When the puck fell to defender Shelby Calof at the top of the circle, Syracuse forward Victoria Klimek was fighting for positioning in front of the net. As Calof unleashed a wrist shot, Klimek stood directly between the shot and net – tipping the puck downward. The puck bounced along the ice as Cornell goalie Lindsay Browning, sprawling in the crease, could only watch it trickle past the goal line. 

“My first instinct is to get to the front of the net,” Klimek said to a reporter after the first period. “I’m glad [Shelby] shot it.”

Klimek’s goal tied the game at one and represented the fourth consecutive game she tallied a point, as well as only the fourth goal allowed by Cornell’s starting goalie. But it was all the Orange would get.

Syracuse (3-11-1, 2-1-1 College Hockey America) went on to fall 4-1 to No. 3 Cornell (8-0-1, 5-0-1 Eastern College Athletic), who have now beaten the Orange in 13 of their last 14 meetings. The Orange came out of the first period with a 1-1 tie game, but as the game wore on, the Big Red showed why they are the only undefeated team in the nation.

With 7:37 remaining in the first period, Cornell’s Amy Curlew fought off Syracuse defender Jessica DiGirolamo at the blue line and came in on goal alone. Deking from backhand to forehand, Curlew, who averaged 1.25 points per game coming into the night, was met only by Ady Cohen’s outstretched pad.

After missing three weeks with injury, this was Cohen’s first start since Nov. 2, when she and the Orange shutout RIT 3-0. Cohen joined Syracuse at practice last Tuesday but did not get either of the starts against Penn State last weekend. 

Just 3:36 into the second period, Cornell came in on a three-on-one, but after one too many passes was unable to get a shot off. The Big Red collected the puck and began firing on Cohen, but, one at a time, the Orange goalie turned the pucks away.

With under two minutes left in the second period, Cornell’s top line finally broke through. Kristin O’Neill took a pass from Curlew just below the Syracuse circle. O’Neill took one step in and fired a wrist shot far side and high on Cohen to extend Cornell’s lead.

Cornell added another early in the third to put itself up by three. As the period ticked away, and the Orange had yet to get one back, SU head coach Paul Flanagan decided to the pull his goalie.

As Cohen skated to the bench for the extra attacker, the team in front of her turned over the puck. With Cohen still not fully off the ice, the Big Red crossed the blue line with only one defender – and no goalie – to beat, quickly depositing the puck into the open net to stretch their lead to 4-1. 

Published on November 26, 2019 at 10:04 pm

Contact Mitchell: mbannon@syr.edu