Click here to see Cornell’s chances of making the NCAA tournament (as of Friday, March 1st).
Games 28 and 29 have finally arrived for men’s hockey (16-5-6, 11-5-4 ECAC), which will cast a curtain on its season at Lynah Rink after contests against Union (14-15-3, 8-9-3 ECAC) and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (9-19-4, 6-11-3 ECAC).
The Red will battle the Garnet Chargers on Friday before honoring its senior class on Saturday night after the RPI clash.
Occupying second place in its conference, Cornell will skip the first round of ECAC playoffs regardless of the weekend’s results.
“We have been able to secure a home ice bid and the bye week can’t come soon enough with a lot of guys being sick,” wrote head coach Mike Schafer ’86 in an email obtained by The Sun.
However, recent road bumps –– including tying Yale on Feb. 17, falling to Clarkson in overtime on Feb. 23 and drawing with St. Lawrence on Feb. 24 –– make the path to the NCAA tournament a bit rockier.
“[O]ur trip to the North Country is a tough road, and this past weekend was an example of extremely hard play with plenty of excitement,” Schafer wrote.
If the season concluded today, Cornell’s 16th ranking in Pairwise isn’t quite enough to guarantee a bid into the playoff field.
Two regulation wins this weekend certainly wouldn’t hurt Cornell’s case, but with Union at 40th and RPI at 56th in the Pairwise rankings, any slip-ups could pull the Red out of at-large bid contention altogether.
Regardless of what’s at stake, six points are on the line this weekend. All season, Cornell has preached its philosophy of treating each game the same as the last –– whether it’s No. 2 Boston University or Union and RPI on Friday and Saturday.
The recent rocky weekend slate against Clarkson and St. Lawrence reinforced that philosophy –– don’t overlook anyone.
“It certainly was disappointing that we ended up giving up a goal late in the game and overtime [against Clarkson],” Schafer said. “[O]n Saturday night, I felt that Saint Lawrence played well, and we struggled all night. Fortunately, we held on and achieved that extra point.”
Union makes the trip to Ithaca on Friday, carrying just one victory in its last five matchups. Surrendering 21 goals across those matchups, the Garnet Chargers rank among the worst in the nation in scoring defense, averaging a 51st-best 3.38 goals per game.
Cornell, on the other hand, grasps a stronghold on first place in scoring defense. The Red has allowed the fewest goals in the country –– 50 in 27 appearances –– and allows just 1.85 goals per game. Anchored by its mainstay between the pipes, junior goaltender Ian Shane, Cornell’s suffocating defensive unit will look to continue its stellar play.
Gears will be shifted on Saturday to a triumphant celebration, as Cornell will be honoring its small yet mighty senior class after the Red takes on RPI.
The Engineers were shellacked by Dartmouth, 5-1, on Friday before forcing a tie and shootout loss with Harvard on Saturday. RPI has battled opponents closely –– hence the Harvard tie –– but has lost by large margins that in turn squashed its goal differential.
For the Red, senior forward Gabriel Seger and senior goaltender Ryan McInchak will take their long-awaited final lap at Lynah following Saturday’s contest.
In his two seasons on the hill, Seger –– the only senior skater on this year’s roster –– has been crowned Cornell’s leading point-scorer twice. Entering this weekend’s slate, the center has amassed 18 goals and 64 points in his career with the Red.
The Uppsala, Sweden native dons the ‘A’ crest on his jersey denoting his alternate captaincy. Seger is finishing up a degree in the College of Engineering.
McInchak, too, has spent only two years at Cornell. He hails from Trenton, Michigan, and logged two appearances in net last season. He serves as a member of the goaltender tandem, providing a senior presence for Shane and sophomore goaltender Remington Keopple. McInchak is enrolled in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
After graduating a 2023 class consisting of 10 members, the Class of 2024 is a unique bundle. Both transferred to Cornell following their sophomore years –– Seger from Union and McInchak from American International College.
The reduced senior class results from the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Ivy League athletics. Since the Ivy League did not hold competition for the 2020-2021 academic year, athletes were able to prolong their eligibility.
Consequently, the Class of 2024 has changed drastically since its members stepped foot on campus in August 2020. The current junior class includes three skaters who originally entered Cornell on track to graduate in 2024, those skaters being junior forwards Jack O’Leary and Kyle Penney and junior defenseman Tim Rego.
All that said, Seger and McInchak will close out what has been two memorable years donning the Carnelian and White. To get there, though, the team has a pair of games to play.
Cornell will face Union at 7:30 p.m. on Friday (note the later start time due to the women’s hockey quarterfinal matchup at Lynah Rink earlier that day). Senior Night is on Saturday when the Red takes on RPI at 7 p.m. The senior ceremony will occur immediately after the conclusion of the game.