After the men’s hockey team took a strong U.S. Under-18 National Team to overtime last Saturday, finishing the game with the score knotted at 3, Lynah Rink will be the site of another preseason exhibition matchup tonight.

This week’s opponent is also a collection of elite skaters, but the University of Western Ontario crossed a national boundary to get to Ithaca.

Angry face: Sophomore forward Tyler Roeszler (right) scored in the Red’s first exhibition game last weekend.

Tonight’s contest will be the Red’s second and final exhibition match before conference play begins in two weeks.

Saturday night, the stands at Lynah Rink filled up to see the men’s hockey team in action for the first time this year, as the Red played to a 3-3 tie against the U.S. National Under-18 Team. The exhibition was the earliest one scheduled by an Ivy League team.

Though the Red offense overmatched Team USA by a mile statistically — holding the shooting edge, 32-16 — the youngsters from across the country still managed to pace the scoring on Saturday. Cornell held the lead for only 31 seconds in the contest.

For the second consecutive year, the hockey team has opened its season with an exhibition tie. Yet I couldn’t shake the feeling that it’s going to be a tale of two seasons.

Cornell opened last year against Trois-Rivieres, University of Ottawa, and RIT, three teams arguably far weaker than the U.S. Under-18 Development Team. Disappointingly, however, Cornell finished an unimpressive 1-1-1 in those three games, registering just one goal in two of those contests.

This year, though, with only one coach’s practice under its belt heading into Saturday’s contest, Cornell looked far sharper and somewhat more disciplined than it did for good chunks of last season.

Although the unseasonably warm weather isn’t much of an indicator, hockey season is just around the corner. The men’s hockey team will take the Lynah Rink ice for the first time this season tomorrow night at 7 p.m., facing off in an exhibition against the U.S. U-18 National Team. The Red and the National Team have been frequent opponents in the preseason in recent years.

Cornell is coming off a season in which it stumbled to the regular season finish line, losing five of its last eight, before making a somewhat surprising run to the semis of the ECAC Hockey tournament. After losing to Harvard in the penultimate game of the tournament, Cornell bounced back to take third place against Colgate.

The athletics department will announce the process to obtain season tickets for the men’s hockey team’s upcoming season today. Like last year, a lottery will determine which students will be eligible to buy tickets. Those who are selected will participate in the traditional overnight campout in the Ramin Room of Bartels Hall. The total cost of the season tickets will be $234 for all groups of students.

Those of us who view summer as an opportunity to rebuild vocal cords before returning to the Lynah Rink stands have longed for this moment ever since Cornell defeated Colgate in the consolation game of the ECACHL finals in Albany, N.Y., last year. Today’s announcement of line procedures for men’s hockey season tickets commences the annual sprint to the first puck drop at the Red-White game. For the newcomers to East Hill, it presents the first chance to truly prove their commitment to the brethren of fan-hood. Yet before that moment can occur, it is crucial to understand and appreciate how Cornell hockey came to such enviable success and prominence. That story, dear faithful, starts and ends with Lynah Rink.

I like this hat.

Madness? THIS IS SPARTA … I mean ITHACA!

I am not even kidding: if there has ever been a time to show your school spirit and attend a Cornell sports event, this is it. Cornell sports are absolutely amazing this Friday through Sunday.

You have a chance to see three teams with projected NCAA entrants: that’s three teams with some of our nation’s best athletes, right here, at Cornell!

THIS IS BLASPHEMY!

Cornell sports … advancing on a national level?

Cornell has released the procedure for obtaining 2007-08 men's hockey season tickets on its athletics website. There will be 200 seats for graduate and professional students and 1,400 seats for undergraduates.

Although similar to last year's format, this year's format has some notable changes, including: 100 line numbers will go to undergraduates who have purchased the Big Red Sports Pass prior to Sept. 23 and are not selected for tickets otherwise; and the date and time of the "camp out,"