Cornell's 1994-95 season came to a crushing end at Clarkson's Cheel Arena
last weekend, as the regular-season champion Golden Knights swept the Big
Red by scores of 6-2 and 7-2. The sweep dropped Cornell's overall record to
11-15-4 and ended the careers of the Big Red's four seniors: defensemen
Christian Felli and Blair Ettles, and forwards Jake Karam and Tyler McManus.
More notes on the quarterfinal series below:
Clarkson 6, Cornell 2
It would be hard to script a worse opening for the Big Red than what hap-
pened in the first few minutes of Friday night's game. Cornell could not
match up with Clarkson's high-octane offense, so the Big Red's best chance
to win (and a key to their 1-0-1 record head-to-head against the Golden
Knights during the regular season) was to stay close and not allow Clarkson
to run out to the early lead. That went out the window 4:14 into the first
period. The Knights' first goal was set up by a turnover right in front of
the Cornell net, when defenseman Jason Dailey got off a bad pass that was
intercepted by Chris Lipsett, who fed Chris Clark in the left circle.
Clark's quick shot eluded goaltender Eddy Skazyk, and just like that, Clark-
son was on the board at the 2:41 mark. The Knights got their second goal
less than a minute and a half later, thanks to Brian Mueller and Claude
Morin. A long outlet pass by Mueller helped set up Clarkson on a 2-on-1
break, and Morin held the puck and drew the defenseman over to the right
side before sending a perfect pass right onto the stick of Mueller to the
left of the Cornell net. Mueller sent a backhander over Skazyk's shoulder
to make it 2-0.
A couple minutes later, Marko Tuomainen came thisclose to making it 3-0,
when he bore down on the open Cornell net and got off a shot just as he was
being hacked by Ryan Smart. Fortunately for the Big Red, the puck flew over
the crossbar. Another defensive turnover gave the Golden Knights a scoring
opportunity, but Skazyk came up with a brilliant save, and that sparked a
Cornell rush the other way. Mark Scollan led the charge up right wing,
crossing the Clarkson blue line and sending a cross-ice pass over to Andre
Doll. Doll centered the puck for an onrushing Jake Karam, who one-timed it
past goalie Dan Murphy at 7:44 of the first period.
Cornell could not draw any closer, however, and Clarkson re-established its
two-goal lead at the 13:47 mark. A long clearing attempt by Big Red de-
fenseman Bill Holowatiuk was cut off by Dana Mulvihill, who sent it over to
Clark. The freshman winger skated up the left side and backhanded a shot
toward the net that was tipped home by Lipsett. Clarkson ended the first
period with a 15-5 shot advantage, and a 9-2 advantage in quality shots.
The second period, while scoreless, was not uneventful. Six minutes in,
Todd White had a chance to increase Clarkson's lead when he found himself on
a breakaway, but Dailey was able to catch up with him and tripped him to the
ice. Cornell's biggest chance came midway through the period, when Ryan
Smart unleashed a rocket that beat Murphy, but the puck hit the crossbar and
deflected to the side boards.
Holowatiuk was sent to the box at 4:20 of the third period for tripping -- a
penalty he pretty much had to take, since Clark came into the Cornell end on
a 2-on-1 break and nearly created a 2-on-0. The reprieve was only tempor-
ary, because the Golden Knights converted the power play 25 seconds later.
After a few passes around the perimeter, Lipsett found a wide-open Tuomainen
near the left post, and Tuomainen stuffed the shot past Skazyk. Clarkson
went up 5-1 at the 6:02 mark, when the Cornell defense was caught flat-
footed after a faceoff in their own end. Steve Wilson fanned on a pass, and
Steve Palmer and Jean-Francois Houle both went after the loose puck. Houle
tipped it over to Palmer, who skated to the slot and wristed the puck into
the back of the net.
Half a minute later, Mulvihill slammed Tyler McManus through the door to the
Cornell bench and was called for charging, giving the Big Red a power play
that they would convert for their second goal. Lopatka fed Mike Sancimino
down the left wing, and Sancimino turned toward the net and got off a soft
shot as Murphy was dropping to the ice. The puck hit Murphy's leg and de-
flected into the net at 7:33 of the third. That would be the Big Red's last
goal, and the Golden Knights rounded out the scoring with 2:30 remaining in
the game when Chris de Ruiter came out from the left corner and sent a low,
tough-angle shot through Skazyk's pads.J Skazyk stopped 33 shots in taking
the loss for Cornell, while Murphy had 23 saves.
Clarkson 7, Cornell 2
The Big Red dominated the first ten minutes of this game, and they actually
did quite well over the first 35 minutes despite being down by a goal, but
then an almost unbelievable string of penalties over the last five minutes
of the second period gave Clarkson the chance to score three straight power-
play goals (two of them 5-on-3) to blow the game wide open. The Golden
Knights have now won all seven playoff games played at Cheel Arena, which
opened in 1991.
Cornell looked sharp in the early going, and the Big Red drew first blood at
8:10 of the opening period, after Ryan Smart intercepted a pass at the Cor-
nell blue line. Smart found Mark Scollan streaking up right wing, and Scol-
lan pulled up just inside the blue line, looked for a trailer, and sent the
puck over to Jake Karam. Goalie Dan Murphy stopped Karam's initial shot,
but the senior center was able to tip the rebound home. Three minutes
later, P.C. Drouin and Chad Wilson broke up the ice on a 2-on-1, but Claude
Morin snuffed that threat when he cut off Drouin's return pass.
Clarkson, which midway through the period was trailing 10-3 in shots on
goal, got the final eight shots of the period and picked up two goals along
the way. The potent Golden Knight power play made its presence felt in its
first opportunity, as Chris Lipsett tied the game at the 14:43 mark.
Patrice Robitaille rolled the puck through the crease to Lipsett, who hacked
it toward the goalmouth. Goaltender Eddy Skazyk made the initial save but
could not cover the puck in the crease, and Lipsett was able to poke it into
the net. Claude Morin gave the Knights the lead with 1:28 left in the
first, blasting one from the top of the right circle that beat a surprised
Skazyk through the five-hole.
Cornell had a couple of chances to tie the game early in the second period.
Less than a minute in, Geoff Lopatka skated into the Clarkson zone on a
2-on-1 and fired toward the net. Murphy made the save, but as he was
reaching to cover the puck, defenseman Brian Mueller slid into him and
knocked him down. Lopatka had a mostly open net to shoot at, but he missed
wide. Then at about the two-minute mark, Steve Wilson slapped a 40-footer
that bounced off the post. A bit of a scary moment occurred for the Big Red
midway through the period, when Skazyk went down to make a save and didn't
get up. He appeared to have twisted his knee, but he was able to continue.
The Big Red suffered the first of what would be seven straight penalties at
the 12:35 mark, when Jason Dailey was sent off for holding. Cornell killed
that one off, but at 14:42, Jason Kendall got hit with a pair of minors, and
then Christian Felli was whistled for slashing 26 seconds later. Matt
Cooney proceeded to argue with referee Harry Ammian about that call, and
Ammian responded by handing the sophomore a misconduct. Clarkson thus found
themselves on a 5-on-3, and it did not take them long to convert. Robi-
taille sent the puck to Mueller down low, and Mueller quickly passed it
through the crease to a waiting Marko Tuomainen. Skazyk couldn't get across
the crease in time to stop Tuomainen from tapping the puck home, giving the
Knights a 3-1 lead at the 15:33 mark.
Steve Wilson was called for cross-checking after the goal, joining his
teammates in the already-overflowing penalty box and leaving the Big Red
with only three defensemen. The Golden Knights took only 26 seconds to
score again, with this one coming on a one-timer from the top of the right
circle by Claude Morin. Clarkson was still on a 5-on-3 after that one; the
Big Red killed it off, but the Knights scored on the ensuing 5-on-4 to take
a 5-1 lead. This one was almost identical to the Morin goal, with Robi-
taille ripping a shot from the top of the right circle that beat Skazyk
high.
Skazyk, who had faced 31 shots already (20 of them in the second period),
was replaced by Jason Elliott to start the third. Referees Ammian and Rob
Hearn seemed to be calling things a little looser in the third period,
letting a fair amount of hooking and tripping go -- which, as it turned out,
only meant that Clarkson would have to generate its opportunities even
strength, which they did. Elliott dove to poke the puck away from an on-
rushing Mueller, but Mueller was able to get the shot off. The puck hit the
crossbar, but Robitaille was there to slap the rebound into the net at 7:06
of the third.
A couple minutes later, with Matt Pagnutti already in the box, Kevin Murphy
belted Steve Wilson in the back of the head and was called for roughing,
giving Cornell a 5-on-3 of their own. The Big Red called timeout, and then
promptly iced the puck. While Cornell was unable to convert the 5-on-3,
they did score on the 5-on-4 which followed. Drouin sent a long clearing
pass toward Lopatka, who skated across the blue line and unleashed a rocket
that found the right corner of the net at the 10:55 mark. That would be the
Big Red's last gasp, and Steve Palmer closed out the scoring at 16:23 of the
third. Palmer skated down right wing and worked his way toward the front of
the Cornell net; Elliott dropped down to stop the expected shot, and Palmer
stick-handled the puck around him and, with a defender all over him, got the
puck past Elliott's skates and into the net. Following this goal, Dan
Murphy left the game, and freshman Chris Bernard came on to play the final
3:37 for Clarkson.
Murphy had a good solid game for the Golden Knights, stopping 24 shots;
Bernard made two saves. (Was this his first action of the season?) Elliott
made 12 saves in relief of Skazyk, who finished with 26.
The Clarkson win closes the book on a Cornell season that, while an im-
provement over last year's 8-17-5 mark, still has to be considered a bit of
a disappointment. The team played up-and-down hockey for most of the first
three months of the season before coming together in February and fashioning
a good stretch run which carried them through the ECAC preliminary round win
over St. Lawrence. Hopefully, that stretch run will provide a good base on
which to build for next season.
And finally, a fond farewell to this year's four seniors: Christian Felli,
Blair Ettles, Jake Karam, and Tyler McManus. They made it to the ECAC
championship game their freshman year, and while they've endured some
disappointing seasons since then, they've worked hard and given us a number
of thrills along the way. Thanks again, guys, and good luck in the future.
--
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!! DJF 5/27/94
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