Box Score

TROY, N.Y. – Cornell University scored a goal in each period and held off a late Engineers surge for a 3-1 victory over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in ECAC Hockey action. With the victory, the 10th-ranked Big Red improves to 4-2-0 on the season and remains perfect in conference play at 4-0-0. RPI is now 3-6-3 overall with a 1-2-1 ECAC Hockey mark.

Cornell, which held a dominate 14-1 edge in shots through the first 20 minutes, opened the scoring on a tally by freshman defenseman Laura Fortino (Hamilton, ON/Stoney Creek Jr. Sabres) on the power play at 15:09. Sophomore winger Chelsea Karpenko (Winnipeg, MB/Notre Dame) sent a shot through the slot from low in the far circle to Fortino, who beat RPI goalie Sonja van der Bliek (Toronto, ON/Toronto Jr. Aeros) glove-side.

The second period saw the Big Red once again come out strong, peppering van der Bliek with another 11 shots to the Engineers' six in the stanza. Both teams had their chances in the frame but it wasn't until the closing minute that the lamp was once again lit.

Junior Hayley Hughes (Stouffville, ON/Toronto Jr. Aeros) pushed the visitors out to a 2-0 advantage with just 19 seconds left in the period. Karpenko found the puck off a shot by sophomore Kendice Ogilvie (Delburne, AB/Red Deer Chiefs) and shot it at the RPI net. Loose in traffic, the puck slid out to Hughes, who banged it into the open right side.

The Engineers battled back with just four seconds left to cut the deficit to one (2-1) on senior Laura Gersten's (Queensbury, NY/Troy-Albany Ice Cats) second tally of the year. Junior Sydney O'Keefe (Prior Lake, MN/Prior Lake) chased down a wide shot behind the net, sending it back up into play. The puck deflected off the foot of a Cornell defender to Gersten, who fired a shot over the glove of Amanda Mazzotta (London, ON/London Devilettes).

In the final period, sophomore Catherine White (Brampton, ON/Missassauga Chiefs) gave Cornell a 3-1 advantage after she connected on a cross-ice pass from freshman Lauriane Rougeau (Beaconsfield, PQ/Dawson College) at 12:21.

Rensselaer, which outshot the Big Red by a 12-4 margin, had a number of opportunities, including a breakaway attempt by senior Allysen Weidner (Wichita, KS/Shattuck St. Mary's) at the 7:41 mark. The Engineers pulled van der Bliek in favor of the extra-attacker with just over a minute remaining, but still could not solve Mazzotta, who finished with 18 stops.

van der Bliek made 26 saves in the loss for RPI, including 23 through the first 40 minutes.

The Engineers continue their four-game homestand next weekend, welcoming Yale and Brown on Friday (7pm) and Saturday (4pm), respectively. Cornell is also in action on Friday and Saturday, hosting Clarkson and St. Lawrence.