Tuesday night, Cornell defeated Colgate 3-2 for their first win at Starr Rink
since January of 1991, a game in which ironically the score was also 3-2.  With
the win, Cornell scores a season sweep over their travel partner for the first
time in a dozen years.
 
Just a few details to add to the fine recap by Keith Kannenberg:
 
>Jason Elliot had another solid outing in goal,
>stopping 36 of 38 shots including 17 in the third.
 
Elliott was spectacular and was named the game's first star, a well-deserved
award.  My notes on shots on goal and saves match what Keith posted earlier in
his box score, but the box score run in this morning's Ithaca Journal credit
Elliott with stopping 40 of 42 shots, and Colgate goalie Dan Brenzavich with 28
saves instead of 26.  Whatever, it was an outstanding performance by Elliott,
and Brenzavich was no slouch either.
 
Also, Colgate standout senior wing Dave Debusschere missed this game with a knee
injury.  Debusschere's cousin Matt Cooney plays for the Big Red.
 
>Second period
>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.
 
Like Cornell's first one, this was set up by some good passing.  Jason Dailey
skated out of the Cornell end and crossed the Colgate blue line, heading for the
left circle.  The Red Raider defense started moving over to see what he was up
to, and once again they left a Cornellian wide open in the slot.  This time it
was Moynihan, who merely had to redirect Dailey's beautiful centering pass into
the net.
 
>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)
 
Jamie Papp.
 
>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.)
 
Since play did not resume before the Loftsgard call, there was no power play.
 The penalties are considered coincidental, although they were separated by
about half a minute of dead time.
 
>Third period
>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.
 
Despite increased pressure by Colgate, their only real scoring chance in the
first half of the third period came at about the three-minute mark, when Cornell
defenseman David Adler lost the puck at his own blue line, forcing Elliott to
come up with two big saves before the puck was cleared.
 
>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.
 
Darryl Campbell started everything off by intercepting Steve Wilson's clearing
attempt up the left side.  The Cornell defense seemed a little sluggish,
allowing a long cross-ice pass from Andy McDonald to Holdridge, who backhanded
the puck over Elliott's shoulder.
 
This one broke up Elliott's shutout bid.  According to Cornell radio color man
Pete Tufford, who got the info from the Colgate media guide, the Red Raiders
have not been shut out at home since RPI turned the trick in the 1971-72 season
(excluding a 2-0 loss in a ten-minute mini-game in the 1987 ECAC quarterfinals).
Over the same period of time, they have been shut out on the road 13 times.
 
>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).
 
It was Frank Kovac.  Steve Wilson started the play (nd wound up with the only
assist) when he blocked a pass at the Cornell blue line, then dug the puck away
from a Colgate forward who was pinching in and sent it to center ice toward
Stienstra.
 
>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.
 
Actually, Stienstra later claimed he was going to pass, but he saw Brenzavich
move and leave most of the net open.  It seemed like Brenzavich was expecting a
pass and was playing Kovac instead of the puck -- a bad mistake.
 
>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.
 
In fact, it was, by Tim Kotyra.  The funny thing was that when Colgate called
their timeout prior to removing Brenzavich, Tufford, apparently not a Harry
Ammian fan (and this did not seem to be one of Ammian's better nights -- he
seemed to be using the marble theory), said something to the effect of, "I
predict that Cornell is going to be called for something before the end of the
game."  And they were, though it was by Kotyra behind the play.
 
>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.
 
Elliott was irritated after giving up this one, but there wasn't a lot he could
do about it; he was screened and never saw the shot.
 
Anyway, it was a good win for Cornell. boosting them to within a point of first-
place Princeton in the league standings with a game in hand..  These two will
meet on January 31 at Lynah Rink in Princeton's first game back from the break.
 Before that, though, Cornell will host a pair against non-league foe Ferris
State on the 24th and 25th... the first time Cornell has played back-to-back
regular-season games at home against the same opponent since hosting a pair
against Wilfrid Laurier back in 1982.  (How's that for an obscure stat?)
 
--
Disclaimer -- Unless otherwise noted, all opinions expressed above are
              strictly those of:
 
Bill Fenwick
Cornell '86 and '95
LET'S GO RED!!                                                  DJF  5/27/94
"So what's Cornell's strategy now -- go to the net?"
-- Grady Whittenberg, Cornell (WQNY) play-by-play announcer, following the
   clean-up efforts after Providence goalie Dan Dennis got sick on the ice
   during the first round of the Syracuse Invitational
 
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