After Cornell's three-point weekend hosting Union and RPI back in early
December, the comment was made about it being a shame the players had built up
a lot of momentum only to have to break for exams and not play for three weeks.
The Big Red's performance after exams seemed to bear this out, as they went
1-4-1 over the winter break. They did play pretty well, despite losing, in the
last of those games (against Ohio State), and the Big Red were looking to build
on that good performance and start the 14-game stretch run with a couple of
strong games against travel partner Colgate.
Mission accomplished. Cornell played one of their best games of the season,
especially on defense, in shutting out the Red Raiders 2-0 at Lynah on Friday
night. The following night, at Starr Rink, neither team was able to get much
of a flow going thanks to some hard-to-figure-out officiating, but both
goaltenders were spectacular between the pipes as the game ended in a 1-1 tie.
The three points boosted Cornell into a fifth-place tie with Colgate, four
points behind league-leading RPI with a game in hand.
More notes on the weekend:
Cornell 2, Colgate 0
The play of the Cornell defense was a big factor in this one, as the Big Red
was able to limit a high-flying Colgate team to nine shots on goal over the
final two periods, and 18 overall. Matt Underhill's outstanding play between
the pipes also sealed the Cornell victory, as he stopped all 18 shots in
recording his first collegiate shutout. I'm not sure whether Underhill was
slated to start both Colgate games or not, but the question became moot when
goaltender Ian Burt suffered a concussion, either during the Ohio State game or
in practice. Burt was dressed for both games but obviously wasn't going to
play. The Big Red's third-stringer, Nathan Hicks, was unavailable due to the
fact that he had graduated in December.
Anyway, Underhill got his first major test of the night in the first minute of
play, as Colgate winger Pat Varecka came loose in the slot and unleashed a
point-blank slapper that the goaltender blocked. It was Colgate goalie Shep
Harder's turn to be tested a minute later, as Jeff Oates steamed into the Red
Raider zone on a breakaway; Harder denied him with a great glove save.
The game may have turned during Colgate's first power play, which came about
when Cornell's Krzysztof Wieckowski was whistled for tripping at the 6:06 mark.
The Red Raiders had several big chances to light the lamp with the man
advantage, the biggest of which came at about the 7:40 mark. Underhill had
already made two saves during a scramble when the puck squirted out to a
Colgate player in the slot. Underhill was out of position and the net was wide
open, but the goaltender dove across the crease and stretched out his glove to
stop the shot. The Red Raiders, thinking they had scored, raised their sticks
in celebration, but referee Dan Murphy ruled that Underhill had kept the puck
from crossing the line.
Cornell went on its first power play a couple minutes later, but it was Colgate
getting the best opportunity midway through it when leading scorer Andy
McDonald intercepted a pass near the Cornell blue line and went up the ice on a
short- handed breakaway. McDonald shifted to his forehand and appeared to have
some net to shoot at, but Underhill stayed with him and stretched out the right
pad to make the save.
Cornell's forecheck began to take its toll on Colgate later in the period, as
the Big Red started spending more and more time in the Red Raider end
generating chances. Harder was matching Underhill's heroics for a while, but
the Big Red finally broke through at 15:34 of the first period. Kyle Knopp
sent the puck ahead for Jeff Burgoyne, who skated over the blue line and let
one fly from high in the slot. Harder stopped the low shot, but the rebound
trickled to his right, and team-leading goal-scorer Denis Ladouceur skated up
and flipped the puck into the net.
Knopp and Ladouceur combined again on Cornell's second goal, which came at 5:55
of the middle period. Knopp took a pass at the Cornell blue line and weaved
his way through the Colgate defenders, eventually putting himself and Ladouceur
on a two-on-one. With Ladouceur breaking up right wing, Knopp slid the puck
over, and Ladouceur snapped a tough-angle shot over Harder's shoulder, catching
the net just behind the crossbar. The Big Red had another good flurry about
nine minutes in, but Harder came up with a couple great saves, including a
sliding stop of a point-blank Ryan Moynihan slapper.
The rivalry between Cornell and Colgate has intensified over the last several
years, so it really wasn't much of a surprise to see a shoving match/fight
break out in front of the Cornell bench at the 10:23 mark. It seemed to start
when Colgate's Chad MacDonald hit either Jeff Oates or Rick Sacchetti in the
back well after the whistle had sounded. Sacchetti and MacDonald went at it
tooth and nail (well, glove), and while the officials were trying to get that
one under control, Andy McDonald got into a shoving match with Cornell's David
Kozier. MacDonald, Sacchetti, and Kozier each got roughing minors, while
McDonald got off scot-free. The partisan Lynah crowd was of course incensed by
that, but I suspect what happened is that Murphy, busy with the Sacchetti-
MacDonald main event, didn't take note of the undercard until Kozier had the
end of his stick up in McDonald's face.
Colgate showed some fast puck movement and good passing later in the second, as
they did pretty much all game, but they were usually unable to get that crucial
pass to set up the quality shot, thanks to the pressure put on by the Cornell
defense. With 5:40 left in the second, the Red Raiders were threatening a
2-on-1 break, but before it could develop, Burgoyne made a terrific play,
sliding along the ice and actually taking the puck right off the Colgate
forward's stick. A few minutes later, a Colgate player took the puck between
two Big Red defenders at the Colgate blue line and almost had a breakaway, but
defenseman Larry Pierce stayed with him, managing to avoid tripping him up (and
drawing the penalty) but bothering the guy enough that he couldn't get off a
good shot. Underhill did the rest, stacking his pads and making the save.
Cornell controlled the third period for the most part, outshooting the Red
Raiders 11-4, but Harder was able to keep the Big Red from doing any further
damage. The Colgate offense wasn't able to do much of anything, though, as
they had only two shots in the period until Harder was pulled with a minute
left. And those Cornell fans who fondly remember former Colgate backup goalie
Matt Weder will be happy to hear that the "We want Weder!" cheer is alive and
well, though it didn't make its appearance until there were less than three
minutes remaining.
Harder stopped 25 shots. Cornell defenseman Brian McMeekin suffered a
separated shoulder during the game, was out of the lineup Saturday, and I
understand is day-to-day.
Cornell 1, Colgate 1 (OT)
This had all the makings of a great one, with Colgate going back to its barn
smarting from a shutout loss to its travel partner and Cornell gunning for a
sweep. And indeed there were some outstanding moments in the game, most of
them provided by the two goaltenders, Matt Underhill and Jason Lefevre. But
the game was marred by some confusing and inconsistent penalty-calling (and in
the third period, non-penalty-calling) by referee Mike Noeth, with the result
that neither team could get much of a flow going.
Lefevre was, to me at least, a surprise starter, given that Harder is one of
the top goalies in the country in terms of save percentage and his performance
Friday night was certainly solid enough. But Lefevre, who had initially
verbally committed to Cornell before changing his mind at the last minute and
signing with Colgate, justified head coach Don Vaughan's faith in him with a
sterling game between the pipes. The goalie faced a lot of rubber in the first
period, as Cornell peppered him with 16 shots (including a short-handed
breakaway), but the Big Red were able to get only one by him. That goal came
at the 10:42 mark, when Jeff Burgoyne took a nice feed from Mike Rutter and
beat Lefevre through the five-hole.
The second period featured very little five-on-five play -- only about three
minutes -- as first one team and then the other would be whistled for some
infraction or other. Twelve of the game's 26 penalties were called in the
middle stanza, including a memorable sequence of four in a three-minute span
that led to the Colgate goal. With the Red Raiders on a power play (a 4-on-3,
naturally), Jed Whitchurch fired a shot through Underhill's pads and off the
left post. The puck deflected through the crease to Andy McDonald, who put it
into a mostly empty net.
Only one penalty was called in the third period, and that one came just 41
seconds in. The teams responded by mounting some offensive pressure, but both
defenses did a good job at keeping quality chances to a minimum, and Underhill
and Lefevre did the rest. The overtime didn't see much action, but each team
did have a golden opportunity to get the win. For Cornell, it came at about
the 3:20 mark, after Colgate's Dan Wildfong had been sent off for
high-sticking. (Yes, folks, a power-play in overtime!) Denis Ladouceur got off
a hard shot that beat Harder over his shoulder, but the puck hit the crossbar
and bounced out of harm's way. Then, after the predictable make-up call (and
you knew there was going to be one -- actually, this was a good call, as Ryan
Moynihan had to hook McDonald to the ice to prevent a short-handed breakaway),
a hard Colgate shot bounced off the back boards and caught Underhill unaware
and out of position, leaving the Red Raiders with an empty net to shoot at.
The Colgate player whiffed on the shot, however, and that was it.
Underhill stopped 31 shots, while Lefevre had 32 saves. Cornell takes to the
road this weekend to play Princeton and Yale, and will return to Lynah next
weekend to face the same two teams in reverse order.
--
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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