CORNELL 6 @ Princeton 2 … Box Score | Game Recap | Video Highlights
CORNELL 2 @ Quinnipiac 2 (SOW) … Box Score | Game Recap | Video Highlights
I am very proud of our team this past weekend. My final season has been a coaching challenge! For the first time in my career, I needed to dress nine defensemen and a senior, Jimmy Rayhill, for his first collegiate game. Two defensemen played forward on the fourth line. We were able to score goals, including a couple of power play goals.
On Friday night, junior goalkeeper Remington Keopple started because he had earned it, stopping all 13 shots he faced this season in 47 minutes of relief. For the first time this season, we took advantage of our scoring chances and scored a season-high six goals.
At 5:07 of the first period, Princeton took a 1-0 lead on their first shot on net. A little over a minute later, we tied 1-1, when sophomore forward Ryan Walsh broke through the Tigers’ defense and fired a shot to the top of the net for his team-leading eighth goal of the year. At the 14:08 mark of the first period, we took the lead for good. Senior forward Kyler Kovich converted a deflection to make it 2-1, our first lead after the first period since the Madison Garden game.
Early in the second period (3:16), we increased the lead to 3-1, when junior forward Dalton Bancroft backhanded a rebound, with Walsh and sophomore forward Jake Kraft picking up assists. At 15:41 of the second period, Kraft picked up his second point of a three-point night, when he deflected a shot from sophomore defenseman Ben Robertson to make it 4-1.
In the third period, we killed off two penalties before sophomore forward Jonathan Castagna wristed a shot from the top of the circle past the Princeton goalie at 3:50 to make it 5-1. Then, Princeton scored a power-play goal at 12:22 with a shot that found its way through traffic. At the 16:04 mark of the third, we recorded a power-play goal as Bancroft’s shot bounced off a Tiger player into the back of the net. Keopple played well in goal with 23 saves, while the Princeton goalie stopped 25 shots. We were 1-for-2 on the power play, and Princeton was 1-for-4.
Saturday night at #16 Quinnipiac, we came out strong and took a 1-0 lead at 6:06 into the game. Sophomore defenseman George Fegaras fired a one-timer off a faceoff win that was redirected into the net by senior forward Ondrej Psenicka for the power-play goal.
At 1:17 into the second period, the Bobcats tied the game and less than seven minutes later, the home team made it 2-1, and that was the score going into the third period. Midway through the last stanza (at 10:57), DeSantis deflected a shot from senior defenseman Tim Rego to even the score, 2-2. In the overtime period, we out-shot Quinnipiac 6-0 but couldn’t score. In the shootout, Bancroft and senior defenseman Michael Suda scored to give us the extra point.
Ian Shane was back in goal making 22 saves, some of which were tough ones. The Bobcat goalie stopped 23 shots. We were 1-for-3 on the power play, and they were 0-for-1. It was great to get the shootout win and points toward ECAC standings for the second consecutive night.
I am really pleased with how the team adjusted to the lineup changes and played well together. Five players are injured: Winter Wallace, Kyle Penny, Luke Devlin, Sean Donaldson and Charlie Major. For the record, we are 14-7-2 overall, and 9-3-1 in the ECAC. It will be great to be back at Lynah Rink this coming weekend. We look forward to the always intense battle with Harvard on Friday night, and then a much-improved Dartmouth team Saturday evening. Looking forward to seeing you at Lynah Rink this weekend.
On a sad note Carlo Ugolini class of 73′ passed away on January 9th. Carlo Ugolini Obituary (1951 – 2025) – Legacy Remembers