Since I was only eleven at the time, not to mention about 1700 miles away,
I think I'll stick to subject matter I know a little more about. Hopefully.
The Big Red took to the road last weekend hoping to pad their first-place
lead in the ECACHL, and with a pair of victories over Ivy foes Princeton
and Yale, coupled with Colgate dropping a point to the Elis and Harvard
playing only one ECACHL game, Cornell managed to do just that. The Big Red
now owns a four-point lead over second-place Colgate and leads the
third-place Crimson (who now have a game in hand) by five. Thanks to
tiebreaker edges over both Dartmouth and Vermont, Cornell has also clinched
a first-round bye in the ECACHL playoffs.
Boxes and some game notes below:
Friday, February 11
Hobey Baker Rink
Princeton, NJ
Cornell 5, Princeton 0
Cornell 1 2 2 -- 5
Princeton 0 0 0 -- 0
First period -- Scoring:
C Daniel Pegoraro (Mike Knoepfli, Ryan O'Byrne), 11:16 (PP) 1-0
Penalties:
P Darroll Powe (hooking), 9:20; C Jon Gleed (contact to head-elbowing),
12:00; P Landis Stankievech (interference), 17:04
Second period -- Scoring:
C Chris Abbott (Topher Scott), 12:03 2-0
C Charlie Cook (Byron Bitz, Matt Moulson), 12:59 (PP) 3-0
Penalties:
C Jeremy Downs (holding), 3:50; P Seamus Young (interference), 8:00;
C Moulson (interference), 8:06; P Sebastian Borza (interference),
12:23; C Raymond Sawada (unsportsmanlike conduct), 15:33
Third period -- Scoring:
C Mike Iggulden, 6:34 (SH) 4-0
C Moulson (Downs, Shane Hynes), 7:26 5-0
Penalties:
C O'Byrne (cross-checking), 0:30; C O'Byrne (interference), 4:57;
C Cook (holding), 10:32; C Jesse Masear (roughing), 10:49; C Doug
Krantz (unsportsmanlike conduct), 18:31; P Ian McNally (roughing),
18:31
Shots on goal: Cornell 6-10-5 -- 21, Princeton 3-6-10 -- 19
Power plays: Cornell 2 of 5, Princeton 0 of 7
Goaltending:
C David McKee (19 saves, 19 shots)
P Eric Leroux (16 saves, 21 shots)
Officials: Frank Murphy (R), Glenn Richetelle (L), Richard Patry (L)
Attendance: 2,922
Goaltender David McKee recorded his NCAA-leading sixth shutout of the
season and eleventh of his career, tying him with predecessor David LeNeveu
for the second-most ever by a Cornellian (behind Ken Dryden's 13). Cornell
had a considerable edge in play during the first period, and the Big Red
generated the game's first real scoring chance about nine minutes in, when
Raymond Sawada brought the puck up the left side and found Chris Abbott on
a mini-break in front of the Princeton net. However, before Abbott could
get a shot off, he was hooked to the ice by Tiger defender Darroll Powe.
It turned out not to matter, because as the ensuing power play was running
out, Daniel Pegoraro took a pass from Mike Knoepfli deep in the right
corner and let go a tough-angle shot toward the Princeton goal. The puck
glanced off a Tiger player near the crease and eluded a diving Eric Leroux.
The Big Red came close to extending their lead five minutes into the
second. With Princeton on the man advantage, Leroux dumped the puck out of
the Tiger zone, but the player he was passing to flubbed the puck, and Paul
Varteressian pounced on the turnover, firing a shot from near the blue line
that Leroux barely managed to get a piece of.
Cornell would later light the lamp twice within the span of a minute.
Topher Scott -- at 5-6 and 155 somewhat of an anomaly on this Big Red team
-- dug the puck away from two Princeton defenders and left it for Chris
Abbott, who skated past the net and lifted a shot over Leroux's shoulder at
the 12:03 mark. Fifty-six seconds later, the Cornell power-play unit
struck, with Charlie Cook taking a feed from Byron Bitz and unleashing a
slapper that Leroux didn't (or couldn't) react to.
In the third, the Big Red once again scored twice within a minute. First,
with Ryan O'Byrne in the box, Mike Iggulden stole the puck from Luc Paquin
in the Cornell end and skated the length of the ice, deking Leroux and
putting it past him at the 6:34 mark. Matt Moulson rounded out the scoring
at 7:26 of the third. The rest of the game belonged to McKee, who
preserved the shutout with a number of great saves, including a point-blank
breakaway attempt by Ian McNally with under two minutes remaining.
Leroux finished the night with 16 saves. Cornell head coach Mike Schafer
missed the game due to illness.
Saturday, February 12
Ingalls Rink
New Haven, CT
Cornell 5, Yale 2
Cornell 3 0 2 -- 5
Yale 1 0 1 -- 2
First period -- Scoring:
Y Jean-Francois Boucher (Zach Mayer, Matthew Craig), 8:07 (PP) 0-1
C Byron Bitz (Matt Moulson, Shane Hynes), 8:29 1-1
C Daniel Pegoraro (Kevin McLeod, Mark McCutcheon), 13:25 2-1
C Mike Iggulden (Mike Knoepfli, Charlie Cook), 14:45 (SH) 3-1
Penalties:
C Bench (too many men on ice, served by Topher Scott), 6:20; C Daniel
Pegoraro (holding), 9:48; Y Robert Page (holding), 10:36; C Hynes
(interference), 14:18; C Evan Salmela (interference), 16:57
Second period -- Penalties:
Y Matt Cohen (holding), 4:12; C McLeod (contact to head-roughing),
6:36; C Ryan O'Byrne (interference), 8:04
Third period -- Scoring:
C Scott (Moulson), 10:31 (PP) 4-1
C Knoepfli (O'Byrne), 13:34 (PP) 5-1
Y Nate Jackson (page, Joe Zappala), 19:12 (PP) 5-2
Penalties:
Y Shawn Mole (slashing), 9:18; Y Bill LeClerc (tripping), 12:38; Y Mole
(cross-checking), 13:26; C Chris Abbott (interference), 18:52
Shots on goal: Cornell 9-8-11 -- 28, Yale 6-9-10 -- 25
Power plays: Cornell 2 of 5, Yale 2 of 7
Goaltending:
C David McKee (23 saves, 25 shots)
Y Matt Modelski (23 saves, 28 shots)
Officials: Frank Murphy (R), David Brown (L), Scott Whittemore (L)
Attendance: 3,486
In the long and mostly storied history of Cornell goaltending, no netminder
had ever done what David McKee did Saturday night: started in a 57th
consecutive game for the Big Red, breaking the record set by Laing Kennedy
back in the '60s. During his streak, McKee has been off the ice for only
23 minutes for other goaltenders and 17 minutes of empty-net time.
It was Yale doing the celebrating early on, however, as they took advantage
of a too-many-men penalty on Cornell after Matt Moulson missed on a
wrap-around try. After a few quick passes, Matt Craig wristed a long shot
that McKee deflected into the air, but Zach Meyer caught the puck behind
the net, dropped it to the ice, and sent a pass over to Jean-Francois
Boucher, who stuffed a shot home 8:07 into the first period. The Elis'
celebration was short-lived, however, as Byron Bitz notched the equalizer a
mere 22 seconds later. Matt Moulson sent a beautiful pass ahead to Bitz,
who turned and fired a shot over goalie Matt Modelski's leg.
Cornell made it 2-1 at the 13:25 mark. Kevin McLeod skated up the left
side, waited for the Yale defender to commit, then found a wide-open Daniel
Pegoraro near the slot for the one-timer. Shane Hynes went off for
interference shortly after that, but this merely set the stage for
short-hander threat Mike Iggulden, who got his second man-down goal of the
weekend after Charlie Cook poked the puck loose near the Cornell blue line.
Iggulden skated up the middle of the ice, faked to his left and, as
Modelski was sliding across the crease, rolled a shot just inside the right
post at 14:45 of the first. The goal was Iggulden's third short-handed
tally of the year and the sixth for the Big Red, who prior to this season
had not had a short-hander since the 2002 ECAC playoffs.
Moulson knocked a Yale defender off the puck in the Eli zone and centered
it for Topher Scott, who put Cornell up 4-1 at 10:31 of the third period.
The Big Red got their fifth goal at the 13:34 mark, eight seconds after
going on a 5-on-3 power play. Mike Knoepfli won the draw back to Ryan
O'Byrne, who returned the puck to Knoepfli for a quick wrister that
Modelski couldn't get the glove on.
Yale didn't roll over, however, as the Elis got a power play with about a
minute left in the game and converted it, courtesy of Nate Jackson.
Modelski finished with 23 saves; McKee also stopped 23 shots.
Cornell returns to Lynah this weekend to host Rensselaer and Union.
--
Bill Fenwick DJF 5/27/94
Cornell '86 and '95 JCF 12/2/97
LET'S GO RED!!
"Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman
Einstein."
-- Former NFL quarterback Joe Theismann, proving at least the first part of
his statement
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