For an intensive, play-by-play recap of the win over Union, click here.
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — In three games against Clarkson in the ECAC quarterfinals, Cornell men’s hockey failed to put up more than 18 shots in any of the three contests, forced to capitalize on a mere few scoring chances to take the three-game series. Just one week later, in the ECAC semifinals against a superior team in Union, Cornell put up more shots in a 20 minute frame than in any Clarkson contest, en route to a 4-1 victory and a spot in the championship match against Harvard. “That was the turning point in our season,” senior forward Eric Freschi said of games two and three against Clarkson. “Our season was on the line after we lost game one, then we fought back and won two games. That really showed the character of our team.” Friday night’s opening period was tied for the most shots in a single period for the 2016-17 Cornell team, with the other 21-shot frame coming in the second period of a 5-2 win over Northern Michigan at the Florida College Classic. The team that struggled to get out of its own end at times against Clarkson flipped the script to open the game, and held one of the country’s most potent offenses to a seven-shot first period. “A word was thrown around that we underestimated this team,” said Union head coach Rick Bennett. “I have no idea why we would ever think that going into this game, but that’s the mindset sometimes of a college guy.” The focus for Cornell going into the semifinal matchup — like any team’s gameplan against Union would be — was trying to figure out how to limit the country’s finest in Mike Vecchione and Spencer Foo, both of whom are finalists for the Hobey Baker Award. In two regular season games, the combination of Vecchione and Foo amassed a total of six points on the Red. On Friday, the duo had only one — a Foo assist on his team’s only goal. For Cornell head coach Mike Schafer ’86, senior forward and captain Jake Weidner — selected as the ECAC's best defensive forward — was the key to that accomplishment the third time around. “There’s no doubt in my mind that [Vecchione] should win the Hobey Baker Award,” Schafer said. “[Weidner] has gone head to head against Vecchione in three-straight games, and he hasn’t given up a five-on-five goal against him. He leads by example and our guys follow him.” Rather than just limiting Vecchione and Foo, the team put forth its own onslaught on Union’s Alex Sakellaropoulos, and the Union netminder did all he could to keep his team afloat by denying everything Cornell threw at him in the first.
Cornell retained its status as the only ECAC team Union failed to beat all season.

Members of the ever-vocal Lynah Faithful made the trek to Lake Placid, and the car keys came out for Union.
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