Wayne State Rides Power Play to Win Over Cornell
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell women's ice hockey team dropped a 4-1 contest to Wayne State on Friday night at Lynah Rink. The Warriors scored three times on the power play to send the Big Red to its first defeat of the season, while improving to 3-2 on the year themselves.
Cornell, which entered the game killing off all 12 opponents' power play opportunities, struggled to the tune of killing off just four of seven opportunities on Friday night against the Raiders. At the same time, the Big Red struggled with the man advantage, going 0-for-3 on Friday night.
Cornell got on the board first, as Liz Zorn took a long pass from Brittany Forgues, slipped past a Wayne State defender, and flipped a backhand shot over the stick side of Warrior goaltender Valery Turcotte just 7:55 into the contest. The Warriors tied the score late in the first period as Lindsay DiPietro scored on the power play after Cornell goaltender Jenny Niesluchowski was called for tripping. DiPietro tipped home a shot from the blue line from Sam Poyton.
In the second period, the Warriors peppered the Cornell goal with 19 shots, as Niesluchowski made 18 stops. The only shot to beat the sophomore netminder was a shot by Poyton that was stuffed into the left post 7:19 into the second.
In spite of the difference in shots, the Big Red kept hanging around until Melissa Boal scored on a rebound that Niesluchowski couldn't kick into the corners. Niesluchowski made the initial stop off a shot by Poyton, but the puck came right onto the stick of Boal, who flipped the puck into the open goal.
Boal added an insurance tally with 10:44 gone in the third period, again with DiPietro collecting an assist. The top line of Poyton, DiPietro and Boal accounted for 10 points, including all four Wayne State goals.
Niesluchowski finished the game with 36 saves on 40 shots, while Turcotte made 17 saves on 18 Cornell shots.
The two teams meet again on Saturday afternoon in a 2 p.m. matchup at Cornell's Lynah Rink.
