ITHACA, N.Y. – Senior Sophie Matsoukas stopped all 12 shots she faced in the third period and the Union College women's hockey team used three goals over the first 40 minutes to earn its first-ever victory over a top-10 team with a 3-2 win over #9 Cornell University in ECAC Hockey action on Friday afternoon at Lynah Rink.
 
The win keeps Union (5-6-0, 3-0-0 ECAC Hockey) atop the the conference standings and gives Union its first three-game winning streak in ECAC Hockey play. Union earns its first win over the Big Red since the program's first Division I season in 2004 and its first-ever win at Lynah Rink in 20 chances.
 
Matsoukas had a massive game for Union, making 25 saves on 27 shots to earn the 26th win of her career. At the other end of the ice, the visitors received goals from senior Paige Greco and first-years Karianne Engelbert and Jill Willis, with Greco and Engelbert both adding assists for two-point games.
 
Matsoukas and the Union defense came up huge in the third period, as the Garnet Chargers were outshot by a 12-1 margin and saw 30 attempts head toward the net. But Matsoukas went a perfect 12-for-12 and the players in front of her combined for nine blocked shots to help secure the victory.
 
The Garnet Chargers struck first with three minutes to go in the opening frame. A pass behind the Cornell net took an awkward bounce into the low slot, where Engelbert was able to one-time a shot into the right-side of the net for her team-leading seventh goal of the season.
 
Union doubled the lead on the first shift of the second period on Greco's first goal of the season. Engelbert tapped the puck into the corner for sophomore Maddie Leaney, and Greco reached out to redirect Leaney's pass into the slot over the shoulder of goalie Annelies Bergmann and into the net just 31 seconds into the frame.
 
Cornell (1-3-1, 0-1-0 ECAC Hockey) ended a run of sustained pressure with a Katie Chan goal to get back within one midway through the second, but the Garnet Chargers came back less than a minute later to regain the two-goal edge. Willis got credit for the game-winning goal for the second straight game when her shot made its way through traffic and trickled past Bergmann to put Union up by a 3-1 score with 8:11 remaining in the second.
 
The Big Red got some momentum back with a goal in the final minute of the second period, but Matsoukas and the Garnet Chargers held strong in the third period to keep the home team off the scoreboard. Cornell pulled Bergmann with 2:06 remaining for an extra attacker, but two saves by Matsoukas and three big blocked shots helped to preserve the win.
 
The Union penalty kill also played well, allowing only two shots on two Cornell power-play chances. The visitors finished the game with 11 blocked shots.
 
Union will look to keep the momentum going tomorrow with a 3 p.m. matchup against #6 Colgate University.