This story has been updated.
There’s only so many times you can come from behind.
Playing without the lead has been a marquee aspect of No. 8 men’s hockey’s season. Resiliency has been a key attribute of this Cornell squad, mustering points and forcing overtime with odds stacked against it.
The Red came back once against No. 18 Quinnipiac on Friday night, but couldn’t manage a second tying goal in a 3-1 loss at Lynah Rink. The Red persisted, ringing a shot off the post with less than 15 seconds left, but the bounce didn’t go its way as Cornell dropped its second ECAC contest in regulation.
“It’s hard to explain,” Schafer said. “We just have no connection with each other on the forecheck, we have no connection coming out on breakouts, we have no connection on the power play, and that’s my job. My job as a coach is to get them connected.”
Cornell struggled to penetrate the stout Quinnipiac defense, firing just 16 shots on goal, its fewest attempts all season. The Bobcats converted on their first power play of the evening while Cornell was once again scoreless on the man-advantage, another recent trend that hasn’t gone the Red’s way.
“There needs to be some changes on the power play,” said head coach Mike Schafer ’86. “We’re not playing the kind of hockey we need to be playing.”
Physicality was present early on, as both squads exchanged big hits and shoves against the boards. Notably applying pressure was senior forward Ondrej Psenicka, who missed the last four games after sustaining an upper-body injury against North Dakota on Nov. 2.
The game also marked the return of sophomore defenseman George Fegaras, making his season debut after missing the first six games due to injury.
A cross-checking penalty taken by sophomore forward Ryan Walsh put the Red on the penalty kill just under seven minutes into the game. Cornell nearly killed off the entire two minutes, but with just one second left on the man-advantage, Quinnipiac’s Aaron Bohlinger beat senior goaltender Ian Shane on the far post to put the Bobcats ahead.
“We got beat on special teams again,” Schafer said. “I think that’s six out of the first seven games we’ve lost the special teams game, and there’s got to be some changes.”
While Cornell had few issues entering the Bobcats’ defensive zone, the Red struggled to get pucks on net. Through nearly 15 minutes of play, Cornell managed just a single shot on Quinnipiac’s Dylan Silverstein, making a save that came just four minutes into the game.
However, Cornell managed more shot attempts in the first, edging the Bobcats 13-10 in that category.
Late in the period, one of those attempts finally made it on net and ultimately beat Silverstein. A shot from senior defenseman Tim Rego was redirected skillfully by sophomore forward Jonathan Castagna, evening the score up at 1-1.
Cornell had the better of the chances in the early parts of the second, ultimately overtaking the Bobcats in shots on goal. Grade-A chances on net, including a semi-breakaway by Rego, were ultimately batted away by Silverstein, but Cornell’s improved pace of play began to rally the Lynah Faithful.
A Rego holding penalty sent Cornell back to the kill with the goal of maintaining the tied score. Three saves by Shane highlighted the successful kill, rebounding nicely after surrendering the first Quinnipiac power play goal.
While barred on its second man-advantage, the Bobcats picked it up even after Rego was released from the penalty box. Quinnipiac retook the lead in shots on goal, leading 14-10 after the second period.
Cornell earned its first power play opportunity with 1:16 left in the first after Ryan Smith was sent off for hooking. Smith shot and scored after play had been blown dead, but no further penalty was called.
Cornell couldn’t manage a shot on net in that time, although Quinnipiac notched a shorthanded shot that Shane kicked away. 44 seconds of that Smith penalty would bleed over into the third period.
While those 44 seconds came and went, Cornell sustained time in its offensive zone.
But much like it had over its last few games, Cornell fell behind in score.
“We’ve gone with the same group of guys [on the power play] and we’ve talked about chemistry, [but] we’ve got to make some changes for tomorrow,” Schafer said.
After leading for almost the entire weekend in its sweep of North Dakota in early November, the Red has trailed in just about every ECAC game, and often multiple times each game. It trailed three times against Dartmouth on Nov. 15, twice against Harvard on Nov. 16, and it fell behind a second time against the Bobcats after Chris Pelosi beat Shane on a clean shot from the slot.
“Since [Yale], we gave up [the first goal] against Dartmouth, Harvard, Quinnipiac –– and all of them have been power play goals,” Schafer said. “We’re not getting [the penalty kill] done.”
Not much later, the Red would get a chance to tie the game up once again when Quinnipiac’s Jack Ricketts was sent off for boarding. Cornell threw one shot on Silverstein, who came up with the save and aided the Bobcats to a successful penalty kill.
“There’s no confidence on the power play. … Those guys go out there tonight and they don’t follow the game plan at all,” Schafer said.
As time continued to wane down, Quinnipiac continued to stifle the Red. Cornell began to play frantically, down once again late in a key conference matchup. As it did all night, Quinnipiac did a thorough job preventing Cornell’s shot attempts from reaching Silverstein.
“We didn’t do our job as far as playing with poise and taking care of pucks,” Schafer said. “But really, in all essence, what it came down to was they scored on their power play early.”
After pulling Shane with two minutes left, Cornell continued to press, but ultimately couldn’t tie the game twice. Rego hit the pipe with less than 20 seconds left, and that rebound found Castagna, but the sophomore whiffed on the rebound and Quinnipiac promptly cleared the puck out of the zone and into the empty net.
The win is another blemish on the Red’s ECAC record, falling to 1-2-2 in conference play across five games. Cornell will look to split the weekend Saturday night as it takes on Princeton at Lynah Rink. Puck drop is slated for 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.