At no point in this semester has the Lynah Faithful been able to pull out its keys and enjoy the end of games. If it hasn’t been holding its head down in shame after losses (see St. Lawrence) then it’s been glued to to the clock, hoping that the final seconds would tick away so Cornell could preserve a fragile lead (see Clarkson).
In fact, it hasn’t been since Dec. 2. when the Red trounced Princeton 3-0, that the Faithful has been its raucous self during games’ finales.
That is until this Saturday night, when Cornell (12-8-5, 10-5-3 ECAC) took a three goal lead into the third period against Vermont (11-13-2, 7-9-2 ECAC), eventually pounding the Catamounts, 5-2.
“After the three-goal lead it felt like a ten-goal lead,” head coach Mike Schafer ’86 said.
“We haven’t had that kind of feeling in a while,” said junor forward Denis Ladouceur, who was the Red’s engine against Vermont, scoring a pair of goals and adding an assist. “We’re used to just grinding everything out, and every game coming down to the last minute.
“This is a nice relief.”
Ladouceur — whose scoring has been down this season due to injuries — was a pleasant surprise on Saturday, as his line (that also includes senior Dan Svoboda and sophomore Matt McRae) accounted for six points. More important than the impression it made on the score sheet was the fact that the trio was able to provide another source of scoring for the Red, which has been solely relying, so far, on the line of sophomores Stephen B