In their last non-conference game of the regular season, the Cornell Big Red
took on the Ohio State Buckeyes, and while the host Big Red played a
considerably better game than they had in being blown out by Providence ten
days before, it was not enough against a tough Ohio State team.  Cornell
out-shot their opponent by a 44-21 count, but the Buckeyes made the most of the
opportunities that they did have.
 
The game boiled down to the performance of two players.  Cornellians unfamiliar
with Ohio State and the CCHA were asking in the days before the game who were
the players to watch for the Buckeyes, and the almost-universal response was
one name:  Hugo Boisvert, who leads the CCHA in scoring.  The junior center
performed as advertised, figuring in all five OSU goals with a hat trick and
two assists.  The other star of the game for Ohio State was their goaltender,
Ray Aho, who was making just his third start of the season.  I haven't seen
regular starter Jeff Maund play, but if he's good enough to keep a guy like Aho
on the bench, he's my nominee for first-team All-American.  Aho had an
outstanding game, particularly in the first period, when it seemed like he was
the only Ohio State player to show up, stopping 17 of the 18 shots Cornell
fired at him.
 
Thanks to the rotten weather in New York, the Ohio State team had a rough trip
out from Columbus.  Their original plan apparently had been to leave on
Wednesday, stay over near Buffalo, then make the last leg of the journey to
Ithaca on Thursday, but they wound up doing the entire 11 hours on Thursday
instead.  Thus, it might be understandable that the Buckeyes managed a total of
only two shots on goal in the game's first 20 minutes.  Cornell dominated the
first period, spending most of it in the Ohio State end, but as previously
mentioned, Aho was a wall, stopping nearly everything thrown his way.
 Seemingly his only miscue of the first period led to the Cornell goal, at
10:53 of the first.  With the Big Red on the power play, Aho dived toward the
right side of the net, apparently expecting a shot from Denis Ladouceur.
 However, Ladouceur sent a pass over to Kyle Knopp, who had a mostly empty net
to shoot at.
 
The Buckeyes regrouped and came alive in the second period, and they almost had
a golden opportunity when the famed "Lynah Bounce" caught Cornell goaltender
Ian Burt out of the net, but it wasn't until the 15:36 mark that they would
light the lamp.  Boisvert got his first on some kind of a wrister or something
that went over Burt's shoulder and bounced across the goal line.  It took just
56 seconds for the Big Red to respond, as Ladouceur notched his team-leading
eighth goal of the season, getting to a Knopp rebound and flipping it into the
net over Aho.
 
Boisvert answered for Ohio State again, this time with 2:36 remaining before
the intermission.  Boisvert seemed effectively screened off from play in the
Cornell zone by a couple of defenders, but he fought his way through and
grabbed the loose puck in mid-air, dropping it to his stick and rifling a shot
past Burt to tie the game again.  Sustained pressure in the Cornell end in the
third period led to the go-ahead goal for the Buckeyes, which came off the
stick of Eric Meloche at the 9:01 mark.  Meloche took a short pass from
Boisvert (naturally) and beat Burt to the stick side.  Ohio State went up 4-2
at the 13:22 mark.  This time, Boisvert took the puck behind the Cornell net,
then found defenseman Andre Signoretti out near the blue line.  Signoretti
unleashed a blast that Meloche got his stick on, deflecting the puck into the
net.
 
Despite the turn of events, Cornell didn't roll over, keeping up the pressure
in the Ohio State end with some sustained forechecking and keeping Aho as busy
as he had been in the first period.  Burt left the game for the extra skater
with about 1:10 left, and Knopp banged home his second of the game with 38
seconds remaining to cut the lead to one.  Burt went back in for the ensuing
faceoff, but when Cornell got control of the puck and headed into the Buckeye
zone, he went toward the bench for the extra skater again.
 
Unfortunately, Jeff Burgoyne lost the puck, and it wound up on the stick of
Boisvert (of course).  With Burt about ten feet from the bench but scrambling
to get back, Boisvert took the puck down the ice and fired a shot that bounced
in off the post, clinching the game for Ohio State with 24 seconds left.
 
Aho finished with 41 saves, while Burt had 16.  Cornell returns to action next
Friday night when they host Colgate in the beginning of a home-and-home with
their travel partner.  This will mark the start of Cornell's ECAC "sprint to
the finish", as they have 14 league games over the next seven weeks.
 
--
Disclaimer -- Unless otherwise noted, all opinions expressed above are
              strictly those of:
 
Bill Fenwick
Cornell '86 and '95                                             DJF  5/27/94
LET'S GO RED!!                                                  JCF  12/2/97
"You know it's going to be a rough flight when they tag your luggage *and*
 your big toe, just in case."
-- Gary Kern
 
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