By wpengine
HAMILTON, N.Y. — Six shots off the post, two off the crossbar, 32 shots on goal, and fruitless six power play opportunities resulted a controversial overtime loss. That was the kind of night the men’s hockey team had yesterday, coming out on the short side of a 2-1 upset victory for Colgate. The goal in question came 3:11 into the overtime period off the stick of Raider Adam Mitchell. Colgate rushed the left side of the Cornell goal, just as sophomore goalie David LeNeveu left his crease to play the puck up the boards. LeNeveu wasn’t able to handle the bouncing puck and rushed back to his goal. Colgate’s Scooter Smith possessed the loose puck and sent it towards the pipes. The rebound ricocheted to LeNeveu’s right side, a scuffle in front of the net ensued, and Mitchell stuffed the puck past LeNeveu just as the net apparently came off its moorings. “David told me the net was off its moorings and that’s why the puck went in short side,” said head coach Mike Schafer ’86 of the play, “the head official waved it off, and the linesman called it.” After a brief discussion at center ice between the officials, coaches, and team captains, the Colgate players threw their hands in the air signaling the final judgment. The crowd erupted, and the Raiders had their biggest victory of the year firmly in hand. The game began well for the Red, as it posted a goal just 1:48 into the first period. Senior Sam Paolini initiated the play on an attempted wrap-around on Colgate goalie Steve Silverthorn. The attempt failed but freshman Shane Hynes was able to garner the rebound and send it through Silverthorn’s five-hole for a 1-0 lead and his sixth notch of the season. The Red’s fortunes would soon turn, however, as junior Greg Hornby was given a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for a check from behind. Cornell was able to kill the extended power play for over three minutes, but at 6:24 Dmitry Yashin (brother of NHL star Alexei) scored Colgate’s first goal of the evening. Kyle Doyle sent a slap shot towards the Cornell goal and Yashin finished the play with a wrister past LeNeveu off the rebound. “The five-minute major, especially on the road, is difficult and they got a power play goal off it, so it was a tough period for us to control,” said Schafer. The remainder of the period was a battle of netminders, as LeNeveu and Silverthorn matched each other great save for great save. Cornell’s best opportunity came when freshman Matt Moulson and senior co-captain Doug Murray connected on a 2-on-1 rush, only to see the chance carom off the far post. The second period got off to an electrifying start, as both teams battled to possess the puck between the blue lines. Cornell, which usually counts on an overbearing physical presence to dominate its opponents struggled to find itself defensively with bruiser Hornby out for the game. The Raiders were nearly able to capitalize on the lapse just 40 seconds into the second frame but a diving, behind-the-back save by LeNeveu put Colgate’s second goal on hold. Cornell once again came close to going ahead at the end of the second period, as the first power play unit began to find its rhythm. The two-minute span saw senior co-captain Stephen B
By wpengine
The women’s hockey team (1-13-1, 0-7-1 ECAC) heads to Orono, ME for a two-game set with Maine this weekend. Maine is on a three-game losing streak, while Cornell has dropped its last four after winning its first game of the season at Findlay three weeks ago. These two games will be the last non-conference games for Cornell, as the Red heads into the home stretch of the season. The Black Bears (6-10-4, 1-5-2 Hockey East) are currently in fifth place in the Hockey East standings, one ahead of Boston College, which defeated the Red earlier this season. However, Maine has suffered three losses to sub-par teams in the past two weekends. Northeastern, which is also struggling with a 7-13-2 record, ended the Black Bears’ five-game winning streak with a win and a tie two weeks ago. Since then, Maine has also lost two games to Niagara. In addition, the Black Bears are no scoring powerhouse, the opposite of many of the teams the Red has faced recently. Maine averages only two goals per game, and typically tries to win games on defense. The Red similarly does not score much, averaging 0.8 goals per game, and Cornell typically struggles most against high scoring squads. “We need to keep working on the offense side [of the game],” said head coach Melody Davidson. “We graduated a lot of offense, and [it is] not something that comes naturally to everyone we have right now.” One player that the Red might have trouble with is Maine’s Meagan Aarts. Aarts leads the Black Bears in scoring with twenty points this season. In contrast, the Red’s top scorer, Jen Munhofen, has six points. Maine’s goaltending is also a force to be reckoned with. The Black Bears’ top two goalies, Dawn Froats and Lara Smart, have a combined GAA of 2.31. After starting off impressively in 2003, the Red has yet to show its potential. When the icers face Maine this weekend, it will be a battle between two teams hungry for a win. Archived article by Michael Pandolfini