Cornell Claims Back-to-Back League Titles with Win Over Dartmouth
ITHACA, N.Y. -- For the second year in a row, the Cornell
women's hockey team claimed the ECAC Hockey tournament title,
beating Dartmouth by a 3-0 score on Saturday afternoon at Lynah
Rink in front of a program-record 2,711 fans. Chelsea Karpenko
potted a pair of goals to help push the Big Red to its second
consecutive crown and earn tournament Most Outstanding Player
honors.
Hayley Hughes had a huge night, picking up a goal and two assists,
while Amanda Young, Laura Fortino, Catherine White and Alyssa
Gagliardi each had one assist. Amanda Mazzotta picked up her fifth
shutout of the year by making 14 saves in goal, while the Big Red
finished the night 1-for-5 on the power play.
For Dartmouth (22-11-0), Lindsay Holdcroft took the loss, making
25 saves. The Big Green went scoreless in six power-play
chances.
Cornell (30-2-1) took a 1-0 lead in the first period when Karpenko
scored the first of her two goals on the night. Young began the
play in the neutral zone with a pass up to Hughes on the wing, and
Hughes sent a pass through traffic to Karpenko on the weak side
post, and the junior shoveled the puck over the leg of Holdcroft
with 6:42 gone in the first period.
In the second, Karpenko scored her second of the night, taking a
pass on the weak-side post from Fortino, ripping a one-timer into
the net from the goal line extended, staking Cornell to a 2-0 lead
with 7:18 gone in the period. The Big Red took that lead into the
third, when Hughes scored with 6:54 gone in the period, taking a
pass from White from behind the goal and chipping the puck
underneath Holdcroft from the edge of the crease.
Cornell will now take its 30 wins into the NCAA tournament,
earning the league's automatic berth for the second straight
season. The field of eight will be announced on Sunday at 6:30 p.m.
with a selection show streamed live on the internet at
NCAA.com.












