Only 11 shots met senior goaltender Ian Shane on Friday night. On most nights, a 25-11 shot differential would be a statistic worth celebrating.
But for a team that is 11 months removed from an ECAC championship, it knows full well that it’s the numbers on the scoreboard that matter. There is a high standard to be met as the defending champion.
Head coach Mike Schafer ’86 thinks these standards have fallen.
“These guys are champions. They’ve got to start playing like it,” Schafer said.
Men’s hockey fell 3-1 to No. 19 Clarkson at Lynah Rink, a game with massive ramifications for ECAC playoff seeding. Two costly defensive mistakes tarnished what was a relatively sound defensive night, allowing second-place Clarkson to pull nine points ahead of sixth-place Cornell with three games left to play.
“[We did] a lot of good things, but you don’t get three points on a lot of good things. You get three points when you win,” Schafer said.
Minus the empty-netter that iced the game for Clarkson, both Golden Knight goals came off of two uncharacteristic mistakes — a fumbled line change in the second period and poor defensive positioning in the third.
Clarkson’s first shot of its 11 came just after its first power play, a result of a boarding penalty by senior forward Kyler Kovich 17 seconds into the game.
The Golden Knights (19-9-3, 13-5-1 ECAC) passed well around the perimeter, but Cornell’s penalty kill — which has improved to an 81.6 percent success rate, good for 22nd in the national — was up to the task. Junior forward Dalton Bancroft even mustered a shorthanded breakaway, but couldn’t quite corral the puck as Clarkson goaltender Ethan Langenegger easily smothered the shot.
Four Clarkson shots came in the opening frame, as the Red outshot the Golden Knights, 6-4. Cornell (11-9-6, 8-7-4 ECAC) had no shortage of prime opportunities that didn’t hit the net, including senior forward Kyle Penney just barely tucking the puck wide of a gaping net.
The teams took one penalty each after the early call on Kovich. A senior defenseman Michael Suda tripping penalty that prevented a point-blank chance in front of the net yielded another successful kill by the Red, and the Golden Knights’ penalty kill unit — fourth-best in the nation — fended off a late Cornell power play that was broken up over the first and second.
The first mistake came in the second period.
It was Clarkson’s sixth shot that beat Shane. After clearing the defensive zone, the Red got caught sleeping on a line change. That allowed a long stretch pass to find Ayrton Martino numbers up with Garrett Dahm, who then collected Martino’s pass and fired it right past the Cornell netminder.
“Ian’s got to come up with that save in the second period,” Schafer said. “But that’s hockey, you know? He didn’t come up with the save, and [Langenegger] did [on] a couple breakaways.”
Less than four minutes after the opening tally, Cornell earned a chance to knot the score when Clarkson’s Carter Rose was nabbed for slashing. The Red initially generated some strong looks on the man advantage, but Clarkson’s penalty kill ultimately kept Cornell scoreless.
Just as frustration began to build and the Lynah Faithful became restless and eager for a goal, the Red finally found an answer.
A strong breakout play resulted in a two-on-one rush with Kovich and senior forward Sullivan Mack. Kovich sauced a pass to Mack who emerged past a Clarkson defender and wristed the puck through Langenegger to even the score.
Clarkson would get only one more shot in the second period, making it a 10-3 Cornell advantage in the middle frame alone. But the scoreboard — the numbers that matter — read 1-1.
The Golden Knights secured shots eight and nine before the Red had its best chance to take the lead. Junior forward Nick DeSantis emerged alone against Langenegger with just under eight minutes left, but a left-pad stop kept the game timed. DeSantis’ goal would have beat Langenegger had the puck been elevated.
“[DeSantis] makes a great move, but we talked about [before] the game how [Langenegger] will go down to his belly, or he’ll give up the upper top part of the net,” Schafer said. “And we didn’t get it there.”
Cornell held strong in the offensive zone, continuing its relentless forechecking and keeping the Clarkson forwards at bay.
Then, the second mistake.
Another nifty outletting play by the Golden Knights off a Cornell turnover allowed Martino — Clarkson’s most lethal forward — to get ahead of the Cornell defense and appear alone against Shane. Suda attempted to get back and hooked Martino, but the Clarkson forward was still able to poke the puck through Shane’s five hole, giving Clarkson the lead with 4:22 to play on its 10th shot of the night.
“We don’t line ourselves up with their speed, and we don't identify one of the best players in the league,” Schafer said. “I told our guys afterwards, ‘I’m getting tired of the same formula.’”
Martino, who had two points and led the ECAC in both goals and points entering Friday’s game, got behind the Cornell defense. Cornell had scored a similar goal on Mack’s tally, but the defensive blunder ultimately was the difference between three points and none.
“[It was a] self-inflicted wound. You can’t give up and not line yourself up with the speed and let a guy get in behind you,” Schafer said. “If you just do your job, we’re good.”
The Red tried to claw back, but an empty-net goal sealed the game for the Golden Knights: the 11th shot.
“I don’t want them coming out of the locker room and going, ‘Poor us. We had a good game, we did a good job, we kept them [to] 11 shots on net,’” Schafer said. “What we did was [make] two monumental mistakes that cost us both goals. That’s what we did. All the other stuff is just extracurricular.”
Cornell will look to earn three points on Saturday night as it takes on St. Lawrence at 6 p.m. All action will be streamed live on ESPN+, and the Red’s 10 seniors — as well as head coach Mike Schafer ’86 — will be honored after the game.
