It was a weekend of eerie deja vu for Cornell fans who made the trip or
were in the Boston area.  And there were a lot of them.
 
Friday night in Providence saw a chippy game very reminiscent of the one
played there last spring.  Again, Brown jumped out to the early lead in
the first, though the Red managed to regain the lead in that period
rather than much later in the game as was the case last year.  The Big
Red penalty kill was very, very shaky, allowing the Bruins to control the
puck in the zone for the majority of the time, and giving up a few
goals.  Not quite the same penalty kill that ended last year tops in the
country.  The red did not appear to be playing the same physical game as
last year, and it appeared the main difference between this squad and
last years was the defensive ability of the forwards to clog the zone and
clear the puck.  The Red came out with a win however, despite the chippy
play, and a parade of players to penalty box which was very reminiscent
of the game last spring.
 
 
Saturday night was a whole different story.
 
The game was so similar to the championship game in Placid that it was
almost unbelievable.  Again, before the Pep Band could finish its
rendition of O' Canada The Crimson had put a goal on the board.  Only 13
seconds had elapsed, and the rink full of Cornell fans was strangely
silent for a rink where the home team had just scored a quick goal.  It
definitely appeared that the Harvard box office strategy of attempting to
ascertain the allegiance of ticket buyers and denying Cornell fans
tickets until game week did not help get a rink full of home team fans.
 
Cornell tied the game up midway through the first period on a goal by
Darren Tymchyshyn who is definitely looking to be a major player in this
year's team.  Though the red gave up 19 shots in the first period, Elliot
kept them in the game, and the tide slowly began to turn as the period
wore on.  The second period, the defensive ability and penalty kill that
were the trademark of last year's squad began to become apparent and when
Cornell got the go ahead goal, it was impossible not to notice the
similarities with the game at Placid.  Again Cornell continued to press
for insurance, but JR Prestifillippo denied several good opportunities,
including a breakaway by sophomore Jeff Oates, who has created more
than several chances for himself this year, but appears unable to finish them.
 
Finally, with 5 minutes to go, Ryan Moynihan banged home the insurance
goal off the post and the several hundred Big Red fans breathed a heavy
sigh of relief.  And with the knowledge of RPI's win the night before and
the losses to both North Country teams, we were joyously aware that we
sat in fist place with Clogate & RPI, in a surprise that few would have
predicted.  Harvard was definitely not the national power people
predicted them to be, and this Cornell team, which grew miles just over a
weekend, is a lot better than people thought.
 
Some notes:
 
They're young, yes, but very disciplined, avoiding altercations despite
many opportunities to get into them.  And even the young snipers (moynihan and Rutter to be
specific) were getting in their hits.  The checking line of
Bergin-Papp-Kovac is going to be exciting, they create a significant
portion of the scoring opportunities, and they can fdefinitely hit as
well.  Ryan Smart made his return, but spent a lot of it in the penalty
box, and did not seem to be creating a lot of offense.  And Jeff Burgoyne
spent the whole of the weekend returned to his familiar deensive post,
after his brief excursion to right wing and power play slot man against
Waterloo.
 
An enjoyable weekend to attend, and one that certainly makes me feel good
about the season.  It's always great to congregate in Boston and
outnumber the home fans, and especially when the team acknowledges that,
as they did on both nights.
 
Let's go Red - big game next friday against a surprisingly 1-1 ECAC
Vermont team, without a league point from the elves.
 
Larry Weintraub '98
 
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