson and Cornell fill out the poll at the 4-6 spots.

You can catch the Raiders back on home ice on Friday, February 1, at 6:00 p.m. in Hamilton at the Class of 1965 arena when they take on the Engineers of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. They will face of again at home the next day at 3 p.m. against Union College. Last year, the Raiders swept both of their series against Rensselaer and Union totaling a goal differential of 20-4 across four games.

Contact Jack Breitowich at [email protected].