The Cornell Big Red defeated Colgate 3-2 tonight in Hamilton,
NY. Cornell played its usual strong defense and had just enough
offense to get the win. Jason Elliot had another solid outing in goal,
stopping 36 of 38 shots including 17 in the third. The Big Red played
much better hockey than they did last weekend against Army and came
away with their first win in Hamilton since January of '91. The win is
Cornell's first ECAC victory since they beat Colgate at Lynah back on
December 1st.
 
Now for my first attempt at a game recap... I'm posting an unofficial
box score to INFO-HOCKEY-L.
 
First period - It was evident early on that Cornell was going to play
a better game tonight than their last outing. The skating was a little
quicker, the passing was better and the overall offensive pressure was
better. One problem I've seen so far this season was the tendency for
players to not receive passes cleanly. Tonight, when a pass was on
target it was taken cleanly. Cornell scored the first goal of the game
at 10:28 as a result of some good passing. Tony Bergin, Jamie Papp and
Steve Wilson came up ice on teh power play. After a series of quick,
crisp passes, Bergin put it in the net from short range. The improved
offensive together with solid defense kept Colgate from having many
good scoring chances in the period.
 
Second period - Colgate seemed to step it up a little but still
couldn't get much done against the Big Red defense. Elliot left a
couple of rebounds right in front of the cage but the defense
was there to clear the puck. Cornell got their second goal at 7:06 on
a Ryan Moynihan goal. The play was on the other end of the ice from my
seat (yes I sat through the game) so I didn't see the details. After
the goal Cornell seemed to slow down a bit. The skating was a little
slower and the passing began to get a little sloppy. This went for a
few minutes before they began to step it up again - fortunately it
didn't come back to hurt them. Many of the shots Colgate managed to
get off were weak wristers from far out which Elliot handled.
 
Colgate wasted a good opportuniy to get on the scoreboard at 12:57. A
Colgate player went down behind the Cornell net and it looked like
Jeff Oates decided take a few whacks at him while he was down. Oates
was sent to the box for slashing and Colgate had their first power
play in nearly twenty minutes. On the ensuing faceoff however, the
Cornell wing (I didn't catch who it was) managed to bait Tim Loftsgard
into delivering a blatant slash. Loftsgard headed to the box and the
power play was wasted and the teams remained skating four on four. At
this point the Colgate pep band began playing "Three Blind Mice",
which drew a laugh considering how obvious the call was. (An aside -
does this count as a power play? I would guess not, but I almost want
to charge Colgate with one for blowing the chance.)
 
Third period - Cornell came out in the third period and almost
immediately started playing defensive hockey. They often held three
man back on the rush and didn't seem to be very concerned with
generating any offense. Colgate, on the other hand, came out looking
like they really intended to make a run at the game. They seemed to be
a little bit quicker than in the previous periods and more eager to
put the puck on the net. But Cornell's defense continued to hold up
well against the pressure. Elliot's save total began to rise
quickly but there weren't that many excellent scoring
opportunities. The Red Raiders finally did get a goal at 11:46 when
Mark Holdridge managed to stuff the puck in the net after a flurry in
front of the Cornell goal. It was his first collegiate point -
interesting that the first goal would come from a freshman defender
with no points rather than Mike Harder or Rob Mara.
 
With the lead cut to one, the Big Red continued to play like they were
just protecting the lead. But after a few minutes it seemed like they
started to give more of an offensive push, carrying the puck into the
offensive zone rather than dumping it at the blue line. (Or maybe it
just seemed that way - I'd just finished telling a friend that we
needed to play a good offense in order to play good defense). This
finally paid off with under two minutes to go (18:10) as Doug
Stienstra put Cornell back up by two. Stienstra skated up the left
wing on a two on one rush (I seem to remember the other player being
Knopp). He skated into the zone and with the defender playing the pass
was able to approach the net uncontested. For once a Cornell forward
didn't appear to be looking to pass - he seemed to be intent on the
net. He waited until goalie Dan Brenzavich committed low before going
top shelf for the goal.
 
Down two goals again, Coach Vaughan pulled Brenzavich with 1:23
remaining. Shortly after coincidental penalties were called and the
sides were down to five on four (including the extra skater). The next
forty seconds or so were played mostly in the Cornell zone. The
defense continued to hold against the pressure but with 0:30 seconds
left Darren Tymchyshyn was called for slashing giving Colgate a two
man advantage. Even stranger than seeing a penalty called that late in
the game was the fact that it looked like it was called by one of the
Assistamt Referees. I could be wrong but wouldn't that be something -
an AR calling a penalty late in a tight game. Anyone, the Raiders
would finally cash in on the advantage with four seconds to play. They
won a faceoff in the Cornell zone and passed it out to Tim Loftsgard
at the point who put it in the net. But it was too little too
late. Although they won the ensuing faceoff, a last second shot
from the blue line went wide.
 
As a final note - a few comments about the atmosphere at Starr Rink. I
expected more enthusiasm from a school with a pretty good hockey
program. For most of the game it seemed like the fans were sitting on
their hands. I'm pretty sure there were Colgate students there but you
wouldn't know it from listening. It's not like the game was a blowout
or anything. The student section even cleared out after Cornell scored
their third goal. I'm used to locals leaving early to beat the
traffic, but students? (Besides, what traffic?) I guess I've just been
spoiled by the rowdy folks at Lynah Rink (who haven't even been that
rowdy lately).
 
 
Keith Kannenberg
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Cornell '93 '96 '9?
 
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