The Big Red journeyed east to play the top two teams in the ECAC last weekend, and although Cornell played better than the scores would indicate, they still wound up with a pair of disheartening losses. The big difference in the two games was the power play, as Cornell went 0 for the weekend while each opponent scored three man-up goals. Box scores and other notes below: Brown 7, Cornell 4 Cornell 1 2 1 -- 4 Brown 3 2 2 -- 7 First period -- Scoring: B Brian Jardine (Mike Traggio), 0:32 0-1 B Chris Kaban (Ron Smitko, Kelly Jones), 1:01 0-2 B Eric Trach (Jardine, Ryan Mulhern), 9:00 (PP) 0-3 C Geoff Lopatka (Shaun Hannah, Brad Chartrand), 14:32 1-3 Penalties: B Bill McKay (cross-checking), 4:16; C Mike Sancimino (interference), 8:17 Second period -- Scoring: C Hannah (Lopatka), 0:39 2-3 B Mulhern (Jardine, Trach), 7:12 2-4 C P.C. Drouin (Mark Scollan, Chad Wilson), 12:03 3-4 B Mulhern (Jones, Jardine), 17:52 (PP) 3-5 Penalties: C Jason Zubkus (cross-checking), 2:54; C Dan Dufresne (hitting after whistle), 13:04; C Matt Cooney (hitting after whistle), 13:04; B Jones (hitting after whistle), 13:04; B Kaban (hitting after whistle), 13:04; C Steve Wilson (high-sticking), 15:21; C Sancimino (interference), 17:40; B Mark Shaughnessy (hooking), 19:17 Third period -- Scoring: C Scollan (Drouin, Vincent Auger), 6:34 4-5 B Tony Martino (Mark Fabbro, Jardine), 14:12 (PP) 4-6 B Kaban (Jones), 16:37 (SH) 4-7 Penalties: B Patrick Thompson (slashing), 0:37; C Cooney (hooking), 2:55; B Thompson (tripping), 8:22; C Bench (too many men on ice, served by Geoff Bumstead), 13:00; C Dufresne (misconduct), 14:12; B Charlie Humber (tripping), 15:42 Shots on goal: Cornell 9-13-10 -- 32, Brown 19-12-5 -- 36 Power plays: Cornell 0 of 5, Brown 3 of 6 Goaltending: C Eddy Skazyk (36 shots, 29 saves) B Geoff Finch (32 shots, 28 saves) Notes: Remember back in the good old days, when you never used to hear the word "speed" used to describe the Brown Bears? (unless it was preceded by the phrase "lack of") Well, forget it. These guys are FAST, and the Bear offense controlled this game for the most part. Despite that, Cornell came very close to digging themselves out of a horrendous early hole, cutting the lead to one on three separate occasions before finally wilting under the Bruin attack. Cornell goaltender Eddy Skazyk had a rough time of it at the outset, as Brown's first two shots on goal found the back of the net, putting the Bears up 2-0 with 61 seconds gone in the opening period. Early on, Steve Wilson skated out of the Cornell end with the puck, but his pass at center ice was stolen by Mike Traggio, who raced across the blue line on a 2-on-1 with Brian Jardine. Traggio dropped the puck off for Jardine just inside the right circle, and Jardine rifled one through Skazyk's pads 32 seconds after the opening faceoff. Brown's next rush up the ice produced their second goal, which was set up when Ron Smitko's wrister hit somebody in front of the net. With Skazyk down on one knee looking for the loose puck, Chris Kaban found it first and backhanded a shot from the crease under the goalie's stick. At the other end of the ice, Brown goalie Geoff Finch appeared to be a little shaky, as he was having some trouble controlling the puck on those occasions when the Big Red was able to challenge him. However, Mike Sancimino was whistled for interference at 8:17 when he ran into Finch, and it didn't take long for the Bears to boost their lead to 3-0. Jardine took a pass from Ryan Mulhern and skated toward the right circle, and when Skazyk moved to his left to cut down the angle, Jar- dine fired the puck over to Eric Trach, who was coming out of the left corner. Trach had the open net to shoot at, and he popped the puck home at the nine-minute mark. The Big Red was reeling and seemed to be out of it, but they began a comeback at 14:32 of the first, when Shaun Hannah and Geoff Lopatka combined on a nice play. Lopatka lost the puck in the corner, but Hannah dug it out as Lopatka moved between the circles. Hannah centered the puck for the untouched Lopatka, who whacked it through Finch's pads. Hannah and Lopatka teamed up again to bring the Big Red to within one 39 seconds into the second period. Hannah took a headman pass from Lopatka and raced across the Bears' blue line, putting the brakes on and letting fly with a high slapper that beat Finch over his shoulder. Four and a half minutes into the second period, with a Brown power play winding down, Steve Wilson dove in an attempt to knock a Bear pass away and wound up getting caught up the ice, as Brown broke into the Cornell zone on a 4-on-1. Chris Kaban had most of the net to shoot at, but Skazyk, who was playing considerably better than at the start of the game, dove back, got his stick on Kaban's shot, and then fell on the loose puck to snuff the threat. Still, Brown was able to up their lead to two again at the 7:12 mark. Jake Karam skated into the Bear zone but lost the puck to Trach, who spotted Jardine racing back the other way and sent a long cross-ice pass toward him. Jardine slipped and fell at the Cornell blue line but maintained control of the puck, faking a shot from the left circle and then sliding the puck over to Mulhern in the slot, who unleashed a high shot that a screened Skazyk never saw. Moments later, Kelly Jones had the puck at the edge of a crease with a wide-open net to shoot at, but he was levelled from behind (no call) and never got the shot off. The Big Red closed the gap to one again at the 12:03 mark, on a strange-looking rush that began with P.C. Drouin intercepting a Brown pass. Mark Scollan wound up with the puck, and he stick-handled through a scrambling Bear defense before getting off a weak shot that Finch blocked. The rebound floated over to Drouin, who had most of the net to shoot at. With 6:56 left in the second period, Brown's Mark Fabbro worked his way around defenseman Jason Zubkus and unleashed a slapper that Skazyk got the pad on, covering up in the crease. Jones took a late run at Skazyk, and the next thing you know, the fists were flying, with Matt Cooney going after Jones. During the altercation, Kaban knocked Skazyk down from behind and was almost immediately set on by Dan Dufresne. When the dust settled, Cooney and Dufresne were sent to the penalty box for Cornell, while Jones and Kaban made the trip for Brown. All four received minors for hitting after the whistle, though the fight(s) certainly seemed at least major-worthy. Anyway, the Bears got their fifth goal with 2:08 remaining in the second period. Jardine sent a bouncing pass over to Jones, who juggled the pass but was able to slide it over to Mulhern, who rifled it past Skazyk for his second goal of the night. Cornell refused to die, however, as they once again cut the lead to one at 6:34 of the third period. Drouin, Scollan, and Vincent Auger broke into the Brown zone on a 3-on-2, which quickly became a 2-on-0. Drouin's deep pass bounced off Auger's shin and rolled through the crease, where Scollan was waiting to tap it home. Later in the period, Scollan collided with Mulhern, losing his helmet in the process, and skated over to the bench. Unfortunately, there was some sort of miscommunication, and two players went in to replace him at the same time, leading to a too many men on the ice call against Cornell at the 13-minute mark. The mistake was crucial, because the Bears converted the power play a minute and twelve seconds later. Tony Martino was all alone near the right side of the Cornell net, and he fired one that deflected off Skazyk's pads and barely rolled across the goal line. Part of the reason Martino was unchallenged was that Dufresne got tripped right in front of the net (and right in front of referee Joe Kelly) and was taken out of the play. Dufresne was incensed that there was no call, and he argued vociferously with Kelly, earning himself a misconduct. Brown closed out the scoring with a short-hander at the 16:37 mark, when Jones bounced a 45-footer off Skazyk's pads and Kaban whacked home the rebound. Neither goaltender looked particularly solid in net, but Finch settled down after a shaky first period, finishing with 28 saves. Skazyk stopped 29 shots for Cornell. Harvard 4, Cornell 0 Cornell 0 0 0 -- 0 Harvard 1 1 2 -- 4 First period -- Scoring: H Steve Martins (Chris Baird, Derek Maguire), 5:29 (PP) 0-1 Penalties: C Mike Sancimino (holding), 5:11; H Perry Cohagan (high-sticking), 8:53; C Tim Shean (hooking), 12:15; H Marco Ferrari (tripping), 17:14 Second period -- Scoring: H Martins (Baird, Sean McCann), 10:26 (PP) 0-2 Penalties: H Peter McLaughlin (slashing), 6:28; C P.C. Drouin (roughing), 8:39; C Dan Dufresne (roughing), 13:02; H Brian Farrell (roughing), 13:02; H McCann (roughing), 16:25; C Geoff Lopatka (cross-checking), 20:00 Third period -- Scoring: H Farrell (Maguire, Martins), 6:43 (PP) 0-3 H Joe Craigen (Stuart Swenson), 18:01 (EN) 0-4 Penalties: H Kirk Nielsen (slashing), 2:20; C Mark Scollan (hitting from behind), 5:12; C Vincent Auger (roughing), 12:32; C Drouin (roughing), 12:32; H Ferrari (charging), 12:32; H McCann (roughing), 12:32; H Swenson (roughing), 12:32; C Tony Bergin (interference), 15:15; C Bergin (roughing), 19:52; H Jason Karmanos (holding), 19:52 Shots on goal: Cornell 5-10-7 -- 22, Harvard 12-11-15 -- 38 Power plays: Cornell 0 of 6, Harvard 3 of 6 Goaltending: C Andy Bandurski (out at ~17:45 of third period, in at 18:01 of third period, 37 shots, 34 saves) H Tripp Tracy (22 shots, 22 saves) Notes: As they did in their game against the Big Red at Lynah a few months ago, the Crimson showed that, while they may be an above-average team at even strength, they are absolutely deadly on the power play, con- verting about 33% of their chances overall this season. Three of Har- vard's four goals came with the man advantage, and the fourth was an empty-netter. Harvard was also aggressive on the penalty kill, as the Big Red was unable to mount much of a threat on any of their six power plays. Early on, Cornell was doing a good job of skating with the much faster Crimson squad and keeping their offense somewhat under control. Cor- nell's intense forechecking game rattled Harvard at the start, and the Big Red came very close to getting on the board six seconds into the game. Geoff Lopatka skated across the blue line and fired one that surprised Harvard goalie Tripp Tracy but also floated just wide of the net. It was unfortunate for the Big Red that they were unable to test Tracy much in the first period, because he looked a bit shaky. He would settle down later, however. At 5:11 of the opening period, Cornell's Mike Sancimino was whistled for his third penalty of the weekend (this time for holding), and for the third time the opponent scored with him in the box. Steve Martins drilled a quick shot from the right side that goaltender Andy Bandurski got a piece of, but the puck deflected off him and into the net at the 5:29 mark. The rest of the period saw the Big Red do a pretty good job of keeping Harvard's offense in check, although the Crimson would wind up with a 12-5 shots-on-goal margin. It's impossible to keep a team like Harvard under wraps forever, though, and the Crimson proved that by opening up the second period with a flurry of shots. Bandurski was somehow able to block almost all of them, but at the 10:26 mark, with P.C. Drouin off for roughing, Martins picked up his second goal of the game. Sean McCann unleashed a rocket that bounced off the post, and with Bandurski down in the crease and a Harvard player partially on top of him (don't know whether he was pushed or not), Martins was able to lift the rebound into the net. Still, with the score only 2-0 after two periods and Cornell playing a pretty good checking game, the Big Red had to like their chances, especially since they were able to generate some offensive pressure in the latter stages of the period. A penalty to Geoff Lopatka at the end of the second period had to be killed off, but Cornell did so success- fully to stay within reach. However, the Big Red were not so lucky later in the third period, when Mark Scollan went off for hitting from behind at the 5:12 mark. The Crimson all but put the game away at 6:43, when Martins took a hard shot that Brian Farrell redirected past a sliding Bandurski. The game had gotten rather nasty by this point, and at the 12:32 mark, after Bandurski had gloved a slapshot, he was levelled by Marco Ferrari. Vincent Auger responded by decking the defenseman, and suddenly there was a big tussle in the Cornell crease. When order was more or less restored, three Harvard players and two Cornellians were ushered to the box to serve minors, Ferrari for charging and the others for roughing. Cornell never really threatened the rest of the way, although Ban- durski was pulled for the extra attacker with something like 2:15 remaining. The move backfired, however, as Joe Craigen was sprung on a breakaway moments later, sliding the puck into the empty net with 1:59 left in the game. Bandurski, benched in his previous two starts, rebounded in a big way with a spectacular game against the relentless Harvard offense, as the Grand Blanc, Michigan native stopped 34 of the 37 shots he faced. Tracy, who is from Grosse Pt. Farms, Michigan, and oddly enough is a former teammate of Bandurski's, made 22 saves in posting the shutout. The win makes the Crimson unbeaten (5-0-3) in their last eight meetings with the Big Red. Thanks to a few upsets here and there, Cornell remained in seventh place (tied with Princeton) despite getting swept. The Big Red has a crucial stretch run coming up, with four of their six remaining games against "bottom six" teams -- St. Lawrence, Princeton, and Yale at Lynah, and Union on the road. (The other two games are against Clarkson at home and against RPI on the road) -- Disclaimer -- Unless otherwise noted, all opinions expressed above are strictly those of: Bill Fenwick | Send your HOCKEY-L poll responses to: Cornell '86 and '94 (.5) | [log in to unmask] LET'S GO RED!! "You know how they're always naming drinks after various celebrities? Well, there's a new one now called the Tonya and Lorena. It's club soda with a slice." -- Jay Leno