The No. 12 Cornell women’s hockey team saw a tight game slip away in the third period, falling 5-1 to No. 4 Penn State on Tuesday night at Lynah Rink. The loss dropped the Big Red to 12-8-2, while the Nittany Lions improved to 22-4-0.
Shannon Pearson scored the lone goal for Cornell, tallying an unassisted marker early in the second period. Goaltender Annelies Bergmann finished with 25 saves, but Cornell suffered its largest home defeat since 2022.
Penn State opened the scoring midway through the first period when Tessa Janecke forced a turnover and converted to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. Pearson answered just 1:27 into the second period to pull Cornell even, injecting energy into the building. The Nittany Lions regained the lead later in the period when Outwater scored at 12:08, sending Penn State into the second intermission up 2-1 despite Cornell holding a 20-13 advantage in shots through two periods.
The game turned decisively in the third. Penn State struck three times to break it open, starting with Stonehouse extending the lead to 3-1. Morrow added an insurance goal midway through the period, and Christian sealed the result with an empty-net goal in the closing minutes, completing the season sweep for the Nittany Lions. Katie DeSa earned the win in goal for Penn State with 25 saves.
Cornell returns to action this weekend with an ECAC Hockey road series. The Big Red visit Princeton on Friday, January 23, with puck drop set for 6 p.m., before facing Quinnipiac on Saturday, January 24, at 3 p.m.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].