Yale downed Cornell in OT last night 4-3 in what was a very hard-fought game
and probably Cornell's best of the year, despite the fact that the Red is
still missing several key players.
 
Eddie Skazyk started in net as Andy Bandurski is still out with a sprained
ankle.  He is settling into the job very well, and if Andy doesn't come back
 soon, he may no longer be Cornell's first string goalie.  Eddie (the jury is
still out on how to pronouce his last name) is a stand-up goalie in contrast
to Andy's flopping style. It kind of reminds me of D'Alessio and Crozier,
who were like night and day.  That combination worked pretty well, and I
think Eddie is going to uphold Cornell's tradition of excellent goaltending.
 
The big news of the evening was that Cornell's power play worked!  In fact,
their first two goals were scored with the man advantage.  Yale came back
width two power play goals of their own, and then scored a third to get the
lead.  At this point I was really worried that the Red would let up, but I
shouldn't have been.  They kept pressuring Yale like they had been the whole
game, and tied the score with about two minutes to go in the third.  Unfor-
tunately, it only took Yale less than a minute to get the game winner in OT.
 
This was a very positive game for Cornell even though they lost.  They played
sixty solid minutes, and played up to Yale's level despite missing so many
players (Russ Hammond, Tyler McManus, Jason Vogel, and Andy Bandurski aren't
back yet, though P.C. Drouin is).  I was a little surprised at how much the
Yale players celebrated after the game.  After all, the second place team
just beat the tenth place team;  it shouldn't have been that big a deal.
It was, though, partly because Yale hasn't swept Cornell since the '81-82
season, and partly because Cornell made them earn the win.
 
If Cornell continues to show the teamwork and stamina that they did last night,
 they could be the wild card to watch out for in the playoffs.  The Red proved
in 1980 that the last seed can win the ECAC championship, and they do say
that history has a way of repeating itself... :-)
 
Paulette Dwen
Cornell '89
Let's Go Red!                    "Princeton's in New Joisey..."