Cornell went on the road looking to extend their early-season unbeaten
streak, but the Big Red wound up falling to Harvard and Brown in nearly
identical games, both by the score of 4-2.  Though Cornell was able to throw
a scare into both nationally-ranked opponents by nearly rallying from three
goals down, it would not be enough either night.  Box scores (both "unoffi-
cial" -- from the radio) and more notes from the games below:
 
Harvard 4, Cornell 2
 
Cornell   0    2    0  --  2
Harvard   2    1    1  --  4
 
First period -- Scoring:
     H Kirk Nielsen (Jason Karmanos), 7:20                       0-1
     H Cory Gustafson (Perry Cohagan, Steve Martins), 12:02      0-2
 
     Penalties:
     H Bryan Lonsinger (boarding), 0:46; C Geoff Lopatka (tripping), approx.
     1:40; H Bench (too many men on ice, served by Karmanos), 4:10; C Jason
     Dailey (tripping), 4:42; C Brad Chartrand (roughing), 9:26; C P.C.
     Drouin (roughing), 9:26; H Tom Holmes (roughing), 9:26; H ???
     (roughing), 9:26; C Steve Wilson (cross-checking), 15:41
 
Second period -- Scoring:
     H Ashlin Halfnight (Gustafson, Cohagan), 0:34               0-3
     C Mark Scollan (Jake Karam, Mike Sancimino), 0:40           1-3
     C Karam (Matt Cooney, Chad Wilson), 6:04                    2-3
 
     Penalties:
     C Jamie Papp (boarding), 1:49; H Martins (cross-checking), 10:35; H Joe
     Craigen (slashing), 15:32
 
Third period -- Scoring:
     H Gustafson (Cohagan, Martins), 4:49                        2-4
 
     Penalties:
     C C. Wilson (high-sticking), 8:10; H Lonsinger (cross-checking),
     approx. 14:00; C S. Wilson (high-sticking major), 18:33
 
Shots on goal:  Cornell 4-4-12 -- 20, Harvard 13-9-13 -- 35
 
Power plays:  Cornell 0 of 5, Harvard 0 of 6
 
Goaltending:
     C Jason Elliott (35 shots, 31 saves)
     H Tripp Tracy (20 shots, 18 saves)
 
Officials:  John Gallagher (R), Scott Melanson (R), Chip McDonald (L)
 
Notes:
 
And the beat goes on... Cornell's last win over Harvard was in the 1990 ECAC
quarterfinals at Lynah, and their last regular-season win was way back in
February of 1985 at Bright.  The Crimson have now gone undefeated in eleven
straight games against the Big Red, and they have not lost to Cornell in
their last 19 regular-season meetings.  Having said that, the Big Red
actually did not do too badly in this one.  What killed Cornell in their
four meetings (including the playoffs) with Harvard last year was the devas-
tating Crimson power play, but the Big Red kept their opponents off the
board in all six man-up chances Friday night.  At the end of the game,
Harvard's season power-play total was a very un-Crimson-like 3 of 29.
 
But despite their power-play woes, Harvard put together a strong defensive
effort (the Big Red had only eight shots on goal through the first 40
minutes of play) and were aggressive on the penalty kill, nearly coming up
with the short-hander a couple times.  After some early chippiness that saw
the teams exchange penalties a couple times, Harvard lit the lamp at 7:20 of
the first period, when Jason Karmanos stole the puck, skated across the blue
line, and then, with the Cornell defender hanging all over him, somehow got
off a one-handed pass that Kirk Nielsen stuffed through goaltender Jason
Elliott's pads.
 
A skirmish broke out at the 9:26 mark, involving P.C. Drouin and Brad Char-
trand for the Big Red and Tom Holmes and another Harvard player whose name I
didn't catch.  After the appropriate roughing minors were handed out, the
Crimson increased their lead to 2-0 at 12:02 of the first.  Steve Martins
brought the puck across the blue line, got past defender Christian Felli,
then sent a pass behind the Cornell net, where Perry Cohagan picked it up
and found Cory Gustafson alone in front.  A minute later, Karmanos skated in
on a breakaway and fired a shot that Elliott appeared to have trapped
between his blocker pad and his body, but the puck rolled loose and into the
net.  However, a quick whistle by referee Scott Melanson nullified the
apparent Crimson goal.
 
It turned out not to make much of a difference, because Harvard came out of
the locker room after intermission and proceeded to take a three-goal lead
34 seconds into the second period.  Gustafson picked up the puck from the
end boards and sent a quick pass over to Ashlin Halfnight in the left
circle; Halfnight snapped one off that beat Elliott low.  At that point, it
appeared that the Harvard jinx was as strong as ever, and that the Crimson
were going to have an easy time of it against the Big Red.
 
Or maybe not.  Cornell's Jake Karam won the faceoff at center ice, drawing
the puck back to Mike Sancimino, who skated through the Harvard defense and
found Mark Scollan breaking toward the net.  Scollan, who was seeing action
in his first game this season after recovering from back and leg injuries,
took the pass from Sancimino and wristed one over fallen goalie Tripp Tracy
to put the Big Red on the board only six seconds after the Harvard goal.  At
the 6:04 mark, Karam skated in deep, caught Tracy out of position, and got
off a soft shot that rolled along the goal line for hours, it seemed, until
it finally went across inside the left post.
 
Cornell was suddenly flying, but the game was delayed for a couple minutes
at the 9:11 mark when one of the glass panels came loose.  That may or may
not have affected the tempo, but neither team did much of anything for the
rest of the middle period.  The Crimson got back on track early in the
third, when a huge scramble in front of the Cornell net forced Elliott to
come up with a couple of great saves, the second of which was a quick
reaction when Cohagan tried to tip a rebound home.
 
Though Cornell had successfully cut the deficit to one, they could not get
the equalizer, and the Crimson's top line struck again at 4:49 of the third
to effectively put the game away.  This time, Martins fired a one-timer that
Elliott kicked away, but Gustafson pounced on the rebound and slapped it
past the netminder's glove.  Harvard then relied on Tracy's goaltending to
preserve the win.  The junior netminder had not looked particularly good in
the first two periods, stopping only six of eight shots, but he was strong
in the final 20 minutes, stopping all 12 shots the Big Red fired at him to
finish with a game total of 18 saves.  Elliott stopped 31 shots.
 
Brown 4, Cornell 2
 
Cornell   0    2    0  --  2
Brown     3    0    1  --  4
 
First period -- Scoring:
     B Ryan Mulhern (Eric Trach, Brian Jardine), 3:35            0-1
     B D.J. Harding (Mulhern, Jardine), 3:55                     0-2
     B Tony Martino (Trach, Jardine), 10:07 (PP)                 0-3
 
     Penalties:
     C P.C. Drouin (tripping), 5:03; C Steve Wilson (interference), 8:57;
     B John Direnzo (hooking), 10:54; C Joel McArter (hitting from behind),
     16:50; B Patrick Thompson (roughing), 19:38
 
Second period -- Scoring:
     C S. Wilson (Mark Scollan, Jake Karam), 14:32 (PP)          1-3
     C Mike Sancimino (Scollan, Karam), 16:58                    2-3
 
     Penalties:
     B Mike Traggio (cross-checking), 0:36; C Tyler McManus (slashing),
     1:46; B Scott Bradford (high-sticking), 3:52; C Drouin (hooking), 8:59;
     C Matt Cooney (tripping), 10:25; B Mulhern (elbowing), 12:44
 
Third period -- Scoring:
     B Bradford (Mike Noble, Damian Prescott), 9:17              2-4
 
     Penalties:
     B Scott Humber (interference), 3:05; C McArter (roughing), 9:42; B S.
     Humber (roughing served by Marty Clapton, hitting after whistle), 9:42
 
Shots on goal:  Cornell 6-10-7 -- 23, Brown 12-8-6 -- 26
 
Power plays:  Cornell 1 of 7, Brown 1 of 6
 
Goaltending:
     C Jason Elliott (out at 19:30 of third period, 26 shots, 22 saves)
     B Mike Parsons (23 shots, 21 saves)
 
Officials:  Scott Leavitt (R), Frank Campatelli (R), Tim Crowley (L)
 
Notes:
 
Before the start of the season, it looked like Brown might be in a bit of
trouble, having lost top forwards Mark Fabbro, Kelly Jones, and Chris Kaban,
as well as ECAC first-team goalie Geoff Finch.  But the Bears are now 5-0 on
the year and have the inside track toward their first ECAC regular-season
title ever.  The Big Red once again found themselves down 3-0 -- this time
midway through the first period -- before rallying with a couple of goals in
the second, only to have the door slammed shut in the third.  Probably only
about half the fans in Meehan Auditorium could enjoy this game, as all the
goals were scored into the same net.
 
Brown got started quickly with a pair of goals 20 seconds apart.  Brian
Jardine stole the puck at the Cornell blue line and skated to the right
circle, where he went up against Steve Wilson.  Wilson forced Jardine off
the puck, but Ryan Mulhern got control of it, went behind the net, and
scored on the wraparound at 3:35 of the first period.  The Big Red had
hardly had time to digest that one when D.J. Harding, playing in his first
game for the Bears, notched his first collegiate goal.  Elliott had blocked
a long drive by Mulhern, but the rebound went all the way out to the right
point, where Harding blasted a rising shot that froze the Cornell netminder.
 
Brown stretched its lead to 3-0 at the 10:07 mark, when Jardine dumped the
puck in front for Tony Martino, who had most of the net to shoot at.  Less
than a minute later, John Direnzo broke up Cornell's first real scoring
opportunity when he hooked Matt Cooney to the ice on a breakaway.  Direnzo
was sent to the box, but Brown nearly came up with the short-hander, as
Scott Humber headmanned a pass for Mike Flynn, who split the Cornell defense
and got off a quick wrister that Elliott just got the left pad on.
 
The teams exchanged penalties (and blown power plays) through much of the
second period, and with about 6:50 left, the scoreboard malfunctioned,
necessitating a couple-minute delay while the game- and penalty-times were
sorted out.  The wait may have helped the Big Red, who proceeded to convert
the power play they were on to cut into the Bears' lead.  Brown goalie Mike
Parsons made a nice save of Mark Scollan's initial shot, but the rebound
went out to the right point, where Steve Wilson unleashed a blast that found
its way through a crowd of players and into the net at the 14:32 mark.
Scollan set up the Big Red's second goal with 3:02 remaining in the middle
period, as he led a rush up the ice and dropped a pass in front of the net
for Mike Sancimino, who hacked it past Parsons.  A late flurry by Cornell
produced a couple of chances for the equalizer, but Parsons was able to keep
the Big Red off the board.
 
Scott Bradford picked up the first goal of his college career at 9:17 to
restore Brown's two-goal lead.  This one was kind of a garbage goal, as
Elliott sticked aside a Damian Prescott drive, but the rebound was batted
around for a while until Bradford tipped it in.  Though Cornell tried to set
up scoring chances for the rest of the game, Brown was able to keep the
pressure on, bottling up the Big Red in their own end for a few long
stretches.  The Bears had a couple of chances to pad their lead with under
three minutes left; first Eric Trach skated in on a 2-on-1, only to have
Bill Holowatiuk poke-check the puck away near the Cornell net, and then
Mulhern and Jardine came in seconds later, only to lose control of the puck
near the slot.  Elliott did leave for the extra skater with 30 seconds left
in regulation, but the Big Red was unable to get much going at that point.
 
Parsons played a solid game between the pipes, stopping 21 shots.  Elliott
was able to recover from a shaky first period, finishing with 22 saves.
--
Disclaimer -- Unless otherwise noted, all opinions expressed above are
              strictly those of:
 
Bill Fenwick                        |  Send your HOCKEY-L poll responses to:
Cornell '86 and '94.5               |  [log in to unmask]
LET'S GO RED!!                                                  DJF  5/27/94
"I had a terrible time in college, until I finally figured out what my
 problem was.  I had been highlighting with a black magic marker."
-- Jeff Altman