No. 10 Cornell men’s hockey (4-0-0, 2-0 ECAC) earned its fourth consecutive win to start the season against Brown (2-2-0, 1-2 ECAC). If there ever was a question about how a young, freshman-heavy team would fare on the road for the first time, those doubts were shut down after Cornell’s showing against the Bears, with four freshmen scoring across both nights to contribute to the Red’s weekend sweep.
The Bears dominated the start of the period, with the Red unable to register a shot until five minutes in. This gave way for Cornell to play more offensively, dominating offensive zone time for a while.
Cornell had its first opportunity to strike after Brown’s Matt Sutton was called for slashing. The Red had some good chances and dominated possession in their offensive zone but were unable to convert. With 15 seconds remaining, freshman forward Jonathan Castagna was called for hooking, allowing for four-on-four play.
Just as the four-on-four expired, junior forward Jack O’Leary had a shorthanded chance off the face off, but it was broken up by a Brown defenseman while time ran out and Brown’s man advantage began.
Cornell’s PK unit stood strong and kept the Bears off the board. Junior goaltender Ian Shane, fresh off a 19 save performance the night prior and earning MAC Goaltender of the Month honors, made a couple of key saves to keep the game knotted at zero with under three minutes remaining in the first.
Cornell came out of the intermission dominating. It didn’t take long for the Red to prove itself in the second period, with Castagna going five-hole just under two minutes in off a feed from junior forward Kyle Penney.
The Red had a chance to double its lead moments after with a breakaway chance by sophomore forward Dalton Bancroft — however, it was just stopped by Brown goaltender Tyler Shea, keeping the score 1-0.
Outshooting the Bears significantly, the Red doubled its lead with a tip in front by Gabriel Seger from the left point by freshman defenseman George Fegaras, the first point of his collegiate career.
The Red were able to cash in once again just 41 seconds later when Penney, leading the rush for Cornell, toe-dragged the puck into the slot and skillfully slid past the Brown goaltender, extending the lead to 3-0.
Looking to cool down the red-hot Red, Brown coach Brenden Whittet called a timeout just before the halfway point of the second period. Not long after play resumed, the Bears were awarded another power play opportunity when junior forward Tim Rego was sent to the box for hooking.
Brown’s Ryan St. Louis cashed in on the power play to cut the deficit, 3-1.
With just under eight minutes left in the second period, Cornell earned its third power play opportunity of the night.
Seconds after time expired on the Brown penalty, Fegaras shot a rocket over the shoulder of Shea for his first collegiate goal, giving Cornell the 4-1 lead.
The first five minutes of the third frame was highlighted by two power plays for the Bears after a slashing call on sophomore forward Nick DeSantis and an interference call on freshman forward Luke Devlin. However, the Red was able to successfully kill off both of these penalties to keep Brown at bay with only one goal.
Within the third, both teams alternated offensively, however, the Red was still outshooting the Bears. The offensive pressure from Cornell paid off as Seger, Devlin and freshman forward Ryan Walsh were able to find the back of the net in the third to solidify the 7-1 win.
With points in Saturday’s game, Penney, Seger and freshman forward Ben Robertson, who assisted on Penney’s goal, have all extended their season-opening point streak to four games.