Head coach Mike Schafer ’86’s final dance is near.
The men’s hockey 2024-25 schedule was released at 10 a.m. Friday, unveiling the 29-game slate complete with a few intriguing out-of-conference matchups. The ECAC schedule was first released back on June 13, which accounts for 22 of the 29 games.
The highlights include a season-opening home series against the University of North Dakota, a date with Quinnipiac at Madison Square Garden, the Desert Classic to kick off the new year in Tempe, Arizona, and an away series against Sacred Heart.
Before anything counts, Cornell will host Princeton and the University of Toronto on Oct. 19 and 26 respectively for two preseason scrimmages.
Cornell’s season will begin on Nov. 1, where it’ll host the University of North Dakota for the first of two games at Lynah Rink. Originally scheduled for the 2020-21 season but canceled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the series will finally debut in Ithaca where Cornell will take on the Fighting Hawks after sweeping them on the road in January 2022.
ECAC play will then commence after a tough season-opener, setting the tone for a three-week stretch of conference play. Two of the first three conference series’ will be held at Lynah, as the Red will host Brown and Yale on Nov. 8-9 and Quinnipiac and Princeton on Nov. 22-23, with a trip east to take on Dartmouth and Harvard in between.
Nov. 30 marks the biennial Frozen Apple held at Madison Square Garden. This year’s opponent is Quinnipiac, an intriguing pick due to it being a conference opponent. The last time Cornell faced an ECAC rival at MSG was against Harvard in 2018, when the Crimson defeated Cornell, 4-1 — still standing as the lone loss for Cornell in the Frozen Apple since its inception in 2012.
Another date to cross in the calendars is Jan. 3, when the Red will fly down to Tempe, Arizona, to take part in the Desert Hockey Classic hosted by Arizona State University. On that Friday, Cornell will take on the University of Massachusetts in the first of two games at Mullett Arena. In the second matchup, Cornell will face either Robert Morris University or the Sun Devils on Jan. 4.
Before Cornell kickstarts the second half of ECAC play, it’ll travel down the coast to face Sacred Heart University for a two-game series in Connecticut. Cornell last faced the Pioneers at Lynah Rink on November 22, 2022, where the Red came out victorious, 2-1.
The infamous Cornell-Harvard game at Lynah will take place on Jan. 24, kicking off the final stretch of conference play. Senior night will be held on Feb. 22 against St. Lawrence, and the final regular season series spans from Feb. 28-March 1, on the road at Union and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
You can find the full 2024-25 men’s hockey schedule here.