If you had told the average Big Red fan that his/her team would emerge from
the first weekend of ECAC play with an undefeated record and would be one
point out of second place, you might have gotten any number of responses --
but none of them would have been along the lines of "Well, that sounds about
right..." Cornell relied mostly on spectacular goaltending, with some good
chances by the offense, to take three of four points on the Dartmouth-
Vermont road trip, and last year's eleventh-place finishers now sit one
point out of second in the standings. Yes, it's a little early to celebrate
(particularly with league near-favorite Harvard coming to town this Friday),
but this is the first time Cornell has been undefeated after opening weekend
in the ECAC in three years (the Big Red opened the 1990-91 season with wins
over Army and Princeton). Boxes and notes below:
Cornell 4, Dartmouth 3 (OT)
Cornell 0 0 3 1 -- 4
Dartmouth 1 0 2 0 -- 3
First period -- Scoring:
D Scott Fraser (Tony DelCarmine, Matt Collins), 0:57 (PP) 0-1
Penalties:
C Mike Sancimino (boarding), 0:27; D Matt Wilson (roughing), 5:17;
C Geoff Lopatka (hooking), 8:28; D Scott Dolesh (roughing), 17:42
Second period -- Penalties:
C Chad Wilson (tripping), 0:33; D Mike Loga (holding), 5:06; C C.
Wilson (holding), 9:35; C Dan Dufresne (high-sticking), 18:28; D Mike
Stacchi (high-sticking), 18:28
Third period -- Scoring:
D Fraser, 0:48 0-2
C Jake Karam (Geoff Bumstead, Mike Sancimino), 1:52 1-2
C Andre Doll (Bumstead, Dan Dufresne), 4:36 2-2
C Mark Scollan (Jamie Papp, Vincent Auger), 5:32 3-2
D Patrick Turcotte, 12:56 (PP) 3-3
Penalties:
C Dufresne (cross-checking), 6:26; D Delcarmine (slashing), 11:37;
C Brad Chartrand (roughing), 11:37; C Christian Felli (cross-checking),
11:45; C Dufresne (high-sticking), 16:29; D Bill Kelleher (high-
sticking), 16:29
Overtime -- Scoring:
C Shaun Hannah (Steve Wilson, Chartrand), 0:07 4-3
Shots on goal: Cornell 17-12-16-1 -- 46, Dartmouth 9-18-13-0 -- 40
Power play: Cornell 0 of 3, Dartmouth 2 of 6
Goaltending:
C Eddy Skazyk (40 shots, 37 saves)
D Mike Bracco (46 shots, 42 saves)
Notes:
Early on, it didn't look like the Big Red had improved much, as the
team was very disorganized, especially on defense, for about the first
ten minutes. But Cornell came around and dominated play for the most
part from then on. Just 27 seconds into the game, referee Mike Noeth
hit Cornell's Mike Sancimino with a rather weak boarding call, and it
didn't take the Big Green's Scott Fraser long to convert the power
play. Cornell defenseman Blair Ettles went for the loose puck at
center ice, but Tony DelCarmine got to it first and found Fraser wide
open in front of the Big Red net. Fraser one-timed the shot through
goaltender Eddy Skazyk's pads, and Dartmouth had a 1-0 lead on their
first shot of the game.
There were brief flashes from the Cornell offense during the first half
of the period -- freshman Jamie Papp uncorked a 65-foot blast that
Dartmouth goalie Mike Bracco never reacted to; fortunately for him, the
shot was just wide of the post -- but for the most part, the Big Red
looked much like last year's edition. However, things began to change
at about the ten-minute mark, as the defense became somewhat more
cohesive and the offense started testing Bracco. In particular, three
times in a row, Cornell won a faceoff in the Dartmouth zone and fired a
shot toward the Big Green net. It was good to see (or in my case,
hear) the offense taking some shots, instead of wasting opportunities
trying to set up perfect passes.
Bracco was terrific in the first period, while Skazyk was a bit shaky,
but they both were walls in the scoreless second period. Dartmouth
outshot the Big Red 18-12 in the period, but Cornell had the better of
the play in what was becoming a bit of a physical game. Once again, a
Cornell player got nailed for a penalty in the opening minute of the
period -- this time it was Chad Wilson, who was called for tripping.
(Chad was described by color commentator Pete Tufford as a "bigger,
stronger Bruce Frauley", which is high praise indeed. He does wear the
same number 5 that Frauley did) However, the Big Green was unable to
do much with this early power play.
The Big Red at least got through the first minute of the third period
without being whistled for a penalty, but they did not fare as well on
the scoreboard, as Fraser struck again. This time, he picked up a
loose puck, muscled his way up the right side of the rink, drew Skazyk
to the ice, and backhanded a shot into the net to give the Big Green a
2-0 lead with just 48 seconds gone in the period. A second goal, again
within the first minute of play, seemingly dashed the Big Red's hopes
of winning this game.
Ah, but things are apparently a little different this year. After
Skazyk came up with a pair of huge saves to keep Dartmouth from doing
any further damage, Jake Karam lit the lamp for Cornell's first goal of
the year. Linemate Mike Sancimino brought the puck across the Dart-
mouth blue line, then got hit and lost it; however, Geoff Bumstead was
right there to pick it up. He spun and fired a shot that Bracco got a
piece of, and Karam skated in to knock home the rebound at 1:52 of the
third. Andre Doll then tied the game at 4:36 with a quick wrister that
hit a Dartmouth defender and sailed through Bracco's pads. Less than a
minute later, Mark Scollan stole the puck and skated up the ice on a 2-
on-1 break with Vincent Auger. A quick pass to Auger made it a 2-on-0,
and as Bracco moved over to cut the angle down, Auger returned the puck
to Scollan, who flipped it into the empty net.
Dartmouth was not done, however, as the Big Green stepped up their
physical game even more. With 8:15 left in the game, Cornell's Chris-
tian Felli went off for cross-checking and Dartmouth eagerly began
their sixth power play of the night, but they were nearly caught
napping by Auger, who got a loose puck and was suddenly streaking up
the ice on a short-handed breakaway. Auger's shot bounced off the post
to Bracco's right, and the Big Green was able to regain control. The
game was tied shortly afterward, when the puck bounced into the net off
Patrick Turcotte at the 12:56 mark. It appeared that Turcotte might
have kicked the puck in, but the ruling was that the puck bounced off
his shin pad, and the goal stood.
Cornell had a number of opportunities to score the game-winner in the
last five minutes of regulation, including two more shots that hit the
goalposts, but despite the constant pressure, the game remained tied.
Overtime, however, was brief, as Cornell's best faceoff man, sophomore
Brad Chartrand, won another one and drew the puck over to defenseman
Steve Wilson. Meanwhile, Shaun Hannah broke toward the Dartmouth blue
line, and Wilson's pass found him through a clump of Big Green players.
Hannah broke in alone and backhanded the puck into the left side of the
net just seven seconds into OT. This, by the way, was one second off
the fastest OT goal Cornell has ever scored. For those of you who like
bizarre stats, this is also the first time Cornell has won an overtime
game in which the five-minute overtime (introduced in 1989) was in
effect; the Big Red was 0-4-11 in such games prior to Friday night
(although Cornell did manage to win a couple of tournament games which
had ten- or twenty-minute overtime periods during that time).
Anyway, both goaltenders had excellent games for the most part, with
Bracco making 42 saves and Skazyk 37. This was by definition Skazyk's
best game in a Cornell uniform, since it was his first win in ten
career appearances, but he actually played quite well after a bit of a
shaky start, and Cornell fans shouldn't be quite so nervous about
having him in the rotation. Incidentally, Cornell's 46 shots on goal
was the most they have had in a game since, ironically, the game in
Dartmouth in January, 1991, when the Big Red had 53. Bracco was the
goalie in that game as well.
Cornell 1, Vermont 1 (OT)
Cornell 0 0 1 0 -- 1
Vermont 1 0 0 0 -- 1
First period -- Scoring:
V Dominique Ducharme (Nicholas Perreault, ??? Hallman),
19:59 0-1
Penalties:
C Jake Karam (slashing), 1:59; V Brian Leddy (elbowing), 8:10; C Geoff
Lopatka (interference), 8:44; V Bill Lincoln (high-sticking), 11:45;
C Tyler McManus (holding), 13:21; V Eric Perrin (slashing), 13:49;
C Brad Chartrand (holding), 15:12
Second period -- Penalties:
V Jonathan Sorg (roughing), 1:28; C Matt Cooney (holding), 4:36;
V Pavel Navrat (high-sticking), 7:47; C Lopatka (high-sticking), 7:47;
C Dan Dufresne (tripping), 9:45; C Dufresne (high-sticking), 13:21;
V Navrat (cross-checking), 17:30
Third period -- Scoring:
C Vincent Auger (Mark Scollan, Steve Wilson), 17:57 1-1
Penalties:
V Mike Larkin (roughing), 3:29; C Mike Sancimino (roughing), 3:29;
V Perreault (interference), 3:58; C Auger (hooking), 4:08; V Travis
Lehouiller (elbowing), 6:33
Overtime -- Penalties:
C Blair Ettles (tripping), 0:47
Shots on goal: Cornell 7-11-7-3 -- 28, Vermont 14-15-10-7 -- 46
Power play: Cornell 0 of 7, Vermont 0 of 10
Goaltending:
C Andy Bandurski (42 shots, 41 saves), Eddy Skazyk (in at 1:08 of
overtime, 4 shots, 4 saves)
V Tim Thomas (28 shots, 27 saves)
Notes:
Goaltending, goaltending, and goaltending, especially for the Big Red,
as Andy Bandurski made his 1993-94 debut and was once again spec-
tacular, as he always has been against Vermont for some reason. He had
a career-high 41 saves against the Catamounts before getting injured in
the overtime period. Kudos also to Eddy Skazyk, who was forced to come
into the game without much of a warmup but was able to keep Vermont off
the board through the rest of OT to preserve the tie. Cornell's
offense still needs to develop a little consistency, as the Big Red
managed just 28 shots in this game -- but then, being hit with eleven
penalties didn't help matters either.
Vermont's defense played aggressively for most of the game and didn't
give a sluggish Big Red team much of anything in the first period. The
Catamounts, in contrast, were teeing off on Bandurski virtually every
chance they got, and it finally paid off with just one second left in
the first. Nicholas Perreault skated into the Cornell zone and, with
just about everybody in Gutterson (well, the Vermont fans, anyway)
imploring him to shoot the puck, did so. Bandurski made a nice save,
but Dominique Ducharme was there to pounce on the rebound.
A wide-open second period followed, in which both teams picked up the
pace, but neither goaltender faltered. More of the same ensued in the
third period, but with both goalies coming up with numerous great
saves, it looked like the Catamounts would come away with the one-goal
win. But with 3:15 left in the game, Jake Karam fired a slapper from
the blue line that seemingly got past Vermont goalie Tim Thomas. At
least, that was the opinion of the Cornell players in the area, who
began celebrating. However, the next thing anyone knew, Vermont had
the puck and was steaming out of their zone. The goal light never came
on, but as Karam explained later (from _The Cornell Daily Sun_), "To me
it looked like the shot hit the goalie and then hit the back of the net
and came out."
Well, if Cornell was in fact robbed on that one, the Big Red at least
was able to convert their next opportunity. Vincent Auger took a feed
from Mark Scollan and found himself behind Thomas, whereupon he shook
off a defender and backhanded the puck into the net with 2:03 left in
regulation.
Bandurski continued his scintillating play into overtime, but 47
seconds into the extra session, he injured his ribs, and at the same
time, Blair Ettles was called for tripping. Bando stayed in the game,
and, facing Vermont's tenth power play of the night, he came up with an
outstanding pad save off a point-blank shot. It was probably his best
save of the night, and it was certainly his last, as he suffered a hip
pointer on the play and had to leave the game. In came Skazyk, faced
with the unenviable task of having to shut the door on a fired-up Cata-
mount team that was on a man advantage to boot. But he was equal to
the task, stopping Vermont's last four shots, and the game ended in a
tie. Thomas stopped 27 shots for Vermont, which gained its first point
of the season.
Again, it's a little early to proclaim that all of the Big Red's woes from
last year are cured, but I think Cornell fans can safely jump back on the
bandwagon. I was wondering if the Big Red had ever opened the season with
back-to-back overtime contests, and the answer from _The Cornell Hockey
Record Book_ (thanks again to Arthur Mintz) is no, so we have a little
history here once again. Is it possible we'll see another Cornell team like
the Kardiac Kids of 1985-86, who played eleven overtime games and lost only
two of them? (Cornell also won the ECAC championship that year, which would
be another nice thing to emulate :-)
First things first, though -- Harvard comes to Lynah next Friday for the Big
Red's home opener. Cornell hasn't beaten the Crimson in the regular season
in *16* tries, dating back to February of 1985.
Injury update: Andy Bandurski's status remains uncertain for this weekend.
Defenseman Bill Holowatiuk has not seen any playing time this season due to
a knee injury he suffered in the off-season and reinjured during practice.
It looks like he will have to have major reconstructive surgery on his knee,
which would put him out of action for six to eight months.
--
Bill Fenwick | Send your HOCKEY-L poll responses to:
Cornell '86 and probably '94 | [log in to unmask]
LET'S GO RED!!
"Last night I had a premonition that tonight I would have deja vu."
-- Bruce Morton
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