CORTLAND, NY - Three different Red Dragons scored a goal to lead the Cortland women's hockey team to a 3-1 victory over Elmira, ranked 13th nationally by USCHO and 12th by DIII Hockey News, on Tuesday afternoon in Alumni Arena. Cortland improves to 3-4-1 on the season, while Elmira drops to 6-2-1 with the defeat.
Emma McLean (Burlington, MA/SUNY Plattsburgh) and
Kira Cook (Lake Ronkonkoma/Northwood School) each netted their fifth goals of the season, tied for the team lead.
Katie Diem (Fairport/Niagara University) tallied her first goal of the year in just her second game after completing her season with the Cortland women's soccer team last week.
Eline Gillodes (La Saulce, France/Kents Hill) earned her third victory of the season in goal, making 22 saves. Six different Red Dragons tallied an assists, including
Gillian Dinsmore (Gorrie, ON/Saugeen Maitland Lightning),
Morgan Raymond (Kirkwood/Syracuse Valley Eagles 19UAA),
Hayley Hunter (Pulaski/NAHA 19UAAA), and
Sophie Hart (North Richland Hills, TX/Dallas Stars Elite 19U) each registering their first point of the season.
Anna Lugge registered the lone goal for the Soaring Eagles, with MK Boyle providing the assist. Sara Sevcikova made 19 saves in goal and allowed just two goals for Elmira.
Cortland scored on its first shot on goal of the game, as McLean redirected a shot from the left point past Sevcikova to give Cortland a 1-0 lead just 2:06 into the opening frame. Raymond was credited with the secondary assist after keeping the puck in the Cortland offensive zone earlier in the possession.
The score remained 1-0 into the first intermission, with each team only recording four shots on goal during the opening stanza.
Eight minutes into the second period, Gillodes came up with a splendid save to deny Elmira's Iliana Smith on a breakaway and preserve the Cortland lead. Shortly after,
Katie Mahoney (Toronto, ON/Toronto Leaside Junior) had a breakaway for the Red Dragons, but had her shot go just wide.
Cortland had nine shots on goal during the second period, while Elmira recorded six shots on target, with each goaltender stopping all of the attempts in the frame.
The Red Dragons made it 2-0 just 2:45 into the third period.
Ainsley Delacourt (Stoney Creek, ON/Brampton Canadettes U22AA) sent a pass down the left side from the Cortland defensive zone, and Hunter was able to outmuscle an Elmira defenseman to secure the puck. Hunter then skated towards the net and fired a shot on goal that was saved, before Diem deposited the rebound into the back of the net.
The Soaring Eagles pulled back to within a goal just before the midway point of the period. After an initial break by Elmira was stopped by the Cortland defense, the Red Dragons were unable to clear the danger. Boyle intercepted a pass and fed the puck to Lugge, who stickhandled through a Cortland player and fired a shot into the top right corner of the net to make the score 2-1 with 10:23 remaining.
Elmira pulled its goalie with just under two minutes remaining in the period in an attempt to equalize, but the Red Dragons were able to seal the victory with an empty-net goal with 1:15 left. Hart collected the puck below the Cortland goal line and passed to the right side to
Josselyn Drayson (Dallas, TX/Dallas Stars Elite). Drayson chipped a pass off the wall to Cook, who slid a shot from her own blue line into Elmira's empty goal to secure the victory.
