March 2, 2013
Cornell women's hockey led for a grand total of one second this weekend, but still bested Colgate in two games to win the best-of-three ECAC quarterfinal series and advance. The women won 5-4 in overtime Friday night and 3-2 on Saturday afternoon.
The #2 Big Red never led on Friday night, coming from behind three times including Monika Leck's tying goal in the final minute of regulation. Brianne Jenner notched the overtime gamewinner just 39 seconds into the bonus stanza.
On Saturday, Colgate scored once in each of the first two periods, and sophomore netminder Ashlynne Rando kept the Big Red off the board until Cornell freshman Taylor Woods scored in the first minute of the third.
Cornell kept up the pressure, and Lauriane Rougeau scored with 53 seconds to go in regulation to tie the game. The Lynah Faithful anticipated another overtime game, but Brianne Jenner roofed the puck past Rando with just a second remaining in the third. The pair of last-minute goals spoiled Colgate's hopes to take the quarterfinal series to a third game on Sunday afternoon, and sends Cornell on to an ECAC semifinal next weekend.
Jenner, who was named Ivy League player of the year on Thursday, has 63 points on the year including 32 goals and 31 assists. She dedicated her season to a young Canadian girl fighting cancer, and asked fans to pledge a dollar per goal she scores to the "Markers for Madison" campaign. Money collected through the end of the season will be donated directly to an account to help with Madison's medical expenses.
It was an unusual weekend for the Big Red, who were 23-5-1 coming into the weekend, 18-3-1 in conference play, compared to Colgate's 11-19-3 record (6-13-3 in ECAC play). When the teams faced each other in a home-and-home series in the fall, Cornell outscored the Raiders 18-2.
