Box Score
Potsdam, NY – In a dominating performance from start to finish, the 2nd/3rd-ranked Clarkson University Women's Hockey team cruised by the 7th-ranked Quinnipiac University Bobcats 6-0 in the ECAC Hockey Women's Championship semifinals on Saturday afternoon at Cheel Arena.
The top-seeded Golden Knights improve to 28-4-5 while the fourth-seeded Bobcats drop to 22-6-9. Clarkson ties their single-season record with 28 wins, set in last year's campaign. The Knights run their unbeaten streak to 19 games (16-0-3) and will look to add to their ECAC regular season title when they host Cornell game in the ECAC Championship game tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 pm at Cheel Arena. The Championship Game will be video streamed live over ESPN3
The Knights will find out where they are seeded in the upcoming NCAA tournament tomorrow evening during the NCAA Women's Ice Hockey Selection Show at 6:00 pm.
Senior goaltender Erica Howe (Ottawa, ONT) recorded her third straight shutout in the ECAC playoffs, and has now gone 194:36 minutes without allowing a goal, dating back to the final game of the regular season against Union. Howe stopped all 12 shots she faced to pick up her 28th win of the year and 14th shutout on the season.
Audio Howe save
Clarkson dominated the opening minutes of play, controlling the puck in the Quinnipiac zone and putting the puck on net multiple times. The Bobcats were only able to clear the puck once in the first three minutes, and immediately dumped it into the Clarkson zone for a line change.
The Knights would get on the board first at the 6:08 mark when sophomore Cayley Mercer (Exeter, ONT) controlled the puck at the blue line and passed across to senior captain Carly Mercer (Exeter, ONT). After holding the puck to avoid a sliding defender, Carly Mercer fired a slap shot from the blue line that carried over the blocker of Quinnipiac goaltender Chelsea Laden and into the net to give Clarkson the 1-0 lead. Sophomore Olivia Howe (Moose Jaw, SASK) also assisted on the play.
Audio Carly Mercer goal
The Bobcats would get the first power-play opportunity of the game but the Knights killed it off thanks in part to senior Shelby Nisbet (Wiseton, SASK) tying up the puck against the boards in the Quinnipiac zone and holding off three Bobcats for over 20 seconds to kill the clock.
Howe made two impressive saves to begin the second period, as the Knights killed off the remaining 35 seconds of a power-play that carried over from the first period.
The Knights would strike again at the 3:36 mark as Top Three Patty Kazmaier Award Finalist and ECAC Player of the Year senior Jamie Lee Rattray (Kanata, ONT) fired a shot on net that was saved by Laden. Classmate Brittany Styner (Calgary, ALB) controlled the puck behind the net and found sophomore Erin Ambrose (Keswick, ONT) streaking up the middle of the ice toward the net. Styner hit Ambrose with a pass and the Kazmaier Top 10 Finalist and Best Defensive-Defensemen in the ECAC beat Laden on the blocker side with a wrist shot to double the Clarkson lead to 2-0.
Audio Ambrose goal
A holding call with under a minute to play in the second period put the Knights on the power-play and they wasted no time adding to the lead as Rattray received a pass from Styner and put a shot on net. Laden was able to stop the initial shot but could not handle the rebound and sophomore Shannon MacAulay (Mt. Herbert, PEI) poked the rebound through the five-hole to give Clarkson the 3-0 lead.
Audio MacAulay goal
The Knights put the Bobcats away at the 3:55 mark in the third period as sophomore Renata Fast (Burlington, ONT) guided the puck through the Clarkson zone and dumped it to Nisbet at the blue line. Nisbet carried the puck through the neutral zone and up the left side of the ice before beating Laden with a wrist shot from the left circle to give the Knights the 4-0 lead.
Audio Nisbet goal
Less than two minutes later the Knights would add to their lead as junior Christine Lambert (Thetford Mines, QUE) took a pass from freshman Genevieve Bannon (Candiac, QUE) and beat Laden with a wrist shot to her glove side to give Clarkson the 5-0 lead. Nisbet also assisted on the play. Laden would be replaced by backup Sydney Rossman after allowing a season-high five goals.
Audio Lambert goal
Although they were up against a different goaltender, it was the same result for the Knights as a hooking penalty put Clarkson on the power-play midway through the third period. Ambrose attempted a shot that went wide of the net but Styner was in position behind the net to maintain possession. MacAulay cut toward the net and Styner hit her in stride with a pass that MacAulay finished for her second goal of the game to put the Knights up 6-0. The assist was Styner's third of the game.
The Knights outshot the Bobcats 26-12 on the afternoon while holding a 28-20 advantage in the faceoff circle. Clarkson was 2-3 on the power-play while Quinnipiac was scoreless in three chances.
Big Red Win High-Scoring Affair to Advance to Championship Game
Potsdam, NY – Four unanswered goals powered the 5th-ranked Cornell University Big Red by the 6th-ranked Harvard University Crimson 6-4 on Saturday afternoon at Cheel Arena.
The third-seeded Big Red improve to 23-5-4 while the second-seeded Crimson drop to 23-6-4. Cornell moves on to play top-seeded Clarkson University in the ECAC Hockey Women's Championship game tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 pm at Cheel Arena.
Senior Gina McDonald got the Crimson on the board early in the first period as she batted home a rebound that trickled through the crease. Junior Hillary Crowe took the initial shot that was saved by Cornell goaltender Lauren Slebodnick, but the Big Red defense could not get the puck out of the crease. Junior Samantha Reber also assisted on the play.
Reber had a breakaway attempt with just under nine minutes to play in the first period, but Slebodnick made a glove save to keep the Harvard lead at 1-0.
Following a pair of penalties within 13 seconds of each other, the Big Red has 1:47 of five-on-three play. Cornell capitalized with 11 seconds remaining on the first penalty when Alyssa Gagliardi passed from Harvard goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer's right to left in front of the net and junior Emily Fulton finished on the back door to tie the game at 1-1.
Cornell took the lead 36 seconds into the second period when senior Jessica Campbell received a pass from junior Jillian Saulnier and brought the puck up the right side of the ice into the Harvard zone. As her teammates crashed toward the net, Campbell fired a wrist shot over the blocker of Maschmeyer to give the Big Red their first lead of the game at 2-1.
Harvard had many chances to tie the game early in the period, but Slebodnick came up with a big blocker save on one attempt and got some help from the crossbar to keep the Crimson off the board. A holding penalty put Harvard on the power-play but the Cornell defense killed the attempt.
The Crimson would not be denied for long as they tied the game at the 8:15 mark in the period. Freshman Sydney Daniels led the charge into the Cornell zone and found sophomore Miye D'Oench, who finished with a wrist shot that beat a diving Slebodnick to know the game at two goals a side.
Harvard would take the lead at 13:13 when freshman Briana Mastel passed to sophomore Jessica Harvey in the neutral zone. Harvey guided the puck into the Cornell zone against two Big Red defenders and threw a shot on net that beat Slebodnick over her right shoulder to regain the lead for the Crimson at 3-2. D'Oench also assisted on the play.
D'Oench would add to the Crimson lead as Harvard went on the power-play late in the period. Junior Sarah Edney controlled the puck at the goal line and passed to junior Marissa Gedman at the blue line. Gedman passed across the blue line to D'Oench, whose one-timer found the corner of the net to double the Harvard lead to 4-2.
Cornell answered immediately as Saulnier received a pass from sophomore Taylor Woods and beat Maschmeyer with a wrist shot to cut the deficit in half at 4-3. Sophomore Cassandra Poudrier was credited with the second assist.
The Big Red would tie the game just over two minutes into the third period. Maschmeyer made a diving save to deflect a shot by Gagliardi away from the net, but lost her stick in the process. Campbell controlled the puck behind the net and found Saulnier at the right circle. Saulnier beat a diving Maschmeyer with a wrist shot to tie that game at 4-4.
Cornell would regain the lead at 12:44 in the third period on a power-play goal from sophomore Jess Brown. Senior Hayleigh Cudmore took a slap shot from the blue line and Brown redirected it from in front of the net to beat Maschmeyer for Cornell's third straight goal to take the 5-4 lead. Poudrier also tallied an assist on the play.
Harvard had multiple opportunities after going on a power-play with less than four minutes remaining, but the Cornell defense stood strong and killed off the penalty. Harvard would then take a body-checking penalty with just over one minute remaining. Harvard pulled Maschmeyer to make it a five-on-five situation, but Fulton gained position in the neutral zone and flipped the puck into the empty net to give the Big Red the two-goal lead.
