By November 1, 2004
In 2003, it took the men’s hockey team six games to register its first home win of the season. Also last season, the squad scored seven goals in a single game only once — a 7-0 drubbing of Princeton on the road. Friday night, the Red forcefully demonstrated that this year, things are going to be different. No. 14 Cornell opened the 2004-05 season with a fireworks display — collecting goals from six different players en route to a dominant 7-1 victory over an overmatched Army (2-3-1) team at Lynah Rink. Junior Chris Abbott led the explosive offensive effort with a career-high four points (two goals and two assists) and sophomore winger Mitch Carefoot added a short-handed goal — the first for Cornell in more than two years. “Our overall goal going into the game was to work hard,” said Cornell head coach Mike Schafer ’86. “We wanted to be a team that out-worked them. I thought we achieved that goal.” The Black Knights struggled to keep up with the nationally-ranked home team, finishing on the short end of a ludicrous 49-9 shot count. Army goaltender Treye Kettwick barely had time to catch his breath, making 42 saves — including 19 in the second period — during a game that played out almost exclusively on Army’s half of the ice. “[Cornell] was in the zone so much I got pretty worn down,” said Kettwick, who recorded a career-high in saves. “I felt pretty good overall, but there were a few shots that should have been stopped.” Head referee Alex Dell gave each squad ample opportunity to perfect their special teams play, calling 14 total penalties throughout the physical contest. Both the Red and the Black Knights had seven power-play chances, but only Cornell managed to capitalize — rookie defensemen Sasha Pokulok banged home the Red’s second goal of the game (the eventual game-winner) while Cornell held a man advantage early in the first period. Army was plagued by four penalties in the opening period alone. “It doesn’t help us when we have to kill penalties against teams like Cornell,” said Army head coach Brian Riley. “Those guys are on a different level than we are.” Sophomore netminder David McKee started for the Red, stopping six Army shots before being replaced by freshman Troy Davenport with 9:13 left in the third period. Although not nearly as busy as his counterpart Kettwick, McKee did not falter when the Black Knights were awarded a 5-on-3 power play roughly six minutes into the game. Nursing a 2-0 lead at that point, McKee turned away a number of quality Army scoring chances and preserved the Red’s momentum. “We have been working on playing shorthanded in practice a lot,” McKee said. “I felt prepared for the 5-on-3.” Cornell sprinted out of the gates in the first, obtaining goals from senior defenseman Jeremy Downs and Pokulok after only three and a half minutes of play. With just under two minutes remaining in the opening period, Abbott netted his first goal of the evening by sending a loose puck right outside the crease over a sprawling Kettwick. Sophomore winger Mark McCutcheon was credited with the assist, his only point of the evening. The second period appeared less eventful on the stat sheet, but the Red came inches away from adding to its lead multiple times in the initial ten minutes. Senior blueliner Charlie Cook blasted a rocket from outside the right circle four minutes into the period, a shot that beat Kettwick cleanly but clanked off the low left post. When Army’s Jeff Fearing took an interference call a minute later, Cornell’s line of Shane Hynes, Matt Moulson and Topher Scott delivered an onslaught of shots that Kettwick turned away. Finally, at the 14:13 mark of the second, defenseman Jon Gleed extended the Red’s lead by roofing a shot in close over Kettwick’s stacked pads. The junior finished the night with a goal and two assists. “[Scoring] is not really my role,” Gleed said. “But it is nice to start off the season with three points.” The Black Knights showed some signs of life early in the third, at last beating McKee 30 seconds into the period to make the score 4-1. Senior winger David Andros took a pass from Fearing and launched a low shot from the left circle between McKee’s pads. Yet, unfortunately for Army, the remainder of the contest belonged exclusively to the Red. “Coming into the game we knew it was going to be a challenge,” Riley said. “We simply ask our guys to work as hard as they can and never give up.” For Cornell, the highlight-reel worthy goal of the game came with a man down, when Gleed sailed a perfect pass across the front of Army’s net to an unguarded Carefoot. Kettwick hopelessly dived for the puck, but the Red’s sniper had little difficulty putting it away and cementing the Cornell lead. Abbott and Hynes also added goals in the third, ensuring that the Red’s first victory of the season was a blowout. However, the players were reluctant to gloat too much after the convincing win. “It was a nice way to get going,” Carefoot said. “But tomorrow is a new day.” Archived article by Kyle SheahenSun Assistant Sports Editor
By November 1, 2004
It is said that defense wins games: if the other team doesn’t score, it can’t beat you. But for Cornell on Saturday, an efficient aerial attack, fortuitous special-teams play, and an invigorated spirit served as the Red’s keys to the door of victory. While the defense played as well as it has all season — Princeton gained only 69 yards on the ground and 260 in the air — junior quarterback Ryan Kuhn’s arm and the sure hands of junior receiver Brian Romney and senior wideout Chad Nice, along with the extended fingertips of junior defensive lineman Matt Pollock, most impacted the game’s outcome. All the players, however, deserve credit for shaking the lingering self-doubt instilled by the dearth of wins for the program in the past several years. “The one thing we asked players was to open their hearts to give themselves the chance to win again. Their hearts had become so calloused, that they weren’t putting themselves out there,” said Cornell head coach Jim Knowles ’87. “You’ll never reach your full potential unless you really open your heart to the possibilities — and we did.” “We really needed to win that, and we hadn’t had that feeling since Yale,” added senior co-captain Ryan Lempa. “We’re going to keep doing it for the next three weeks.” Kuhn, starting only his second game for the Red, finished the day with two touchdowns, 208 passing yards, and no interceptions. He also gained 23 yards on the ground, displaying his mobility out of the pocket and evading rushers when necessary. Both of Kuhn’s scoring passes were directed at Romney, who caught the first touchdown of his Cornell career to open scoring in the first quarter. The pass, a 54-yard bullet, hit Romney in the numbers as his slid across the field on a post pattern. After beating the safety over the middle, Romney got the ball and cut toward the goal line, beating the last Tiger on the field before hitting the end zone. “It felt really good,” Romney said. “The quarterback did an excellent job. The wide receiver corps stepped up and made plays.” Kuhn also facilitated Romney’s second score — a 24-yarder coming with 6:20 left in the third quarter. This time, Romney made the play using strength and speed, as he had to wrestle the ball from the defender in the end zone to make the reception and get the score. That tally put Cornell up, 14-7. “It’s nice to know we’ve established a guy who manages the offense well,” Knowles said, referring to Kuhn. Princeton head coach Roger Hughes also praised Cornell’s offense, saying: “They threw at our best guy and beat him.” Senior D.J. Busch also got into the mix on several occasions throughout the course of the matchup and finished with one touchdown and 112 yards passing on five attempts. The lone score came on one of the day’s longest plays, a 79-yard strike to Nice. “Hats of to D.J.,” Knowles said. “We gave out two game balls … one of them went to D.J. Busch.” Though the passing game put Cornell on the board, Pollock’s blocked extra point kept Princeton from adding a tally to its score and may have been the game’s biggest play. Following the Tigers’ touchdown, Pollock and Lempa lined and fought for position, with Pollock reaching up at just the right moment to nip the ball and kill the point-after attempt. “Coach [Peter] Stefano always expects full blast and high intensity,” Pollock said. “We were doing a middle block, and we just pushed as much as we could. I put my hand up at the last second.” While the win gave Cornell one more win on its schedule, thus eclipsing last year’s dismal one-victory campaign, the most important outcome for the Red was renewed spirit and attitude about the game. Whereas big plays were recognized with limited sideline enthusiasm in the past, the Cornell bench looked animated and sounded loud during Saturday’s game. And, whereas a veritable losing psychosis had afflicted the team since the 2003 season, this game marked the first time in over a year that the Red had completely exorcised its self-defeating demons. “This week was legacy week. We told the seniors that we realize we probably won’t win the Ivy League. But our goals were to win in the Ivy League and play well at home,” Knowles said. “We’ve played well at home for three games now. And you could see it in the sidelines. There was one missing piece before: there was never any sideline cheering. Today we had that when we had big plays.” Combined, the team’s invigorated spirit and improved play gave it a winning edge, one it will carry into next week’s contest against Dartmouth. Archived article by Everett HullversonSun Assistant Sports Editor