ITHACA, N.Y. – The Yale women's ice hockey team nearly executed a remarkable comeback Friday night at Lynah Rink, rallying from two deficits -- including one that was three goals -- to tie Cornell twice. But after Yale's second comeback knotted the game 4-4 with five minutes left in regulation, the Big Red scored twice in the final 4:13 to come away with a 6-4 win. Forward Jess Brown had a hat trick for Cornell. Senior forward Hanna Åström, senior forward Jamie Haddad, sophomore forward Emily Monaghan and sophomore forward Eden Murray scored Yale's goals.

En route to outshooting Cornell 21-19 for the game, Yale (5-12-1, 4-6-1 ECAC Hockey) pressured Cornell (8-8-2, 4-5-2 ECAC Hockey) into several early turnovers in the Big Red zone. That included one 6:30 into the game that gave the puck right to senior forward Janelle Ferrara in the slot. But Cornell goalie Marlene Boissonnault reacted quickly enough to deny Ferrara's backhander and keep the game scoreless. A minute later the Bulldogs had another golden chance, but sophomore forward Courtney Pensavalle's shot hit the crossbar and bounced out. A review moments later confirmed the no-goal call.

Boissonnault then made one of her best saves of the night to kick away a shot by Murray on a breakaway. That play loomed even larger moments later, when Cornell got the first power play of the game -- and converted to take the lead. Defenseman Micah Hart sent the puck towards the net from between the circles, and Brown was positioned perfectly at the left post to deflect it in at 10:18.

Less than a minute later the Big Red extended the lead, as forward Pippy Gerace left a pass for her linemate Brianna Veerman and Veerman wristed it past junior goalie Hanna Mandl's glove, top shelf, at 11:05.

After the Big Red scored again, this time as Gerace deflected in a crossing pass from forward Christian Higham at 14:30, the Bulldogs brought freshman Kyra O'Brien in to play goal in relief of Mandl.

Yale had one last chance to get on the scoreboard before the period ended, as Ferrara was awarded a penalty shot after she was slashed on a breakaway. The Big Red brought in senior goalie Paula Voorheis just for that shot, and while Ferrara was able to get around Voorheis with a deke her shot went wide. The Big Red held a 3-0 lead heading into the first intermission.

Yale technically came up empty on a power play midway through the second, but that sequence enabled the Bulldogs to control the puck in Cornell's zone and score just after the penalty expired. After getting the puck from Ferrara, junior forward Krista Yip-Chuck sent it in front, where Haddad was able to jam it home at 9:31.

The Bulldog comeback continued just over a minute later. Sophomore defenseman Mallory Souliotis, Yale's leading scorer entering the game, got the puck from the neutral zone to Åström at the Cornell blue line. Åström dropped a pass back to Monaghan, who teed off from in between the circles and sent the puck past the glove of a surprised Boissonnault. That pulled Yale within 3-2 at 10:58 of the second.

Buoyed by a successful penalty kill that included a great sprawling save by O'Brien, Yale kept momentum squarely on its side by scoring just before the second intermission. After a Cornell shot was blocked, freshman forward Jordan Chancellor gathered the puck in and sent a pass ahead to Murray at center ice. Her teammate Staenz was the only player near her, and Murray raced in on a breakaway before flipping the puck past Boissonnault to tie the game 3-3 with 7.9 seconds left on the clock.

Cornell made a goalie change of its own, bringing in Voorheis to start the third.

O'Brien caught a tough break when she appeared to make the initial stop on a shot by Higham midway through the third, but the puck came loose as Gerace was crashing the net and Gerace was able to poke it in to give Cornell the lead back, 4-3 at 8:39.

A great play by Monaghan set up Yale's next game-tying goal, as she reached high to deny a Cornell clearing attempt at the blue line and got the puck over to Åström. Åström was all alone high in the slot, and she turned and fired one past Voorheis to make it 4-4 at 14:55.

Yale's celebration was short-lived however, as a penalty on the Bulldogs gave the Big Red the chance they needed to take the lead for good. Defenseman Erin O'Connor set up Brown for a shot that O'Brien was able to stop, but Brown kept going towards the net and was able to poke in the rebound for a 5-4 lead at 15:47.

Brown then completed her hat trick with 49.6 seconds on the clock to make the final 6-4.

Yale plays at Colgate Saturday at 4:00 p.m.

Report by Sam Rubin '95 (sam.rubin@yale.edu), Yale Sports Publicity