February 16, 2001

Vermont, Dartmouth Come to Town

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With six games remaining in ECAC play, this weekend’s series against Dartmouth and Vermont is vital for the men’s hockey team.

Presently, the Red (11-8-4, 9-5-2 ECAC) is tied for second in the league with 20 points, three behind front-runner St. Lawrence. Dartmouth (11-10-2, 8-6-2) is alone in fifth with 18 points, and Vermont (11-11-2, 7-7-2) is tied for sixth.

“Every game is a big game, but they just get magnified at this time of year,” head coach Mike Schafer ’86 said.

Earlier this year, Cornell split its two road game with these teams, defeating Vermont in overtime, 3-2, before falling to Dartmouth, 4-1.

The Red comes into these games after a four-game road trip, edging both Harvard and Brown by a score of 2-1, before falling to both Princeton and Yale, 4-1 and 1-0, respectively.

“For college [four games] is a long road trip, two weekends in a row away from home,” Schafer said. “It will be nice to get back in front of the home fans, we can use the support from the Faithful right now.”

One of the major questions facing Cornell now will be where it will get offensive production. The squad scored only one goal last weekend, and the goal-scorer, sophomore Doug Murray, will not be available for action this weekend due to an injury.

“There is no question that we need to start scoring some goals,” Schafer said. “The pressure goes to our forwards to start scoring more goals like going-to-the-net goals, tip goals, rebound goals, and those hard-working goals instead of trying to be cute.”

This pressure will likely fall on the shoulders of sophomore Stephen B