ECAC Championship Tournament
Semifinal … CORNELL 3, #12 Quinnipiac 2 [OT] … Box Score | Game Recap | Video Highlights
Final … CORNELL 3, #18 Clarkson 1 … Box Score | Game Recap | Video Highlights
We successfully defended our ECAC Tournament championship, and have earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament (Toledo Regional) Thursday, March 27.
Friday night’s game vs. Quinnipiac couldn’t have been more different than most of our games have been this year. All year long, we heard about our ‘powerless’ power play, but in our biggest game, special teams stepped up and got the job done, and I’m very proud of those guys. Quinnipiac’s power play (@ 30.3%) was only 1-5.
In the first period, with only five seconds remaining and at the end of our second power play opportunity, sophomore forward Jonathan Castagna pounced on a loose puck in front of the net for a goal and a 1-0 lead at the first intermission. After not taking a penalty in the first period, we were assessed four in the second. The third infraction was critical and at 14:08 of the middle period Quinnipiac scored an extra man goal. We went into the final period tied 1-1. At this point, I thought that we just got stronger and stronger.
At 14:42 of the third period, a good bounce for them put the Bobcats up 2-1, and I was upset because at that time, it looked bleak, but our team just believed. With about three minutes remaining we pulled senior goaltender Ian Shane for the extra attacker but then we were assessed another penalty. At 18:21, senior forwards Kyler Kovich and Kyle Penney started a 2-on-1 shorthanded rush that ended with Kovich shooting the puck through the goaltender’s legs to tie the score and send the game to overtime! I couldn’t believe the Bobcats had four forwards on the ice because their coach had to know we would pull the goalie. Afterwards, I told the guys that that short-handed goal will be legendary! It was our second consecutive game scoring a shorthanded goal. The last time we scored short-handed goals on consecutive nights was in 2007, when Mitch Carefoot scored against Union and Mark McCutcheon scored against RPI.
In the overtime period, we got a few good looks, and when Quinnipiac was assessed another penalty, our chances increased though their penalty killers hadn’t given up multiple power play goals since November 9th. With 5:21 left in the extra session, sophomore forward Ryan Walsh won a battle in the corner, and sent a pass out to junior forward Dalton Bancroft. Bancroft set up senior defenseman Tim Rego at the bottom of the circle and he let go a tremendous one-timer into the net, and a Big Red semifinal victory! I think this was the second or third time we won a special team’s battle this year. We really dodged the bullet because you can’t put Quinnipiac on the power play as much as we did. We are now unbeaten in our last three games vs. the Bobcats. What a game!
Shane made 22 saves in goal for us, and the Quinnipiac netminder stopped 19 shots. We were 2-for-4 on the power play, and they were 1-for-5. Our special teams did a great job and I felt we controlled the pace of the game.
On Saturday it was text book Cornell hockey. We got off to a quick start and limited Clarkson’s chances, and when they got to us, Ian was ready. At 5:11 of the first period, junior forward Nick DeSantis sent a pass to Castagna who fed a pass from behind the net into the slot for senior forward Ondrej Psenicka. He fired the puck just under the crossbar to beat their goaltender. It was only our second shot of the game!
Two minutes later, Kovich forced a turnover and started a two-on-one rush. Kyle sent a pass to senior forward Sullivan Mack who lifted a backhander that ricocheted off the crossbar into the net to give us a 2-0 lead going into the second period. The score remained 2-0 until 13:23 of the second when the Golden Knights got on the scoreboard, sending us into the third period with a 2-1 margin. In the second period, Clarkson dominated offensive play with more shots-on-goal.
Neither team scored for 18 minutes in the third period. With 2:39 remaining, Clarkson pulled their goalie, and Walsh found the empty net to ice the victory with Psenicka getting his second assist of the night.
Again, Ian was ready and had some crucial stops amongst his 30 saves, while the Clarkson goaltender stopped 21 shots. We were 0-for-2 on the power play, and they were 0-for-3.
We became the first Whitelaw Cup champions to repeat back-to-back since Union won three consecutive championships in 2012-13-14. I am so excited to win our seventh ECAC tournament. This season has been very difficult, but the adversity has made us resilient.
We are now off to the Toledo NCAA Regional to face the #2 seed Michigan State Spartans, on Thursday afternoon. Faceoff time is 5:30. It should be fun!