LYNAH RINK -- This might have been Harvard Women’s Hockey’s most memorable game of the season… for all the wrong reasons.
The 9th-ranked Crimson had absolutely zero answers on offense or defense for 4th-ranked Cornell Women’s Hockey, as the Big Red destroyed Harvard at home on Saturday, 7-0, in front of a raucous Lynah crowd.
Both teams took plenty of shots early on, but neither team could get one to fall until senior Grace Graham tapped one in with 1:19 left in the first period.
From there, the Big Red never looked back, as sophomore Gillis Frechette scored less than a minute into the second period, and was followed a minute later by a laser from senior Jaime Bourbonnais.
“I think honestly all four of our lines can be huge threats offensively,” Graham said of her teammates’ offensive efforts. “I think we can put anyone out there and get results.”
The second period scoring barrage didn’t stop there, as Frechette, continuing her incredible performance this weekend, tacked on her second goal of the game. Having assisted on Bourbonnais’ goal, the goal was her 5th point of the weekend. Minutes after Frechette’s goal, freshman Izzy Daniel followed with another goal to cap off their second period dominance.
After Harvard brought in their backup goalie, Daniel scored her second goal of the game about six minutes into the third period to notch her 9th point of the year. Bourbonnais after the game touted the efforts of the younger players on the team, saying “They’re gonna step up and be amazing players for us in the future, and obviously they’ve been huge for us this year.”
Graham finished out the scoring with her second of the game as well a few minutes before the game ended. Nearly lost in all the scoring was junior goalie Lindsay Browning continuing her phenomenal performance this season, getting her 6th shutout of the year on 15 saves. With the Big Red jumping out to so many early leads this year and dominating possession time, Browning said that “it settles my nerves... because I know that if something does end up going wrong, I know we can definitely come back from it.”
Coach Doug Derraugh had high praise for his team, saying “I would have to say that was the most complete game I’ve seen us play all year long.” He noted the significance of the game as well, stating that “It’s great because we knew it was a big game for us today, so [it was] really nice to see the team respond the way they did and play the way they did.”
Cornell takes on Colgate at home next weekend on Friday at 3:00pm, and then will travel to Colgate on Saturday to play there at 3:00pm.
In other CUWIH news, junior Finley Frechette recently started a podcast called Over the Goal Line: A CUWIH Podcast. Check out the most recent episode here, a feature with freshman Izzy Daniel.