In some games, a normally empty sports cliché really rings true. After Friday’s 2-0 victory for the men’s hockey team, the old saying “a win’s a win” certainly came to mind. Despite being outshot, 32-16, Cornell prevailed over Quinnipiac on the back of a remarkable shutout performance by senior goalie Ben Scrivens.
“[Scrivens] played tremendous [Friday] night. He did a great job of smothering rebounds and facing shots,” said Cornell head coach Mike Schafer ’86. “He just did a great job from the standpoint of not giving any second chances throughout the course of the game.”
Scrivens’ shutout was his third of this season, and the 15th of his NCAA career. In addition to Scrivens’ stellar performance between the pipes, Cornell received some scoring from unlikely sources as both senior defenseman Justin Krueger and junior forward Tyler Roeszler scored their first goals of the season.
Cornell opened up the scoring early in the game, as Krueger beat sophomore Bobcats goaltender Dan Clarke just 5:09 into the first period. Krueger capitalized during a Cornell powerplay by pouncing on a Blake Gallagher rebound in the slot. Krueger collected the loose puck and calmly backhanded a low shot on net that made its way through the legs of Clarke and into the back of the net.
Krueger’s goal marked the second straight game in which the Red produced a goal with the man advantage after a 0-for-30 power play drought. Krueger noted that the recent success on the power play could mostly be attributed to going back to basic offensive fundamentals: shoot the puck and crash the net.
“We have to keep going to the net, keep it moving quickly, get shots to the net quickly, look for rebounds, and just try to create a lot that way — shots, rebounds, and moving the puck quickly,” Krueger explained.
The second period was played tightly, with Quinnipiac and Cornell sending six and four shots on net respectively.
However, just 2:28 into the third period, Red junior forward Dan Nicholls wristed a puck on net that Clarke misplayed. Junior forward Tyler Roeszler dove for the rebound, extended his stick just far enough to get a piece of wood on the puck, and managed to jam the puck over the goal line, giving the Red a 2-0 lead.
Red senior captain Colin Greening explained that his coaches and teammates were not happy with the overall team performance; instead, they were very happy to receive scoring from the depths of the depths of the team’s lineup.
“To have Krueger and Roeszler put it in, it obviously was huge for us. It shows the depth we have for scoring. In games like that when it can be very sloppy, the game just doesn’t have a good flow to it; it’s important to have that balance and depth to your scoring to be able to gut out a win like that.”
Quinnipiac went on to outshoot Cornell, 12-6, in the third period, but continued brilliance from Ben Scrivens maintained the Red’s two-goal lead.
“Last night was not a very good game, we didn’t play our best,” Greening said. “We are very fortunate we got the two points, but that’s how hockey works sometimes.”
Original Author: Mitchell Drucker