NEW HAVEN, CONN. — It is not often that the Cornell men’s hockey team gives up a power-play goal. Nor does the team often take a meager four penalty minutes during a game.
So with these two factors in the Red’s favor on Saturday night against Yale, one would expect the Cornell to do well, right?
Nick Destines scored a power-play goal in overtime to give Yale a 1-0 win against the Red, defying common logic and making Cornell return to Ithaca having picked up zero points on the weekend.
After three scoreless periods of hockey, which saw only one power-play for each team, junior David Kozier’s boarding penalty 57 seconds into the extra session set the stage for the Yale goal.
“We took a penalty in overtime, it will kill you. It will always come back to get you,” junior goalie Matt Underhill said.
The game, played in the New Haven Coliseum due to a compressor failure at Ingalls Rink, was a showcase for Underhill and Yale netminder Dan Lombard. Underhill stopped 29 of 30 shots, while Lombard turned away all 24 Cornell chances.
Underhill was given the nod for the game after allowing three goals the night before against Princeton, even though senior Ian Burt traveled with the team.
“Matt deserves his opportunities. He is playing very solidly, and I thought he played well again tonight,” head coach Mike Schafer ’86 said of his goalie.
Cornell had a chance to take the lead early in the game, as Yale’s John Gauger was called for a slashing penalty just 37 seconds into the contest. Unfortunately for the Red, it was unable to convert on the opportunity. For the weekend Cornell managed only one conversion in seven power-play opportunities.
“We are not capitalizing on our scoring chances,” Schafer said.
“We had some good chances. I guess [Lombard] came up big,” freshman Ryan Vesce said.
Despite the inability to score, the Red did play a solid game. Vesce and sophomore linemate Stephen B