Ithaca, N.Y.- Hand-in-hand with their fraught stockpile of ice chips on shots on net in the waning minutes of their 4-1 loss at Cornell yesterday, the Friars gripped a daylong elusive element of command in the way of face-offs, winning each of the last five draws on record.
That way, they had at least wrinkled a gaping deficit in that category to 36-26. But up till that climactic point, the host Big Red was the runaway superior in of the game’s littlest specimens of readiness. They had won the first six draws on the day, two-thirds of the 21 total face-offs in the first period, and 29 out of 43 by the second intermission.
In two less active stretches, one on the heels of the initial goal at 12:14 of the first and the other immediately after they assumed a 3-1 lead in the third, Cornell swept a succession of four faceoffs between which not so much as an attempted shot was recorded at either end.
PC’s principle centerpiece, Ashley Cottrell, dropped 16 of her 24 twig-locks with a Cornell counterpart, and only Katy Beach and Jackie Duncan walked away with a supra-.500 winning percentage. Beach took eight out of 14 dot decisions, Duncan four out of five.
In the countering column of the scoresheet, Amber Overguard –who together with Kendice Ogilvie assisted on each of her team’s two first period goals- wrested 17 of her 25 attempts while Catherine White –another two-pointer with her power play conversion and empty net helper in the third- went 13-for-18.
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A pair of retroactive reversals was made to Sunday’s box score in the after hours, granting PC sophomore Jean O’Neill credit for what was initially ruled linemate Abby Gauthier’s tying goal and Alyse Ruff firsthand credit for what was previously ruled Ashley Cottrell’s go-ahead. The erroneously recorded goal-getters were still certified for assists, keeping the five individual multi-point games intact. Ruff, meantime, has now potted five deciders this season –four winners and an equalizer.
Quick Feeds: Cornell’s Amber Moore joined her three aforementioned teammates in the two-point club yesterday, assisting on both third period goals…PC’s power play went a cumulative 0-for-10 in this series, launching six vain shots Sunday and 10 yesterday. Cornell’s player-up brigade only struck once out of nine tries…Forwards Pam McDevitt and Stephanie Morris were back in the mix after sitting Sunday out. McDevitt pitched in three shots on net and won two of her four face-offs…Sophomore defender Leigh Riley was out of service yesterday, resulting in Erin Normore’s reassignment to the blue line, opposite Colleen Martin on the starting unit…Currently 5-6-1 in interleague play, Providence will take one more nonconference swing when they visit Dartmouth a week from tonight. But first, New Hampshire drops in at Schneider Arena for a 1 p.m. tangle Saturday.
Al Daniel can be reached at hockeyscribe@hotmail.com
This article originally appeared in the Friartown Free Press
