With more than a month since its last game and with nearly one-third of its roster missing, a rusty start would not have been completely out of the question for the Cornell women's ice hockey team.
Don't tell that to Kendice Ogilvie or the rest of the Big Red.
With just 52 seconds elapsed in Friday's road contest at Union, Ogilvie notched her first goal of the year off a pass from Erin Barley-Maloney, and the Big Red earned a 9-1 victory.
Cornell – playing its first game since Dec. 3 – earned its 11th victory of the year and the 100th in coach Doug Derraugh's career.
Derraugh becomes just the second coach in program history to win 100 games and is now 35 wins shy of Bill Duthie's all-time mark of 135 wins with the Big Red. It took Duthie a full eight seasons to reach the 100-win plateau, while Derraugh has accomplished the feat midway through his seventh year at Cornell.
The Big Red's nine goals was its most since Nov. 1 against Syracuse and its most ever against the Dutchwomen. All that despite six Cornell players – Catherine White, Chelsea Karpenko, Amanda Mazzotta, Hayleigh Cudmore, Jessica Campbell and Jillian Saulnier – missing the game as they travel with Canada's under-22 team for the Meco Cup in Germany.
The Big Red (11-2, 7-1 ECAC Hockey) extended its winning streak against Union (3-16-2, 1-8-1) to 15 and is now on a four-game conference winning run.
Ogilvie's goal – her first since the NCAA quarterfinals last season against Dartmouth – opened the gates for Cornell, and Monika Leck added to the lead nine minutes later. Leck, getting the puck after a nice forecheck by Ogilvie, skated around the net and attempted a wraparound shot. The puck squirted underneath the pads of Union goalie Shenae Lundberg and gave the Big Red a 2-0 advantage. Leck's goal was her first since Nov. 1 against Syracuse and fourth of the year.
With just 16 seconds remaining in the first period, Alyssa Gagliardi took a tripping penalty. The Dutchwomen capitalized, potting a goal from a scramble in front with 2.7 seconds remaining to make it a 2-1 advantage for Cornell heading into the first intermission.
The second period was better for the Big Red, who didn't allow a goal and scored three of its own. The first came off the stick of Emily Fulton, who got her own rebound and trickled the puck past Lundberg.
Next was a Cornell first for Erin Barley-Maloney, a senior who transferred from Vermont last season but did not play her first game for the Big Red until this year. Her last goal with Vermont came on Nov. 28, 2009 against Dartmouth.
Though she went more than two years between goals, Barley-Maloney took less than two periods for her next one, as she scored on the power play in the third period to give Cornell an 8-1 lead. Barley-Maloney ended the game with four points on two goals and two assists.
Assisting on Barley-Maloney's first goal was Rebecca Johnston, a fifth-year senior who notched her 75th career assist and 150th career point on the play. The goal caused a goalie change, as Union's Alana Marcinko replaced Lundberg.
Defenseman Laura Fortino added the third goal of the second period on a nice give-and-go down low with Brianne Jenner. Fortino, skating down the right side of the rink, passed to Jenner in the corner behind the end line. Jenner gave the puck right back, and Fortino fired a laser past Marcinko to make it 5-1.
Xandra Hompe extended the lead to 6-1, scoring her first goal of the season in the third period. She last scored on Jan. 8, 2011 against Brown. Hompe, who also plays for the Big Red soccer team, tallied two goals on the soccer pitch this year.
Leck added her second goal of the game just over a minute later, and after Barley-Maloney's second goal, Lauriane Rougeau capped the Cornell scoring.
In net for Cornell was sophomore Lauren Slebodnick, who maintained her perfect winning percentage by making 15 saves and moved to 5-0 on the season. Freshman goalie Katelyn Pippy also saw her first career action with the Big Red, playing the final 10:39 of the contest and making three saves, including an excellent one on a two-on-one.
Cornell stays on the road for a game Saturday afternoon at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at 3 p.m. in Troy. Cornell has beaten RPI seven consecutive times.
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