St. Lawrence 5 Cornell 0 Cornell (1-2, 1-2) 0 0 0 SLU (2-1, 5-1) 0 1 4 Lines: Drouin HUGHES Hammond Kloboucek HANNAH Scollan Sancimino LOPATKA Bumstead Chartrand KARAM DeHart Pairings: Vogel Felli Dufresne Belzile Ettles Holowatiuk SLU 09:09 pp Beattie (Meany, Albert) SLU 00:25 Albert (Carvel) SLU 01:17 Murphy (Alain, Meany) SLU 15:19 sh Carvel (ua) SLU 17:28 Roderick (Beattie, Verbeek) Saves: Bandurski, COR 38, Giroux, SLU 22 Worst third period I've ever seen Cornell play. Ever. Fans who saw Kaufmann's breakaway off the opening faceoff of the second period in the Yale game can picture Albert's goal. McCutcheon quickly pulled Hughes' line and sent out Hannah's, which prolonged the game's third goal by about 40 seconds. The Red showed their inexperience after that: it looked like they were trying to get 3 goals back on every rush, with the result of breakdowns and SLU breakaways. Bandurski looked like he was in shock (as well he might, with his team trying to stop a mortar barrage with tissue paper), and played about as badly as everybody else. Utterly awful. Which is too bad, because the first two periods were among the best of Cornell's early season. The forechecking was strong, and the defense held up, and the Big Red were very much in the game, controlling the tempo at times, through the first 40 minutes. Bandurski made a number of really good saves (even as his "flop first, ask questions later" style was sending me into cardiac arrest), and the young defensemen kept their wits in front of a strangely subdued Appleton crowd. No question about it: if Cornell strings together three periods of this kind of hockey, they can play with ANYBODY. Cornell stars of the game: (1) McCutcheon. For getting a bunch of kids in such good shape that a loss in Canton is actually a disappointment. ------------------ Cornell 3 Clarkson 3 (ot) The box score has already been posted by Bri Farrell. Lines: Lopatka HUGHES McManus Chartrand HANNAH Scollan Sancimino KARAM Hammond Doll DEHART Bumstead Pairings: same as vs. SLU On the next night, Cornell did string together three (actually, three and 1/4) strong periods, took the play to the Golden Knights, and took a point away from the North Country for the first time since the 90-91 trip. The name of this game was don't give Clarkson a man advantage: the Knights scored on a 5-on-3, a 5-on-4, and a 6-on-5. Cornell did kill 5 Clarkson man advantages, but the Knights really rolled up the shots and chances (and were unlucky, several times shooting wide right on top of Bandurski, and once ringing a post). Even strength, Cornell held a slight advantage in the play, but both teams played excellent defense, and both goalies shone. With the game tied 2-2, Jake Karam put the Red on top by deking outside left around the Clarkson defense and launching a hard slapshot that beat Currie over his right shoulder. The Red protected the lead, even killing off a penalty when Shaun Hannah did one of the dumbest things I've seen him do: cross-checking a Clarkson defenseman in the Clarkson crease, after the play, right in front of both refs. The crowd chanted for "5" (personally, I wanted "10"). The refs settled for "2", but when the Big Red killed it off without many fireworks, it began to look more and more like they would give the Knights a tangible reminder of last year's ECAC SF. It was not to be. The Knights pulled Currie (that man advantage again) for a faceoff in the Cornell end, and the Red never cleared the puck. Dubinski's screened, deflected shot dribbled past Bandurski, Cheel rocked, and the visitors settled for the tie. Just another in a series of incredibly hard-fought games between these two teams in the past 3 or 4 years. Was Cornell playing over their heads? Don't be stupid - of course they were. But they held their own against a very annoyed team who did not want to lose another league game. Cornell stars of the game: (3) Ettles. The kid played solid defense throughout, and his Brett Hull-like slapshot put the Red on the board after 98 consecutive scoreless minutes. (2) Bandurski. Good play under tough conditions. This guy's now started three road games: UVM, SLU, and Clarkson; and two home games at Lynah. He must think all crowds are like this! (1) Karam. Good shifts throughout, and one hell of a big goal. Honorable mention: freshman wing Mike Sancimino got creamed at Cheel, and skated over to the Big Red bench without his helmet. Anne thinks he's "kinda cute". But she always did prefer younger men... Greg Somerville, MA Let's Go Red!