Well, "The Rivalry" had its latest installment performed last night before
a very 'over-sold-out' Lynah Rink last night.  (The Rivalry was the name of
a parody publication being sold by a Cornell student group - I don't know
which one - outside the rink last night)  The fish flew heavily and early
(actually not one of my more favorite events, I think a few fish would be a
whole lot better than the hundred or so that came out last night) as the
Harvard team took the ice for the pregame introductions.  All the talk of
pregame warnings turned out to be mere rumors, and Cornell started the game
at full strength.  Fortunately no one was injured during the episode,
although at game's end, the Pep Band noticed that a fish had caught itself
in the rafters.  Here's hoping they get that down soon...
 
The game started with some heavy, heavy hitting, the most that I've seen so
far this year.  The hitting was occurring for both teams, and the players
clearly seemed to have some ill will for each other.  It wasn't long before
Jason Kendall got into an all-out, no hold barred brawl with a Harvard
player.  (Presumably Hyland, from the Box)  This was a full duke-em-out
fist fight, though the gloves did not come off.  Referee Murphy preferred
to call only 3 minors per team, despite the fact that this was a third and
fourth man in situation.  (The third man was Daily from the Red, by the
way, although he was sort of involved from the start.)  The nastiness
continued all period involving two mroe scrums, during which the penalties
handed out were pretty light.  I was fearing this would degenerate into
something really nasty.  And I was really hoping that Cornell would get the
first tally.  The crowd was loud and excited but getting very antsy to see
a Cornell goal.  Finally, this occurred when very late in the first Kyle
Knopp stole a clear attempt from the Harvard zone and put it in past
Harvard goaltender JR Prestifillippo while flying into the net.  Cornell
almost got a second shortly threreafter, but JR was solid, keeping the Red
out of the net.
 
The second period reverted to some more civilized hockey.  Again, JR kept
the Red out of the net with good play, while Elliot kept the Crimson at
Bay.  The Red pulled out to a 2-0 lead with a Matt Cooney goal late in the
second.  In the third, the Red went into a bit of a shell, and did not put
any presuure on at all.  With the Pep Band preparing for "Hey Harvard, it's
Valentine's Day and you can't score," Harvard, of course, ended the shutout
bid when Elliot ended up flat on wis back and unable to do anything
productive about the puck on its way into the net. The altogether too
familiar 2-1 score held up, and the Red eeked out another close victory.
With Vermont's victory, the Red now control their own destiny once more.
And with Priceton's loss, the magic number for home playoff series is now 5.
 
 
Larry Weintraub,
Cornell University
Let's Go BIG RED!!!!!
 
Quote of the Semester:
   "Our program was coming but when we played Cornell our building just
changed.  The Cornell fans brought a lot of their chants and their
tradition to this building.  From then on, our crowd has taken off"
 
                --Michigan Hockey Coach Red Berenson
 
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