Cornell defeated Guelph 4-1 in their season-opening exhibition Saturday night
at Lynah Rink.  With the win, the Big Red avenged a 4-2 loss to the Gryphons in
the first round of the Gryphon Invitational last season.  Freshman center David
Kozier was the star of the game, as he put the Big Red solidly in control of
the contest by scoring twice and adding an assist in the second period.  Guelph
played without their leading scorer, Jason Jackman, and another forward, Bill
Monkman.
 
Cornell opened the scoring at 3:25 of the first, when defenseman Larry Pierce
skated behind the Guelph net and fired what was probably intended to be a pass
back out in front, but the puck hit goalie Mark Gowan's skate and deflected
across the goal line.  The Big Red dominated in the early going and had several
chances to add to their lead, hitting posts three times.  The most notable of
these came while they were killing a penalty; Jeff Oates broke out of the
Cornell zone and sent a pass ahead to David Hovey, who eluded a defender and
bounced a slapper off the right post.
 
Big Red defender Andrew McNiven picked up a major and a game misconduct when he
slammed James Boyd into the boards, and after serving a couple penalties of
their own, the Gryphons finally cashed in on the power play at the 15:08 mark.
 A long pass found Scott Sweitzer deep behind the Cornell defense, and he took
a shot that was kicked aside by goaltender Ian Burt.  Paul Rosebush followed up
with the rebound, which Burt also saved, and then Marcel Kars tracked down the
puck and managed to slip it past Burt.  Defenseman Jeff Burgoyne got his stick
on the rolling puck before it crossed the goal line, but his clearing pass
wound up going to Sweitzer, who finally buried it.
 
Kozier and the rest of his mates exploded in the second period, as Cornell
outshot the Gryphons by a 22-3 margin.  The Big Red took the lead for good at
the 3:27 mark, after Gowan had stopped both Hovey's shot from the point and
Mike Rutter's rebound try.  Kozier gathered in the loose puck and sent a low
shot past Gowan.  Burgoyne extended Cornell's lead to 3-1 with a power-play
marker at 9:34 of the second, taking a long shot that passed through a clump of
players in front of the net, deflecting off somebody/something before
fluttering past Gowan.
 
Kozier's second goal, with 3:19 remaining in the middle period, was described
by Cornell head coach Mike Schafer as "a goal-scorer's goal.  He showed poise
and held on to it, and held on to it, and held on to it, and then he finished."
 Kozier circled behind the Gryphon net and tried to send a pass across the
crease, but Gowan blocked it.  Kozier then got the rebound and moved toward the
left side of the net, waiting for Gowan to commit before wristing a high shot
over the goalie's shoulder.
 
The hard-fought third period saw a solid defensive effort by Cornell and some
outstanding saves by goaltender Matt Underhill, who had taken over for Burt
halfway through the second.  Underhill robbed Sweitzer twice from point-blank
range with about 9:50 left and make a great sliding glove save on a slapper
from Rob Fitzgerald.  Underhill stopped all 12 shots he faced; Burt had 10
saves.  Gowan stopped 41 shots for the Gryphons.
 
Next up for the Big Red is their season opener this Friday, when they will host
the Purple Eagles of Niagara.
 
--
Disclaimer -- Unless otherwise noted, all opinions expressed above are
              strictly those of:
 
Bill Fenwick
Cornell '86 and '95                                             DJF  5/27/94
LET'S GO RED!!                                                  JCF  12/2/97
"Now they show you how detergents take out bloodstains.  Pretty violent
 image there.  I think if you've got a T-shirt with bloodstains all over it,
 maybe laundry isn't your biggest problem right now."
-- Jerry Seinfeld
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.