Knights Championship Comeback Falls Short in Overtime

Photo by James Meagher

Ithaca, NY - Despite a furious comeback that saw three scores in less than 19 minutes of action, the Clarkson University Women's Hockey team finally succumbed to Cornell University, 4-3, in overtime in the ECAC Hockey Championship game at Lynah Rink.

The Golden Knights fell to 23-11-5 with the defeat, and will await an at-large selection by the NCAA committee on Sunday night. Cornell, 19-8-6, gained the ECAC Hockey automatic bid and is simply waiting for seeding and placement in the eight-team NCAA Tournament.

For the first few minutes of the contest, neither team did much offensively other than control the puck, with few chances getting past the opposing defense, proven by a combined 14 blocked shots between the two teams. However, Clarkson had several chances to score the first goal when the team was awarded a power-play chance following a cross checking penalty on Cornell's Melanie Jue. Clarkson controlled the puck close to the Cornell goal for nearly the entire two minutes, with several close calls. Juana Baribeau (Amos, QUE) had a shot blocked just wide 45 seconds in, Dominique Thibault (L'Orignal, ONT) saw her attempt on goal sail just wide, and Danielle Boudreau's (Whitby, ONT) shot was blocked just high with 20 seconds remaining in the power play.

The Knights had another chance late in the period when Kali Gillanders (Kyle, SASK) blocked a shot at the top of the left circle and then skated in on a 2-on-1 where her shot was kicked away by a Cornell defender.

Cornell struggled to make moves just inside the blue line against the Golden Knights, as Clarkson's defenders were savvy to the Big Red's dekes, taking possession away from Cornell with smart stick play. It wasn't until late in the period that one of the fakes did work, as sophomore Catherine White, who had been serving more as a playmaker in the first period, appeared to take the puck to her left but quickly changed course and found herself in open ice against Clarkson goaltender Lauren Dahm (Baldwinsville, NY). White skated in with plenty of space and flipped the puck backhand over the glove side of Dahm with just 34 seconds remaining in the period to give Cornell a 1-0 lead.

The Knights finished with a 6-5 edge in shots on goal in the first period, and a 18-17 lead in total shots attempted.

In the second period, Clarkson's best chances early in the frame came on deflected shots, as Cornell continued to stay in front of the puck, but numerous times those ricochets nearly ended up on the stick of Clarkson players. Those missed chances cost the Knights, and Cornell took advantage with a pair of goals midway through the period. The Big Red skated in for a shot on the Clarkson goal and Dahm made the initial stop, but the momentum of the Cornell shooter knocked a Clarkson defender into Dahm, essentially taking both out of the play as the two careened into the goal. From there it was simply a matter of Cornell gathering the puck behind the net. Freshman Laura Fortino picked up the loose puck, skated around, and knocked it in just as Dahm was trying to return herself into position. It was her 11th goal of the season, coming at 8:11.

Two minutes later, Clarkson almost got on to the scoreboard when Thibault forced a turnover behind the Cornell net. The senior found linemate Juana Baribeau out in front, but the attempted one-timer was mishit and sailed wide of the open net.

That, too, was come back to haunt Clarkson as the Big Red picked up a third goal at 12:38. Counterattacking off a failed 2-on-1 by the Knights, Cornell winger Chelsea Karpenko wristed a shot from the middle of the right circle over Dahm's stick side, giving the home team a 3-0 lead.

The Golden Knights' bench called a timeout following the third goal by Cornell, and the final seven minutes provided a glimpse of a different Clarkson team. Skating furiously and putting continual pressure on Cornell's defense, the Knights came away with a goal late in the period. Danielle Boudreau out maneuvered a pair of Cornell defenders from the slot to the right circle and put a shot on goal that was initially stopped by the Big Red goaltender, Amanda Mazzotta, but the rebound finally ended up on a Clarkson stick, as Melissa Waldie (Newmarket, ONT) tipped in the puck at 17:20.

A look at the second period shot chart would have spectators scratching their heads in wonderment, as Clarkson produced 32 shot attempts to Cornell's 15 (including a 18-7 edge in shots on goal), but Mazzotta kicked aside 17 of the 18 attempts on goal.

The final period didn't see a ton of action until midway through the frame. A penalty on the Big Red provided Clarkson with a chance as a tripping call gave the Knights an extra skater. It didn't take long for Clarkson to deliver, as both Thibault and Britney Selina (Thornhill, ONT) each hit the post early in the power play before Waldie converted at 8:48 for her second goal of the game and 18th of the season. Thibault assisted for her 40th point of the year.

Clarkson scored the game-tying goal eight minutes later as Cornell made a few mistakes on its penalty kill. The Knights fired away at the Cornell net, and when a Big Red defender made an outstanding play to finally get the puck out of the zone, they failed to make a line change while Clarkson was able to do so. Selina stayed on the puck just outside the blue line, keeping Cornell's defenders at bay, while the Knights got a fresh line on to the ice. Shortly thereafter, Selina took a shot on goal that was saved, but the puck came right back out to the slot where Boudreau converted glove-side at 16:04.

Clarkson completed regulation with a 35-17 edge in shots on goal (with 40 more attempts going wide or blocked) and a 34-25 lead on draws.

In overtime, both teams had their chances, but it was a slight misplay behind the net that gave Cornell its chance. The Knights were unable to clear the puck behind the net, and Liz Zorn was able to corral the loose puck, and the left wing sent it out to center Kendice Oglive in front, who flicked the puck into the net for the game-winner.

Going into Sunday's contest, Cornell had killed off all but five of the 110 power play chances by its opposition, but the Knights scored twice on the power play to get back into the contest.