This story has been updated.
No. 7 Cornell men’s hockey (4-0-1, 2-0-1 ECAC) opened its home weekend with a shootout win against the Dartmouth Big Green (1-1-3, 1-0-3 ECAC) on Friday, Nov. 10. The shootout victory will provide the Red with an extra point, but it remains as a draw in the record.
From the opening faceoff, it was all Cornell who came out strong, controlling offensive zone time. And just 4:52 in, the Red had the opportunity first after Dartmouth’s Joey Musa got called for boarding.
Just 30 seconds into the man-advantage, freshman defenseman Ben Robertson was able to draw another penalty, making it a 5-on-3 for a minute and a half.
On the power play, the Red came out strong with a flurry of shots forcing Dartmouth’s Cooper Black to make critical saves to keep Cornell off the board as time expired on the second penalty.
“You gotta give credit where credit’s due,” said head coach Mike Schafer ’86. “Cooper Black played unbelievable tonight, he’s a tough goalie to beat.”
The Red and Big Green alternated possession, each with scoring chances. However, neither were able to find the back of the net.
With just over eight minutes remaining in the first, Dartmouth headed to the power play as junior forward Jack O’Leary was sent to the box on a tripping call. Not allowing the Big Green a shot on goal, the Red successfully killed off the penalty.
Shortly after, both teams took coincidental penalties, with the Big Green’s Luke Haymes going to the box for holding and sophomore forward Nick DeSantis for embellishment, allowing for two minutes of four-on-four play. Despite some good chances, the game remained scoreless as both teams returned to even strength.
Despite not being able to find the back of the net, Cornell had outshot Dartmouth by a margin of 13-1 at the end of the first.
Less than a minute into the second, sophomore forward Dalton Bancroft found the back of the net, giving Cornell the 1-0 lead.
The lead didn’t last long however, as less than three minutes later, Dartmouth answered with one of its own as John Fusco scored to tie the game at one apiece. It didn’t seem to faze the Red too much, with Cornell still riding the momentum, controlling the puck and dominating offensively.
The Red held strong, continuing to outshoot the Big Green. Cornell had some good looks, including a breakaway chance by junior forward Kyle Penney that was deflected just wide.
Momentum seemed to shift in favor of Dartmouth within the final six minutes of the second frame, but junior goaltender Ian Shane and the rest of the d-corps stood firm. Amidst the flurry of shots by the Big Green, junior defenseman Tim Rego was called for hooking, sending the Red to the penalty kill.
Fusco snuck one past Shane for his second of the night, giving the Big Green the lead.
Now, 2-1 down, Cornell didn’t waste much time and had an opportunity to tie the game up as it headed to the power play after another Dartmouth penalty. The Red was unable to convert as time expired.
“We had a lot of different scoring chances tonight and I think our guys got a little frustrated as the game went on,” Schafer said. “Some guys had two or three wide open nets and didn’t capitalize, we hit the post, [etc.].”
With just over a minute remaining in the second, Cornell had another chance on the man-advantage after Dartmouth’s Owen Desilets was sent to the box for tripping. Rego scored to tie the game at two heading into the third. With an assist on the power play goal, Robertson extended his point streak to five games.
“Outstanding start to his career, averaging a point per game … What freshman can do that?” Schafer said. “He’s just been like that since day one, very consistent and works hard. He’s got great vision on the ice surface and [he’s] a big part of our team.”
The third period began with the both teams alternating control, each with fair chances to take the lead, however, both goaltenders and defense stood strong, not allowing one to pass through.
Neither team was able to capitalize in the final frame, sending the game to overtime. Shane made some critical saves to keep the score tied at two before the Red earned a man-advantage with four seconds remaining in overtime after Dartmouth was called for too many men on the ice. Time ran out before Cornell could capitalize on the bench minor.
Bancroft and senior forward Gabriel Seger both scored in the best-of-three shootout to secure the shootout win.
“It’s a real good learning lesson,” Schafer added. “They know that Dartmouth is hard to play against and their goaltender is really good, but as we got in the game, we got to kind of stay that course.”