This is the first time I've gotten the chance to see Cornell play
in almost two years, and from what I've been reading on the net,
last night's game epitomized the season the Big Red has had this
year. Thank goodness I haven't had to deal with this aggravation.
I'm surprised that Brian's bald spot hasn't grown considerably over
the past two years, if this game is any indication of the hair
ripping that he must be enduring.
Anyway, the game started -- and continued for most of the game
-- as very physical. Good checking for both sides. No penalties
were called however until about ten minutes into the first. On the
Princeton power play, however, it was Cornell that took advantage,
with Ryan Hughes scoring on an unassisted shorthanded breakaway.
From that point on to late in the second period, Cornell dominated
play, greatly outshooting the Tigers (although I didn't keep
count), and controlling the play. Princeton did get some good
chances at the end of the first and beginning of the second with a
two man advantage for a minute and a half, but Cornell did an
excellent job of penalty killing.
Jake Karam scored a goal for the Big Red about seven minutes
into the second to make it 2-0 as Cornell continued to outplay the
Tigers. The Tigers were playing about as well as the Princeton
fans were cheering -- someone mentioned earlier that this was a
near-capacity crowd ... not according to Lynah standards. They
were only selling standing room tickets at the door, but there were
plenty of places to sit down. The small contingent of Big Red fans
were easily outcheering the Tiger fans until late in the game.
Princeton brought the game closer scoring a goal in the last
minute of the second period, and I don't know if that hurt the
Cornell skaters mentally or what, but the Big Red came out in the
third skating on their heels. Fortunately the Tigers are not the
best team in college hockey, because if they had any opportunistic
skaters at all, Cornell would have been down a bunch by the middle
of the period. But, as fate would have it, Cornell was able to
capitalize on a good end-to-end rush eight minutes in, with Geoff
Lapatka scoring from Geoff Bumstead and Jake Karam, and seemingly
putting to rest any thoughts of Princeton catching up.
But think again. With three minutes to go, a couple of
Princeton fans next to me left in apparent disgust at another
Princeton loss. Little did they know what would happen less than
a minute later. Ian Sharp scored a goal, cutting the lead to 3-2
with 2:42 remaining on a bizarre play involving the puck flipping
over the goal and somehow coming back out in front and ending up in
the net. We hardly had time to boost the Big Red skaters' morale
with cheers of "Let's Go Red" (still louder than the Princeton
fans' cheers), when Princeton unbelievably tied up the game on a
goal by Brian Bigelow with 2:05 remaining. Skazyk, playing for
Bandurski still, was looking like a real sieve at that point.
Both teams survived until the end of regulation, with a couple
more close chance for both sides. In OT, Shaun Hannah was called
for an iffy tripping penalty (the Tiger may have dived) about two
minutes into the extra session. Within the next minute, we were
out the door, cursing our frustration, as the Princeton team piled
up on the ice, and the fans were...happy. Sorry, didn't stick
around to see who scored it, but I'm sure someone will post the
dismaying box.
As unbelievable as the result was, the road trip up from D.C.
was, needless to say, well worth it. Thanks to all of you who have
kept up my interest in college hockey, the spark of the game was
still there after a nearly two-year hiatus. Maybe the Big Red will
have better luck the next time, and anyway, Princeton's still in
New Jersey.
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Steve Feinleib | | Let's
Cornell '91 | | Go
SFA@NIHCU (bitnet) | | Red! __
[log in to unmask] (internet) \ \_____/ /
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