Colgate at Cornell
 
OK, let me throw in my two cents on last night's contest.
 
Remember the lowly Union College hockey team last season, when they came to
Lynah Rink a lowly underdog with nothing to lose, and went home the tallest
victors in the ECAC because they played some really good hockey against a
lackluster Cornell team and a silent home crowd?    Well, last night's game had
the markings of that Union-Cornell game:  Cornell was nearly non-existent,
Colgate was fighting like hell to win, and the spectators were unusually quiet.
 
Granted that we are observing the winter recess, but enough hockey fans showed
up to watch the game.  Even a small contingent of the pep band appeared in the
regular red-and-white rugby shirts (so you can't say that they were not
organized).  However, the crowd was DEADLY silent, so quiet that Pete Tufford
on the radio made a point to mention that.  Of course, one can argue that there
was not much to cheer about last night's game.  I'm inclined to agree:  Other
than the Providence game in which the Red lost 7-0, this was probably the worst
game I've seen since 1989.  Cornell was playing much dump-and-chase hockey, but
with no forechecking, the puck was quickly picked up by Colgate, who were able
to skate up the ice.  There were MANY bad clearing passes in our zone that
ended up as give-aways to Colgate, one resulting in the Red Raiders' tying
goal.  No one has mentioned that the referee disallowed THREE (3) Colgate goals
in the game.  From where I can see, at least one of those three goals probably
should have counted.  Also, the offensive output of Cornell was meager (16
saves ? by Gates of Colgate for the game).  No wonder, the team was either too
busy trying to clear out of the zone without success, or couldn't control the
puck in Colgate's end.  There were three occasions when the puck skated
parallel to the goal line and in and out of the goal mouth.  Cornell couldn't
buy those breaks, and that was too bad.  As far as penalties went, in light of
the recent discussions on officiating, let's just say that short of the stupid
mistakes Cornell made, there were times you really had to wonder if BOTH refs
were watching the game in progress.
 
Do let me mention that for Colgate, it was double homecoming last night:
Gates, the goalie, hailed from Ithaca and was a participant of the Ithaca Youth
Hockey Program.  Don Vaughn, the head coach, used to assist Cornell's Brian
McCutcheon until two seasons ago.
 
There were bright moments for Cornell, but not often enough:  Andrew Bandurski
came up with many big saves and kept the scoring low.  He couldn't do it all by
himself, but what he did he did very well, gaining confidence with every game.
Shaun Hannah, No. 15, showed a lot of flash and hard work on the ice last
night.  Although I didn't think he was credited with the second Cornell goal,
he was the one who put it in the open net to Gates' right, taking a feed from
Geoff Bumstead on Shaun's right.  His SHG was nothing but hustle, with a little
luck catching Gates off balance.  Unfortunately, the whole team just couldn't
put it all together to hold on to a one-goal lead.
 
Greg Berge and Ann Baseler published a hockey newsletter named "The Big Red
What?", which I received the latest issue today.  You know, after watching last
night's game, I couldn't help but wonder that the moniker might just be
appropriate for this team up to now.
 
Tom Y. Tseng
Cornell '87  MEng '94?