Revenge is a dish best served cold. In the cold confines of Lynah Rink, the men’s hockey team proved the adage correct on Saturday night, exacting its revenge on Quinnipiac, the team that swept Cornell in the ECAC Hockey League quarterfinals last season. Junior Evan Barlow’s goal just seconds into the third period ended up being the difference in the Red’s 5-3 victory.
“Going into this game, you are thinking about all the pain and all the sorrow that came from losing in the playoffs last year,” said sophomore co-alternate captain Colin Greening. “So beating these guys, especially back home, where they beat us last year, was kind of really special to us.”
Barlow’s goal 13 seconds into the third broke a 3-3 tie after the first two periods. Greening wrapped around the goal and found Barlow, who slipped it past freshman goaltender Pat McGann to give Cornell (1-2-0, 1-1-0 ECAC Hockey League) a lead it would not relinquish. Greening’s assist was his third of the day.
“[Greening] is a tough guy to stop when he gets going, so I just try to find a spot out front and he got the puck in there,” Barlow said.
After only scoring three goals in its two previous contests, the Red erupted in the first period, notching three goals in the first seven minutes of the contest to pace Cornell’s offensive output. All three goals were scored by defensemen — sophomore Justin Krueger and freshmen Mike Devin and Jordan Berk.
“I think that we came out not happy with last night as far as how we played and how we played especially at the start of the game,” said head coach Mike Schafer ’86. “I just think our guys did a good job making plays and being focused in what they are doing. … We moved the puck and got the puck to people and didn’t throw it away and showed poise with it.”
Devin had a particularly big day, as the freshman also scored Cornell’s fifth goal of the game. The goals were Devin’s first two of his college career. After the third tally, Quinnipiac (2-3-1, 0-1-1) replaced junior goaltender Peter Vetri with freshman Pat McGann, who stayed in for the rest of the game.
“[McGann] was completely surprised,” said Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold. “You’d think that we are down 3-0 that quickly that he’d be thinking about it, but he was a little shocked. He is a great kid and I thought he battled pretty well and played pretty well tonight.”
Cornell’s solid play in the first and third periods bookended a rough second. The Red received seven penalties in the period, including a game misconduct on Berk for hitting from behind. The penalties resulted in a five-on-three at one point, in which Quinnipiac was able to score 19 seconds into the powerplay.
“We took undisciplined penalties in the second period that almost cost us the game,” Schafer said. “We have to learn from that lesson. We were very disciplined in the first period, very disciplined in the third, but we let it slip away from us in the second.”
Cornell was not the only team receiving penalties. Quinnipiac was whistled for four penalties in the first and three in the second. In total, the physical play of the two teams resulted in 43 total penalty minutes.
“I think the game was getting close and everyone was fighting for that extra inch,” said junior Tyler Mugford. “The boys started getting rough and a little frustrated and that’s just how hockey goes sometimes.”
“Our team, in order to be successful, has to play physical,” Devin said. “It’s a big part of our game.”
To make matters worse, Barlow received an interference penalty which resulted in a penalty shot for Quinnipiac sophomore Mike Atkinson. Atkinson was able to slip it past sophomore Ben Scrivens to even the game at 3-3.
“He made a good move,” Scrivens said. “I got a good jump out there. I cut down the angle pretty well. … He just stuck it in that little hole. I felt it banging around in between my legs as it snuck through. I’ll give credit to him. It was a nice goal.”
Despite the penalty shot score, Scrivens was able to stop 22 shots. Vetri only stopped three shots before giving up the three goals. McGann made 14 saves in relief of Vetri.
Overall, on the night, both teams ended up 2-for-5 on the powerplay and Quinnipiac out-shot Cornell, 25-22.