Colgate completed a season sweep of the Big Red with a 6-0 shellacking
Saturday night. Red Raider freshman sensation Dan Brenzavich was spec-
tacular in net once again, stopping all 31 Cornell shots to pick up his
first career shutout.
For the first time in years, a sizable contingent of Colgate fans made the
trip from Hamilton, and the Red Raiders would give them plenty to cheer
about. The Big Red played a solid first period, but there were definite
signs that Colgate would be causing trouble later on. Three and a half
minutes into the game, Colgate's Tim Loftsgard was left all alone in the
slot and was the recipient of a nice pass from the left point, but with
goaltender Jason Elliott out of position and the net wide open, Loftsgard
whiffed on the one-timer. Seconds later, as a Colgate power play was
expiring, Chris DeProfio skated unmolested to the left side of the net, but
he waited too long to shoot, and Elliott was able to come up with the glove
save.
The Big Red had some scoring opportunities of its own in the first period,
including two notable ones with under five minutes left. Jake Karam came
close to beating goalie Dan Brenzavich on a wraparound, but Brenzavich was
just able to trap the puck on the goal line under his pad. A minute later,
Tyler McManus muscled his way between two Colgate defenders and had a clear
path to the goal, but Brenzavich blocked his shot, and Brad Chartrand
flipped the rebound over the net.
Brenzavich was under fire in the first minute of the second period as well.
Thirty seconds in, Steve Wilson fired from the right point and Mike
Sancimino tried to tip the puck into the net, but Brenzavich was able to
kick it aside. Moments later, Brenzavich stopped another Wilson drive and
was somehow able to get a pad on the rebound try by Ryan Smart. At the
other end, Elliott was coming up with some great saves of his own,
particularly during a Colgate power play, when Cornell could not clear any
rebounds and the Red Raiders were taking pot shots at the Cornell net.
During the flurry, Elliott lost his stick and had to use Steve Wilson's for
about half a minute.
Despite all that, it looked like the Big Red would kill off the man-up
situation, but Colgate lit the lamp at the 2:59 mark, with two seconds
remaining in the power play. Jack McIntosh slapped one from near the left
point, and Dave Debusschere, who had worked his way past two Cornell
defenders, redirected the shot through Elliott's pads from the slot. This
was a demoralizing goal for the Big Red, and they followed it up less than a
minute later with a horrendous power play after Colgate's Rod Pamenter went
off for holding. The Red Raiders' second goal game at the 6:36 mark, when
Earl Cronan took a cross-ice pass from Ron Fogarty and slid a tough-angle
shot just inside the left post.
Cornell began to break down defensively, as the Red Raiders were able to
skate through the Big Red zone almost at will. Nevertheless, Cornell had a
big flurry in front of the Colgate net twelve minutes in, ending when
Brenzavich finally covered up a rebound of Tony Bergin's chip-in try.
Seconds later, the Big Red was peppering Brenzavich again, as Mark Scollan
stole the puck near the blue line and sent it over to Karam. Brenzavich
blocked that shot, as well as two subsequent rebound tries, to keep the Big
Red off the board.
Colgate went up 3-0 with 5:30 left in the second period. DeProfio and Mike
Harder came into the Cornell zone on a 2-on-1, which broke down when Harder
lost the puck in the right circle. Nobody picked up DeProfio, though, and
when Cronan got to the loose puck, DeProfio was waiting all alone in front
of the net to flip the pass home. Cornell was playing quite tentatively by
now, and an aroused Colgate squad was clearly smelling blood. DeProfio
struck again at the 18:04 mark, after Elliott had blocked a turnaround try
by Harder. Deprofio rushed in from the left side and knocked home the
rebound as he was skating past the net.
Listless though they were, the Big Red had some chances in the third period.
A few minutes in, Karam followed a clearing pass down the ice and actually
outskated four Colgate players to get to it, but unfortunately, the other
Cornell skaters had headed off on a line change. The Red Raiders were
pretty much coasting by this time (officially, they had only three shots on
goal in the third period), but even so, they picked up their fifth goal at
the 9:33 mark. Bill Baaki skated deep to the right side of the Cornell net,
then passed back to Clayton McCaffery alone in the slot (yes, the Cornell
defense was still having its troubles). McCaffery waited for Elliott to
commit and then flipped the puck over the goaltender's left shoulder into
the net.
Colgate rounded out the scoring at 11:22 of the third on a goal that was
hotly disputed by what remained of the Lynah Faithful. The goal came off
the stick of Steve DuBarry, who wristed it in from the right circle while a
Colgate player was on top of Elliott in the crease. He was shoved there by
a Cornell player, however, which probably explains why referee Harry Ammian
let the goal stand. Anyway, it only remained to see whether the Big Red
would be able to solve Brenzavich at all, and thanks to several good saves
later in the period (and a total of 11 overall for the third), they did not.
Elliott had 17 saves.
On the heels of a third-period collapse at Colgate two nights before, this
was a thoroughly demoralizing loss for the Big Red. It doesn't get any
easier for Cornell, as they now face the unenviable task of hosting a
resurgent St. Lawrence team Friday night, followed by a tough Clarkson
squad.
--
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
"I used to think the brain was the most important organ in the body, 'til I
realized, yeah, look what's telling me that."
-- Emo Phillips
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