Cornell fell just short of hosting a preliminary-round playoff game, but the
three points the Big Red earned this weekend marked the first time in eight
years that they had gotten through the final weekend of the regular season
without a loss. It also marked the last game at Lynah for the team's four
seniors: Jake Karam, Tyler McManus, Christian Felli, and Blair Ettles, who
played Saturday night as a forward instead of on defense, and actually did
rather well. More notes from the weekend's games:
RPI 2, Cornell 2 (OT)
This game was not particularly well-played, but it was exciting, fast-paced,
intense, and oh yes, hard-hitting. In fact, there was quite a lot of
hitting going on, a fair amount of which was illegal. Cornell defenseman
Steve Wilson seemed to be involved in much of it, either on the giving or
receiving end, and I suspect RPI fans feel the same way about him as Cornell
fans used to feel about Bruce Coles. It was that kind of night. RPI
leading scorer Bryan Richardson did not dress for this game for some reason.
After some wild back-and-forth action early in the first period, Brad Char-
trand got the Big Red on the board at the 8:31 mark. A long Mike Sancimino
pass from center ice eluded an RPI defenseman, and Chartrand skated across
the blue line in pursuit of the puck after icing was waved off, beating the
defender to it. Engineer goalie Mike Tamburro came out to challenge him but
played a horrible angle, leaving most of the net open. Chartrand pulled up
in the left circle and let fly with a hard shot that caught the net inside
the right post.
The teams battled their way (literally) through the rest of the first
period, and the Engineers' Jeff O'Connor tied the game 1:28 into the second.
Goaltender Eddy Skazyk stopped a long shot by O'Connor but misplayed the
rebound, and the puck rolled through the crease and came to rest near the
right post. O'Connor stuffed it past a diving Skazyk for the score. Six
minutes later, Cornell's Bill Holowatiuk went off on a cheap cross-checking
call (considering the kinds of things that had been let go earlier, in-
cluding a near-fight in the RPI end moments earlier), but the Big Red almost
took the lead during the Engineer power play. Christian Felli got the loose
puck in the Cornell slot and, with fellow defenseman Steve Wilson to his
left, raced up the ice on a 2-on-1. Felli got off a low shot from in close
that Tamburro just managed to get the pad on, denying the senior defenseman
what would have been his first career goal.
Cornell did regain the lead at the 10:08 mark. Chad Wilson got off a wobbly
shot from near the left point that was tipped by Mike Sancimino and hit the
left post. Tamburro lost the rebound, which floated over to the right side
of the crease, and with the RPI goalie out of position, Sancimino hacked the
puck into the net. The Big Red had a golden opportunity to make it 3-1 with
about four minutes left, as a rebound lay loose in the crease in front of an
open RPI net, but Jon Pirrong got to the puck first and cleared it down the
ice.
Shortly afterward, RPI tied the game on a goal that, while it was not the
softest one I have ever seen, definitely makes the short list. Chad Wilson
attempted to clear the puck out of the zone, but Patrick Rochon got to the
puck at the blue line and sort of half-wristed a weak, lazy shot that went
though Steve Wilson's legs and sailed past Skazyk. A minute later, RPI
threatened again when one of the Engineer forwards spun past Jason Dailey to
set up a 2-on-1, but Skazyk made a nice chest save while sliding backward
into the net, keeping the teams even at 2-2.
Predictably, the teams engaged in a brief skirmish after the second period
had ended, forcing the officials to separate them and keep the Cornell
players on the ice until the Engineers had departed. Early in the third
period, Geoff Lopatka leveled Tamburro behind the RPI net and, surprisingly,
got away with it. The Big Red had the two biggest opportunities of the
third period, with the first coming about two and a half minutes in. Mark
Scollan and Jake Karam attempted a give and go, with Scollan finding Karam
in the left circle. Tamburro came out of the net toward Karam, who immed-
iately sent the pass over to a wide-open Scollan, who was heading toward the
crease. However, Scollan lost his footing and wound up sliding into the net
without the puck. A couple minutes later, Chad Wilson lifted a shot from
the left point that Lopatka got his stick on, but the puck deflected
straight down, and Tamburro was able to glove it.
Cornell was tired by the end of the third period, and RPI dominated the
overtime, putting six shots on the Big Red goal. However, the defining
moment of the extra session came at the 3:06 mark, when the game-long
hostilities finally erupted in a brawl in front of (and almost *on*) the
Cornell bench. The main combatants were Lopatka and Tim Regan, but a number
of other players were at least peripherally involved -- including RPI's Jeff
Matthews, who came off the bench and slammed into Lopatka from behind.
Astonishingly, Matthews got off scot-free, despite the rule stating that a
player who comes off the bench to join an "altercation" will receive an
automatic game disqualification penalty. Lopatka and Regan were each
assessed a misconduct and two minors and were sent to their respective
locker rooms.
Skazyk shined in the overtime period, especially when he came up with a
great save with 10 seconds left to preserve the tie. Off a 2-on-1 break,
Eric Healey got the puck near the right post and tried to stuff it home, but
Skazyk slid over to deny him. Another scuffle erupted near the Cornell net
after the final whistle, and some plastic cups came sailing out of one of
the student sections of the stands. That was inappropriate, but what
followed was at least as bad, if not worse. Tamburro turned, started
screaming at the fans, and (I've been told a few other RPI players did this
as well; Tamburro was the only one I saw) flipped them the bird. In case
his message was missed, he repeated his "gesture" farther down the ice for
the benefit of the students at that end (as you might guess, more cups were
thrown at that point). To their credit, some of the RPI players and coaches
were doing their best to hustle him off the ice before things got any
uglier. Needless to say, there was no handshake.
Well anyway, Tamburro finished with 33 saves, while Skazyk stopped 30 shots.
Cornell 8, Union 2
This game started out slowly, but Cornell exploded for six goals in the
second period to put the Union Skating Dutchmen away -- and incidentally,
tie the series between these two at four wins apiece since Union joined the
ECAC back in 1991. The win also marked the first time Cornell had swept
Union in the season series since the Dutchmen joined the ECAC.
Blair Ettles, who had only seen action in four games this year, joined his
senior teammates to start the game, skating as a forward in place of P.C.
Drouin, who apparently aggravated his knee injury. The first period of this
one was pretty lackluster, with most of it taking place in the Cornell zone.
Union had the only real scoring threat of the first period, coming in on a
2-on-1 break with 6:30 left, but Christian Felli broke it up by sliding on
the ice and snuffing the pass attempt. The other notable thing about the
first period was that the officials were calling nothing, letting a great
deal of holding, roughing, hooking, and so forth go. I thought they were
going to lose control of the game completely, but things settled down after
Union's Ryan Donovan was *finally* called for roughing.
The Big Red came out more fired-up to start the second period and wasted
little time in lighting the lamp. The play started when Ryan Smart bounced
a shot off Union goalie Trevor Koenig's chest and the rebound floated over
to Geoff Lopatka. With Koenig out of the crease, Lopatka had an empty net
to shoot at, but he couldn't get control of the puck and didn't get a shot
off until Koenig had gotten back. Lopatka would redeem himself seconds
later by camping out at the right post and jamming a rebound past the
sprawling goalie at the 1:24 mark. Cornell went up 2-0 at 3:30 of the
second, off a nice effort by Jamie Papp. Bill Holowatiuk cleared the puck
out of the Cornell zone, and Papp caught the pass with his skate in front of
the Union bench, kicked it to his stick, and headed up left wing. He skated
to the left circle and fired a low, hard shot to Koenig's glove side; the
puck hit the right post and bounced into the net.
Both teams were playing more intensely now, and when Ettles was sent off at
the 9:15 mark, Union capitalized for their first goal of the game. Steve
Wilson slid to block Cory Holbrough's shot from the right circle, but John
Sicinski got to the loose puck and fired a high one from the edge of the
circle that beat goaltender Eddy Skazyk over the left shoulder. Tony Bergin
responded for the Big Red at the 13:18 mark, as he skated down the right
side, spun defenseman Dean Goulet around in the right circle, waited for
Koenig to go down, then shifted to his backhand as he was skating in front
of the net and slipped the puck between Koenig's skate and the left post.
Cornell broke the game open with three goals in a minute and a half later in
the period. Koenig stopped a shot by Papp, as well as a rebound try by Ber-
gin, but Bergin stayed with the puck and flipped home the second rebound
from the edge of the crease at 15:56 of the second. Just over a minute
later, Smart fed Mike Sancimino at center ice, and the junior winger skated
down left wing, shook off Reid Simonton (no easy task, that) in the left
circle, and beat Koenig low to the stick side at the 17:01 mark. That was
all for Koenig, as Luigi Villa came into the game to replace him, but the
goaltending change made little difference. Smart made it 6-1 with 2:32 left
in the period, skating through the slot and flipping the puck over Villa's
shoulder from the left edge of the crease.
Sancimino got his second goal of the game at 11:06 of the third period,
deking Villa to the ice and putting home a high shot from near the left
post. The Dutchmen made it 7-2 with 4:21 left, when, following a big flurry
in front of the Cornell net, a rebound came out high in the slot for Dono-
van, who rifled it over Skazyk's leg. Smart rounded out the scoring with
2:49 left in the game, stealing the puck from Andrew Will in the Cornell
zone, skating down the right side on a 2-on-0 break with Sancimino trailing,
and tucking a high shot just inside the crossbar.
The fans spent most of the third period cheering for Felli, who in his 100th
career game was trying for his first career goal. He didn't get it (partly
because he was laughing so hard he might have had trouble skating straight
-- yes, fans, the players CAN hear you, at least they can at Lynah), but for
the second straight night, he came awful close. With 1:09 remaining, he put
a hard shot on the Union net that Villa was able to kick aside. After the
game and the handshake, the Big Red remained on the ice, raising their
sticks in salute to the fans. The loudest cheers, of course, were reserved
for Felli.
Skazyk had another great game for the Big Red, stopping 33 of 35 shots.
Koenig had 14 saves, and Villa stopped 12 shots in relief. The Big Red now
journeys to Canton to take on St. Lawrence in the Tuesday night preliminary
round game. The last three times these teams have met in the playoffs, the
Saints have won: in the 1989 and 1991 semifinals, and in the 1992 cham-
pionship game.
--
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-
writers, and Usenet is NOTHING like Shakespeare."
-- Blair Houghton
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