By wpengine February 16, 2004
With chants of “Princeton’s in New Jersey,” Cornell hockey fans gave the Tigers a rowdy geography lesson during Friday night’s game. Cornell’s top line just showed Princeton the back of the net. Four Red icers netted six goals — including freshman defenseman Evan Salmela’s first collegiate goal and senior captain Ryan Vesce’s first since missing three games with an injury — as Cornell (11-7-6, 9-5-3 ECAC) pounded Princeton (5-18-1, 5-11-1), 6-1. Cornell’s first goal came early, with 18:01 left in the first period. Freshman forward Byron Bitz moved the puck up to sophomore Shane Hynes, who then sent a cross-ice pass to classmate Matt Moulson. The forward connected with the puck at center ice and sped off toward the net. Just as he crossed the line, Moulson fired a slapshot that beat Princeton’s Eric LeRoux five hole. “I just came down the wing and tried to get in on net, I didn’t know it went in until the crowd started cheering,” Moulson said. “I just got a lucky bounce through the five hole.” Despite being just six minutes into the game, tensions began to run high. With 14:12 left in the first, Princeton’s Brian Westgarth was called for tripping. Cornell, already deep in the Princeton zone, kept the puck moving to delay the penalty. The whistle was finally blown when Hynes and Princeton’s Darrell Powe began mixing it up along the boards. The Red’s second goal came on the ensuing power play. Princeton managed to clear the puck after several Cornell scoring chances were turned aside by LeRoux, and sent the puck careening towards Red goaltender David McKee. Junior Mike Knopfli brought the puck forward for Cornell, and caught Vesce as he was about to cross into Tiger territory. Vesce caught Princeton’s defense off guard, taking it right to the crease and beating LeRoux, top shelf. “The d-man flatfooted a little bit, and the goalie went down early, so I just put it up over his shoulder,” said Vesce. “That second goal is the kind of thing that he can bring to our team,” said Cornell head coach Mike Schafer ’86. “For him to score that goal right at the end of a power play was a big lift for us, to go up 2-0.” For Vesce, the goal punctuated his return from a frustrating injury. “It was great to get out there,” said Vesce of his return. “When you sit there watching games for three games in a row, it gets a little frustrating sitting in the crowd.” The Red slowed down slightly to open the second, as Princeton held Cornell’s power play unit scoreless to open the period. Still the Red’s top line of Bitz, Hynes and Moulson added to the lead halfway through. Hynes scored both goals, receiving assists from sophomore Cam Abbott and Bitz on the first, and Moulson and Bitz on the second. The period marked the end of a scoring drought for the top line. “They are starting to play well,” Schafer said. “I said before they are a big strong group, and hard to handle defensively. All three of them can fend people off, and they have a real good chemistry in the offensive zone.” “You put them down low with anyone and they’re going to come up with the puck,” Moulson said of Bitz and Hynes. “Those are two big skilled guys
By wpengine February 16, 2004
The wrestlers did a little road work this weekend, steamrolling Brown and Harvard to clear the path to Cornell’s third Ivy League championship in four years and 25th overall. In the two matches, both at the Friedman Wrestling Center, the Red outscored the Bears and Crimson by a combined 66-12. Cornell’s experienced starters continued to roll, picking up wins and pins, and some underclassmen also earned victories over ranked opponents. The wins capped the Red’s Ivy season with at a perfect 5-0, and the grapplers now stand 8-6 overall in dual meets. The Red kicked of its weekend on Friday afternoon against Harvard, but the Crimson left hastily after winning only three matches in an embarrassing 33-9 defeat. The meet started with a pin by junior Michael Mormile at the 125-pound weight class. Harvard’s Brent Kakesako did not even have much chance to defend against Mormile’s attack, which included two takedowns, a near fall, and a pin before the end of the first period. At 133 pounds, junior Travis Lee continued to dominate opponents as he prepares for the NCAA tournament. Lee faced the Crimson’s Greg Cook, whom he took down six times before getting the fall at 5:38. The win pushed Lee’s record on the year to 29-1, and he remains in control of the country’s No. 1 ranking. The 141-pound match which followed was arguably the highlight of the dual, as Cornell’s unranked freshman, Keith Dickey, upset Harvard’s 12th-ranked Max Meltzer, 9-4. The first period passed without a score, though both wrestlers struggled intensely for control and position. Dickey came out strongly in the second, however, accumulating two near falls while giving up only one escape to move ahead 5-1. The rookie then iced the cake with a takedown in the third period to come out on top. “Keith Dickey’s match was a huge match in terms of seeding for conference tournaments, the EIWA tournament, and just for his confidence,” said senior co-captain Tyler Baier. “A few big wins like that at the end of the year will really help him going into the postseason.” Juniors Matt Greenberg and Scott Roth, and freshmen David Post and Jerry Rinaldi also won. Roth earned a 9-4 decision over Brandon Kaufman in the 157-pound bout, Post pinned Thomas Young at 4:30 to win the 165-pound match, Rinaldi earned points for his forfeit, and sixth-ranked Greenberg scraped by with a 4-3 decision over Reginald Lee. Going into the match, Cornell had already beaten Penn, Princeton, and Columbia, though the Quakers were the only team to reasonably challenge the team. The winner of the Penn-Cornell match has gone on to win or share the Ivy title for the past 17 years, so the Red was confident heading into this weekend that it could wrap up its award. “We expected after the Penn match that we’d win the Ivy championship,” Baier said. “It’d be a major letdown to not win it. The win against Harvard wasn’t that big a surprise.” The win against Brown was similarly unsurprising, as Cornell had a 40-2 lifetime record against the Bears. Impressive, however, was the score of the match, which ended 33-3 in favor of Cornell. Roth began the competition with his 5-2 decision against David Saadeh in the 157-pound bout. Baier, Rinaldi, Greenberg, freshman Ryan Bridge, sophomore Dustin Manotti, Lee, and Mormile followed and all won their respective weight classes. Also a winner was junior heavyweight Matt Bogumil, who avenged his loss to Harvard the previous day with a 3-2 decision over Lee Beane. The heavyweight finale, though not crucial to the match, concluded the team’s league matches and assured the squad of the outright Ivy championship. And, despite the lopsided score, Cornell was thankful for the victory. “We could have made these matches close by not wrestling well, but we wrestled a great weekend and we blew these guys out,” Baier said. “It was a great way to win the Ivy championship. We’re happy” Archived article by Everett Hullverson