I haven't seen anything on the Cornell-Minnesota game from the Mariucci
Classic on New Year's Eve, so here's the box score as near as I could tell
from the radio broadcast, along with a few notes:
Minnesota 5, Cornell 2
Cornell 0 2 0 -- 2
Minnesota 2 2 1 -- 5
First period -- Scoring:
M Jeff Nielsen (Tony Bianchi, Joe Dziedzic), 3:24 0-1
M Dziedzic (Nielsen, Bianchi), 7:11 0-2
Penalties:
M Jed Fiebelkorn (cross-checking), 16:40; C Steve Wilson (elbowing),
17:39
Second period -- Scoring:
C Mike Sancimino (Vinnie Auger, Mark Scollan), 1:21 (PP) 1-2
M Chris McAlpine (Nielsen, Bianchi), 7:57 1-3
C Geoff Bumstead (Blair Ettles, Auger), 16:10 (PP) 2-3
M C. McAlpine (Woog), 18:59 2-4
Penalties:
M Bianchi (holding?), 0:45; C Jake Karam (misconduct), 7:20; C Jamie Papp
(high-sticking), 10:30; M C. McAlpine (high-sticking), 10:30; C Shaun
Hannah (high-sticking), 13:39; M Bianchi (holding), 14:28; M Eric Means
(high-sticking), 15:36
Third period -- Scoring:
M Bobby Dustin (C. McAlpine), 5:50 2-5
Penalties:
C Tony Bergin (roughing), 13:28; M C. McAlpine (roughing), 13:28;
C Christian Felli (interference), 16:56; M Dziedzic (roughing), 16:56;
C Wilson (slashing), 18:30; M Dan Hendrickson (slashing), 18:30; M C.
McAlpine (roughing), 19:24; M Means (roughing?), 19:24
Shots on goal: Cornell 1-10-10 -- 21, Minnesota 10-14-16 -- 40
Power play: Cornell 2 of 5, Minnesota 0 of 2
Goaltending:
C Eddy Skazyk (20 saves, 24 shots), Andy Bandurski (in at 0:00 of third
period, 15 saves, 16 shots)
M Jeff Callinan (19 saves, 21 shots)
Game notes:
Going into the game, Cornell sported an undefeated road record (2-0-2),
while the Gophers had not lost at the new Mariucci (3-0-2), so obviously
something had to give, and it turned out to be the Big Red's road streak.
This was the first time these two teams had ever played each other, and
only the second time in their history that Cornell had faced a team from
the state of Minnesota (the Big Red defeated Minnesota-Duluth in the
Syracuse Invitational in 1968).
The Big Red's troubles on offense have been well-documented, and their
woes continued in the first period of this game. Cornell got off the
first shot on goal of the game, a high slapper from Geoff Bumstead about
a minute and a half in, and then they rested on their laurel. Minnesota
responded with ten unanswered shots over the remainder of the period, and
not surprisingly, they outscored Cornell 2-0. The Gophers' first goal
came about as a result of a turnover near the Cornell crease. The Big
Red controlled the faceoff after an icing call, but as defenseman Steve
Wilson cut in front of the net, he had the puck poked off his stick,
which led to Jeff Nielsen's stuff-in from the edge of the crease at the
3:24 mark. Linemate Joe Dziedzic padded the Gopher lead at 7:11 of the
first, when his soft shot hit goaltender Eddy Skazyk in the leg and
trickled through the pads.
It looked like the game would become a Minnesota runaway, but the Big Red
somehow kept the Gophers off the board for the rest of the period, and
Cornell got back into it early in the second. Vinnie Auger skated toward
the Minnesota net from the left circle, then left the puck for Mike San-
cimino, who was all alone in front. Sancimino snapped one inside the
right post behind goalie Jeff Callinan to put the Big Red on the board
1:21 into the middle stanza. Cornell started to pick up the pressure on
offense, but at the 7:20 mark, Jake Karam grumbled something to one of
the referees and earned himself a ten-minute misconduct, and Minnesota
regained their two-goal lead 37 seconds later. Bianchi took a shot that
Skazyk blocked, but he gave up the rebound to Chris McAlpine at the edge
of the crease, and the next thing you know, the puck was in the back of
the net. The Cornell players disputed this one, apparently arguing that
McAlpine had kicked it in, but the goal stood. From the radio announ-
cer's description, the puck did go in off McAlpine's skate, but he didn't
kick it, so the contact was ruled "inadvertent." Anyway, the Gophers
were up 3-1.
The score stayed that way until there were under five minutes left in the
second period, when Cornell suddenly found themselves in a 5-on-3
situation, which they were able to convert. Blair Ettles took a shot
from the slot that missed the net, but Bumstead got the rebound off the
back boards and fired it past Callinan, who was screened by two of his
teammates. The goal cut the Gophers' lead to one with 3:50 left in the
period, and the momentum seemed to be going Cornell's way. However, Mc-
Alpine got one at the 18:59 mark that took the wind out of the Big Red's
sails and all but took them out of the game as well. He took a shot that
forward Tyler McManus blocked with his leg, but McAlpine pounced on the
rebound and fired a 60-footer from the slot that Skazyk never saw.
When the teams came out for the third period, Andy Bandurski replaced
Skazyk between the pipes for the Big Red. If this was an attempt to
shake up the Cornell team, it didn't work too well, as Minnesota closed
out the scoring 5:50 into the period. Once again, McAlpine figured in
the scoring, as he fed Bobby Dustin, who caught Bandurski moving the
wrong way and wristed one just inside the post. The last seven or eight
minutes of the game were marred by chippy play on the part of both teams,
and it all boiled over with under a minute left. A flurry in front of
the Minnesota net ended with a Bumstead shot rolling through the crease,
the net coming off its mounts, and a big shoving match near the slot.
Bumstead wound up squaring off with Nick Checco, who dropped the gloves
-- a move that, once upon a time, used to earn the guilty party a
fighting major (not that it would have made much of a difference at this
point). At any rate, when all was said and done, Cornell ended up with
another 5-on-3, but this one lasted only 36 seconds, and the Big Red
didn't do much with it.
Callinan was shaky in the Minnesota net at times, but he got the win,
recording 19 saves in the process. For Cornell, Skazyk had 20 saves, and
Bandurski played well in relief, stopping 15 of 16 shots. The Cornell
power play may finally be coming around, as they went 2 of 5 in this
game. Combined with the third period of the Boston College game (in
which Cornell had a pair of power-play goals), the Big Red has converted
four of its last nine power plays, after converting just one of its first
39 on the season. Granted, Minnesota is not the world's greatest team in
short-handed situations (killing off 74% of opponents' penalties going
into this game), but there may still be hope yet for the Big Red's
special teams. Cornell will next take on Maine in the Mariucci Classic
consolation game on January 2.
--
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!!
"Why is it whenever you break up with somebody, they always say, 'You'll
never meet anyone else like me'? I should hope not! If I don't want to
go out with YOU, why would I want to go out with someone JUST LIKE YOU?"
-- Larry Miller
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