On March 26, 2010, a season that saw the men’s hockey team win its 12th ECAC championship and make its 18th NCAA tournament appearance came to an abrupt end when Cornell fell to the University of New Hampshire in the 2010 NCAA East Regional Semifinals, 6-2. Fortunately for the Red, it won’t have to wait long to exact its revenge on the Wildcats in 2010-11.Announced in early August, the men’s ice hockey schedule features several difficult non-conference matchups for the Red, including a rematch of last year’s regional semifinal in the season opener. After playing a couple of tune-up scrimmages against the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières and the U.S. U-18 National Team on Oct. 21 and 23, Cornell will open the regular season against UNH at Lynah Rink on Friday, Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. A day later, the Red will face the team that defeated the Wildcats in the NCAA East Regional Final a year ago –– the Rochester Institute of Technology –– at 7 p.m.Although the season’s opening weekend presents an enormous challenge to a Cornell team that lost several key players to graduation and the NHL over the summer, both games will fortunately take place at home in front of the Lynah Faithful. As for the Red’s ECAC opener the following weekend, the team will not be as lucky as it will have to take to the road and head north.On Nov. 5, Cornell will travel to Canton, N.Y., to begin ECAC play against St. Lawrence. On the following day, the Red will travel even further north to face Clarkson in Potsdam, N.Y.The Red will return to Ithaca the next weekend, beginning a six-game homestand against ECAC foes Quinnipiac, Princeton, Yale and Brown and non-conference opponent Alabama in Huntsville. The four ECAC games will take place on consecutive weekends, with Quinnipiac and Princeton coming to visit on Nov. 12 and 13 and Yale and Brown in town on the following Friday and Saturday evenings. Cornell will then have a couple of weeks off before returning to play with a two-game series with Alabama-Huntsville on Dec. 3 and 4.Another hiatus from action will highlight most of December as the team prepares for finals and Winter Break, with play resuming at the Florida College Classic at the end of the month. Cornell will be joined by 2010 NCAA tournament teams St. Cloud State and Miami (OH), with the final spot being taken by the University of Maine. The small tournament will present another difficult non-conference test for Cornell, as the Red opens against St. Cloud State on Dec. 29 and faces either Miami or Maine the following afternoon.As the calendar turns, Cornell will round out its ECAC slate in 2011. The second half of the schedule will feature seven more home games for the Red, including two final games at Lynah Rink on Feb. 18 and 19 against rivals Harvard and Dartmouth. The ECAC regular season will conclude the following weekend, as Cornell travels to last year’s regular-season champion, Yale, on Feb. 26.The ECAC tournament is scheduled to start on March 4 and will conclude on March 19 in Atlantic City, N.J., as Cornell tries to defend its title and earn yet another NCAA tournament berth. If Cornell is successful in its bid for a repeat, NCAA tournament regional play will begin the following weekend with the Frozen Four scheduled for the weekend of April 7-9.
Original Author: Dan Froats