Cornell took to the road for its ECAC preliminary round contest, and the Big
Red played possibly their best game of the season in downing St. Lawrence by
a 6-2 count. Particularly noteworthy was the performance of the all-sopho-
more line of Matt Cooney, Tony Bergin, and Jamie Papp, which accounted for
three goals and five assists on the night. Box score and more notes on the
game below:
Cornell 6, St. Lawrence 2
Cornell 0 3 3 -- 6
St. Lawrence 0 1 1 -- 2
First period -- Penalties:
C Chad Wilson (interference), 11:52
Second period -- Scoring:
C Tony Bergin (Jamie Papp, C. Wilson), 0:23 1-0
C Brad Chartrand (Tyler McManus, Steve Wilson), 8:19 2-0
S Paul DiFrancesco (Thomas Cullen, Burke Murphy), 17:15 (PP) 2-1
C Geoff Lopatka (Mike Sancimino, Chartrand), 18:52 3-1
Penalties:
S B. Murphy (elbowing), 3:59; S Scott Stevens (roughing), 9:32;
C Christian Felli (roughing), 9:32; C P.C. Drouin (roughing), 12:20;
C Bill Holowatiuk (roughing), 16:21
Third period -- Scoring:
C Chartrand (Sancimino, C. Wilson), 7:53 4-1
C Matt Cooney (Bergin, Papp), 13:27 5-1
S Joel Prpic (Ken Ruddock, Chris Dashney), 14:39 5-2
C Cooney (Bergin, Papp), 16:27 6-2
Penalties:
S Ryan Cassidy (roughing), 6:40; C Felli (holding), 6:40; C Jason
Kendall (interference), 9:11; S Cullen (interference), 19:03; C McManus
(slashing), 19:03
Shots on goal: Cornell 12-12-10 -- 34, St. Lawrence 10-12-9 -- 31
Power plays: Cornell 0 of 2, St. Lawrence 1 of 4
Goaltending:
C Eddy Skazyk (29 saves, 31 shots)
S Jon Bracco (28 saves, 34 shots)
Officials: Bill Stewart (R), John Murphy (R), Larry Legault (L)
Notes:
Going in, each team knew that it was important to keep the other from estab-
lishing a sizable early lead, since that had been the deciding factor in
their previous two meetings. Back in January, Cornell had put four goals on
the board in the first period en route to an 8-1 thrashing of St. Lawrence;
three weeks later, the Saints had returned the favor, riding three first-
period power-play goals to a 5-2 victory. On this night, however, neither
team would light the lamp in the first period, thanks to solid defensive
play. The Big Red in particular had a strong backchecking effort by its
forwards, helping to snuff a number of potential St. Lawrence breakaways.
The only real threat of the first period came after Cornell's Chad Wilson
was whistled for the period's only penalty. Thirty seconds into the ensuing
power play, Jeff Kungle blasted one from the point that rang off the left
post.
The second period would prove to be a bit different, as it took Tony Bergin
all of 23 seconds to put the Big Red on the board. Chad Wilson carried the
puck out of the Cornell end across the red line, then fired the puck into
the St. Lawrence zone. The puck caromed off the back boards toward an on-
rushing Jamie Papp, who snapped it toward the net. Goalie Jon Bracco got a
pad on that shot, but Bergin was able to backhand the rebound into the net.
A wild scramble in front of Bracco resulted in the Big Red's second goal at
the 8:19 mark. Bracco stopped a Tyler McManus shot but couldn't find the
rebound, which was bouncing around in the crease. Three Cornell players
rushed the net, and eventually, Brad Chartrand was able to poke the puck
home. The net wound up off its moorings, but referee John Murphy ruled that
the puck had crossed the goal line first -- a decision that was not very
popular with the Appleton Arena crowd.
Freshman Paul DiFrancesco got the Saints on the board with 2:45 left in the
second, when he corralled a loose puck in the slot and wristed it over
goaltender Eddy Skazyk's shoulder. The Cornell players argued that there
was a crease violation, but the goal stood. The late tally seemed to give
the Saints some much-needed momentum, but Geoff Lopatka would turn the game
solidly in the Big Red's favor with the eventual game-winner at the 18:52
mark. Mike Sancimino stole the puck from a St. Lawrence defenseman at the
blue line and sent a nice cross-ice pass over to Lopatka, who one-timed it
into the top of the net. The period ended with the Big Red ahead 3-1, and
that was a bad sign for St. Lawrence, who had trailed going into the third
period 16 times during the season and had never rallied to win.
It wouldn't happen on this night either. Chad Wilson came close to losing
control of the puck near the Cornell net, but he recovered and was able to
get it over to Sancimino, who took off up the right side. Sancimino found
Chartrand to the left of the Saints net with a beautiful long pass, and
Chartrand flicked the puck home at 7:53 of the third. Later in the period,
Bracco stopped a Bergin drive, but the rebound went behind the net, where
Bergin tracked it down and dumped it back in front for Matt Cooney. Cooney
tapped it home to make the score 5-1 at 13:27 of the third. Just over a
minute later, Skazyk blocked a hard slapper by Ken Ruddock, but the rebound
went right to Joel Prpic, who chipped it just inside the crossbar with 5:21
remaining in the third. That would be the last gasp for the Saints, how-
ever, and Cooney rounded out the scoring at the 16:27 mark with a quick
wrister past Bracco.
Skazyk had another fine effort in net for the Big Red, finishing with 29
saves, while Bracco stopped 28 shots. Cornell makes the return trip to the
North Country this weekend for a quarterfinal series against regular-season
champion Clarkson.
--
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
"Come to think of it, there are already a million monkeys on a million type-
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