In recent years, the Cornell Big Red has had a great deal of difficulty with
the games they've played on the weekend before the exam break; in fact, their
last win on that weekend was back in December of 1993, against Yale. The Big
Red had gone 0-5-3 in pre-exam weekend games since then, so this weekend's
results had to be a lift. Cornell ended a galling four-game winless streak
against Union with a 5-2 decision Friday night (yes, I am well aware that the
word "decision" is also used in boxing and wrestling matches), and although the
Big Red blew a two-goal lead and had to settle for a 3-3 tie against RPI the
next night, that was still a solid accomplishment considering that Cornell
dressed only four defensemen (one of whom was injured) for what seems like the
50th time this season. Cornell thus heads into the break in third place in the
ECAC with a 4-1-1 record (6-2-1 overall), two points behind league leader
Princeton.
Notes from the games:
Cornell 5, Union 2
Union came into this game with a 2-6-1 overall record, but the Dutchmen have
spent the last several years proving that the records don't matter when they
play the Big Red, which hadn't beaten Union since February of 1996. So it
seemed like a refreshing (from the Cornell standpoint) change of pace when the
Big Red lit the lamp just 27 seconds into the game, when Denis Ladouceur
redirected a Kyle Knopp slapper from the point past Union goalie Leeor Shtrom.
Perhaps Cornell was going to have a relatively easy night of it against the
Dutchmen for once.
But jinxes die hard, and Union wasted little time -- 24 seconds, to be exact --
in tying things up. Jeff Wilson took a pass in the right circle and skated
down right wing, wristing a tough-angle shot into the left corner of the
Cornell net. And suddenly, two teams better known for hard-nosed defensive play
were on a pace to combine for 120 goals in the game.
Of course, that pace wasn't going to be kept up, and those two goals would be
the only ones scored in the period, despite some good Cornell chances from Ryan
Moynihan (great glove save by Shtrom) and Dan Svoboda (off the right post).
Cornell began to dominate in the second period, however, putting up a 16-3
shot advantage en route to a 30-7 margin over the game's final 40 minutes. The
Union defense was doing a pretty good job of keeping the Big Red from getting
chances in close, however, and the only goal of the second came at the 5:12
mark. Tyler Sutherland followed the puck behind the Union net, and when Shtrom
slid off the left post to see what was happening, Sutherland quickly skated out
in front and backhanded a shot through the opening.
Ladouceur made it 3-1 at 1:45 of the third. Jeff Burgoyne threaded a pass to
the slot, where Ladouceur uncorked a shot high to the stick side. But Union
and the jinx weren't ready to die just yet, as the Dutchmen cut the lead to one
a mere 95 seconds later. Ryan Campbell fired a slapper from the point that
looked to be going wide, but the puck bounced off something or somebody near
the crease, and the next thing goaltender Ian Burt knew, it was behind him and
in the net.
The Big Red finally pulled away with a pair of goals 22 seconds apart late in
the third, as the Union defense finally crumbled. Ryan Moynihan pounced on a
loose puck to the right of the Dutchmen goal and stuffed it home with 4:02
remaining in regulation. Then it was Andrew McNiven's turn, as he wristed one
from the right circle that beat Shtrom high. By this point, the Union team was
getting pretty frustrated, and things finally boiled over with 1:49 to go.
Burt froze the puck near the right post and got the whistle, and then Union's
Jay Varady ran into him. Well, anybody could tell something was going to
happen in response to that, and it did, with both teams engaging in a lot of
pushing and shoving behind and to the left of the Cornell net. A "typical
college scrum", as Cornell head coach Mike Schafer put it later, and not very
pleasant to see, but it seemed to be winding down with nothing worse than a
bunch of roughing minors. And then --
And then --
Well, suffice it to say that the next time somebody asks me what I consider to
be the height of stupidity, I'll have an answer ready: five feet ten inches,
because according to the game program, that's how tall Leeor Shtrom is. The
Union goalie skated out of his crease (earning himself an automatic major-DQ)
and headed straight for the action at the other end. Cornell's Rick Sacchetti
tried to grab him, but Shtrom shook him off and headed for Ian Burt. At first,
the two goaltenders seemed to be doing nothing more than holding on to each
other and jawing, but all of a sudden, the gloves were off and a real NHL-style
dust-up was going on. I'm not sure who started it, but I would strongly
suspect Shtrom, because 1) I'm a Cornell fan, and 2) Shtrom was the one who
made the 190-foot detour from his crease in the first place. This excitement
started the other shoving matches up again. Finally the two goaltenders and
everybody else were pulled apart, and as PA announcer Arthur Mintz noted,
"we've got a whole mess of penalties." Double roughings and ten-minute
misconducts on all ten skaters, while Burt and Shtrom each received a major and
game disqualification for their fight. As previously noted, Shtrom's two DQs
will force him to miss a total of three games, and his 30 minutes in penalties
tied the ECAC record. (Once again, how come a game DQ is counted as a penalty
for ten minutes, or zero minutes in some leagues, rather than a penalty for 60
minutes??) The teams' combined total of 217 penalty minutes is a new league
record, as is Union's total of 116 minutes; Cornell's 101 minutes is a new team
record. And I'm sure the ECAC doesn't keep track of such things, but I'd be
willing to bet that 185 penalty minutes on one stoppage of play is a record
too.
As you might guess, the final 1:49 of the game was played in let's-get-the-
hell-out-of-here mode, though there were a couple of coincidental penalties
handed out (to pad the stats?) Shtrom made 29 saves before his departure; his
replacement, Brandon Snee, stopped two shots. Burt had 16 saves, and Matt
Underhill did not face a shot in relief.
Cornell 3, RPI 3 (OT)
Injuries have played such havoc with the Cornell defense that toward the end of
this game, the defensive rotation consisted of Jeff Burgoyne, Danny Powell, and
Kyle Knopp, a forward. Nevertheless, the Big Red did a good job of holding the
strong Engineer offense in check, and freshman goaltender Matt Underhill was
solid between the pipes in his first ECAC start (third overall). Since Cornell
had had only two goaltenders on the roster, Ian Burt's disqualification pressed
practice goaltender Nathan Hicks into service as the backup.
Though not as quickly as they had the night before, Cornell got on the board
first, at 4:16 of the opening period. Alex Gregory muscled the puck out of the
right corner and found Frank Kovac along the boards; Kovac skated to the right
circle and wristed a hard shot past RPI goalie Scott Prekaski. The Engineers'
Alain St. Hilaire made a strong bid to tie the score a bit later, but Underhill
came up with a great sprawling save on the point-blank shot. Underhill was
also alert enough to cover up a couple of his teammates' errors, most notably
when a clearing attempt bounced off a Cornell player's skate next to the
crease.
RPI was unable to dent the twine in the first period, but it took them only 59
seconds of the middle stanza to rectify the situation. Steve Munn fired a shot
that Underhill got a piece of, but the rebound came loose in the crease, and
Danny Riva fought through a pair of Cornell defenders to sweep it into the net.
The Big Red responded with two power-play goals to take a 3-1 lead. Jeff
Burgoyne sent a pass over to Kyle Knopp at the top of the right faceoff circle,
and Knopp one-timed the puck past Prekaski at the 8:13 mark. Then Knopp took a
pass in the left corner and found Denis Ladouceur in front of the net, and the
freshman converted at 9:36 for his third goal of the weekend.
But just as quickly as the Big Red had built a two-goal lead, that lead would
disappear. Off a faceoff after a Cornell penalty, St. Hilaire fired a shot
from the left circle that Underhill blocked, but the rebound went directly to
Pete Gardiner, who lifted it over the diving goaltender at the 10:11 mark.
Fifty-eight seconds later, the game was tied, as Doug Shepherd tracked down
the puck behind the Cornell net and sent it out in front for Chris Migliore,
who swatted it home.
The momentum was clearly with RPI at this point, but Cornell was able to settle
down and keep the Engineers off the board the rest of the way, despite some
serious fatigue. The Engineers managed an 11-5 shot advantage in the third
period and came close a couple times, but Underhill and what remained of the
Cornell defense proved equal to the task.
Prekaski had a solid game of his own between the pipes for RPI, finishing with
25 saves; Underhill had 33. Next up for Cornell is exams and hopefully a lot
of healing, before the Big Red takes on Bowling Green in the first round of the
Bank One Badger Classic on December 27th.
--
Disclaimer -- Unless otherwise noted, all opinions expressed above are
strictly those of:
Bill Fenwick
Cornell '86 and '95 DJF 5/27/94
LET'S GO RED!! JCF 12/2/97
"This can't be right. Terry Felton started the game, and now they've got him
relieving himself on the mound."
-- Fred White, Kansas City Royals radio announcer, on a wire-service report
that erroneously listed the same pitcher starting and coming in from the
bullpen
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