ITHACA, N.Y. – Shelby Perry (Elginburg, Ontario) nearly scored the game-tying goal in the final seconds of play at Lynah Rink Saturday night as the No. 3/3 Colgate women's ice hockey team narrowly fell to the No. 7/7 Cornell Big Red, 2-1, to kick off this weekend's home-and-home series between the Central New York rivals.
 
The Raiders had several chances over the final three minutes of play in the third period but could not find the back of the net due to Cornell's Marlene Boissonnault finishing off her 34-save performance as the Raiders outshot the Big Red, 35-16, in a matchup of first-place teams on Friday night.
 
Olivia Zafuto (Niagara Falls, New York) tied the game for the Raiders with 7:13 to go in the first period, netting her goal just 1:15 after the Big Red had taken a 1-0 lead on Madlynne Mills' ninth goal of the season
 
Zafuto carried the puck into the offensive zone off a pass from Kaila Pinkney (Denfield, Ontario) and took on a Cornell defender. Zafuto chipped a backhander around the defender and surprised Boissonnault for the Raiders goal.
 
Neither team managed to find the back of the net in the second period despite the Raiders holding a 24-9 advantage in shots through the first two periods of play.
 
After assisting Cornell's first goal of the game, Jaime Bourbonnais netted the game-winning goal for the Big Red with 15:28 left in the second period. The Big Red held onto that late lead as they blocked four Colgate shots and Boissonnault recorded a pair of saves over the final 2:38 of game time.
 
BOTTOM LINE
No. 7/7 Cornell 2, No. 3/3 Colgate 1
 
WIN/LOSS RECORDS
The Big Red extend their unbeaten streak to six games with Friday night's win to improve to 8-3-1 (6-1-0 ECAC Hockey) while the Raiders fall to 14-3-0 (5-2-0 ECAC Hockey).
 
KEY RAIDER INFO
-Zafuto tallied her second goal of the season and 10^th point with the Raiders lone tally
-Zafuto is the Raiders 10^th different player with 10 points this season
-Pinkney tallied her eighth assist of the season and ninth point overall, adding to her career-highs in each category
-Julia Vandyk (Cambridge, Ontario) tallied 14 saves in goal for the Raiders on 16 shots

FACTS AND FIGURES
-The Raiders dominated the shots battle 35-16, including a 15-4 edge in the first period
-Neither team was successful on the power-play as Colgate went 0 for 3 and Cornell went 0 for 2
-The Raiders fell in the faceoff battle, 28-22, despite a game-high nine faceoff wins from both Breanne Wilson-Bennett (Markham, Ontario) and Shae Labbe (Calgary, Alberta)
 
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Greg Fargo
"It was a great hockey game tonight by both teams. Very entertaining for everyone watching. It was fast and physical, very much an up-and-down kind of game and both teams played really hard tonight.
 
"It's unfortunate we ended up on the wrong side of the scoreboard tonight. We did a lot of good things all night but certainly are unsatisfied and looking forward to playing tomorrow."

UP NEXT
The No. 3/3 Raiders and No. 7/7 Big Red continue their series on Saturday afternoon as they return to Hamilton with puck drop slated for 3 p.m. at Class of 1965 Arena.