On Mar. 22, 2024, men’s hockey skated out for the third period against Dartmouth, down 3-1 on the scoreboard.
The stage was the biggest of them all — the Red and the Big Green were battling in the ECAC semifinals, looking to advance to the championship game for a date with St. Lawrence. And after the final 20 minutes, the score read 6-3, Cornell. A comeback that seemed entirely improbable was complete.
On Saturday night, Cornell once again faced a 3-1 deficit against Dartmouth heading into the third. But this time it was not March in Lake Placid but rather January in Ithaca, and Cornell couldn’t muster up the same magic it had the prior year.
The Red fell 6-1 at the hands of the Big Green on Saturday, completing Dartmouth’s regular season series sweep of Cornell. A physical game reached its boiling point after 60 minutes had come and gone, as both teams brawled and could potentially face further disciplinary action from the ECAC.
Senior forward Kyle Penney, senior forward Jack O’Leary and sophomore defenseman Hoyt Stanley were given disqualifications and will be forced to sit out for at least the next game.
“I talked to the referee at the end. … He put his hands on one of our players, and I [thought] it was inappropriate, and I put my hands on him and asked not to put his hands on our player,” said head coach Mike Schafer ’86. “So I’ll probably get suspended. … But I take full responsibility to keep our guys near the bench on what went on near the end of the game.”
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The brawl was initiated after Cornell’s displeasure with Dartmouth’s taunting of the Lynah Faithful, as the Big Green celebrated loudly in front of the Cornell student section.
Both benches were emptied while coaches on both sides attempted to get involved and separate the altercations taking place. 108 minutes of penalties were called between the two teams as a result of the fight. In addition to the three Cornell disqualifications, three Dartmouth skaters were also handed disqualifications.
“Some stuff was going on with their team and our guys went down there. … They felt that [Dartmouth’s behavior] was not appropriate, whatever it was,” Schafer said. “And I’ll talk with our guys afterwards, and I have to take responsibility.”
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Perhaps failing to fully recover from an emotional Friday night victory at Lynah, Cornell struggled to match Dartmouth’s pace in the opening period. The six goals Dartmouth scored were the most it had scored at Lynah Rink since Jan. 23, 1960.
But Dartmouth’s pressure was ultimately too much to handle, as Luke Haymes — who missed the first meeting between these two teams back on Nov. 15 — cleaned up a puck that had deflected off the shinpad of Stanley.
Neither Cornell nor Dartmouth struck on special teams in the first period despite a combined 10 minutes of penalties, and the trend of undisciplined hockey continued when sophomore forward Jake Kraft was nabbed for slashing just 13 seconds into period two.
“[Dartmouth] were stronger on their pucks and sticks. When that happens, and then the game [gets] out of control, and you get frustrated,” Schafer said. “That’s what we have a tendency to do to other teams, and they did that to us.”
While the Big Green (11-7-2, 8-4-1 ECAC) wouldn’t strike on its third power play of the night, just 10 seconds elapsed before doubling its lead. John Fusco would be credited with the goal, as a faceoff win found his stick for a hard slapshot that deflected off of Penney’s stick and over the shoulder of senior goaltender Ian Shane.
Dartmouth’s lead grew to three less than five minutes later, but it didn’t take a lucky bounce for Haymes to find his second of the night. The second-line center forced a turnover along the boards and took it into the slot himself, beating Shane glove side to widen Dartmouth’s lead.
Cornell’s lone goal came off the stick of sophomore defenseman George Fegaras, whose first goal of the season was a hard wrist shot that cleanly beat Dartmouth’s goaltender.
The Red (8-6-5, 5-4-3 ECAC) showed signs of life as time ticked down on the second period, but Dartmouth’s physicality combined with its speed off the rush stymied any more Cornell scoring opportunities. The Red was outshot 11-6 in the middle frame.
“I thought [Dartmouth] played really, really well,” Schafer said. “We were gassed, but it’s no excuse. So we’ve got to find a way to come out [after the Harvard] game and play better than we did, and [I] give Dartmouth all the credit in the world.”
Cornell battled through the first eight minutes of the third, but Dartmouth’s Hank Cleaves finished off a perfectly executed passing play to restore the three-goal lead with 11:59 to play.
The Red drew a penalty with 5:03 remaining in the third and opted to pull Shane for a six-on-four advantage. However, the Big Green quickly took hold of the puck and flung it into the empty net to make it 5-1, quickly adding a sixth goal and four two short-handed goals in 20 seconds.
Frustration boiled as ten minutes of penalties across both teams piled up in the final 3:22 of play. And when the final buzzer sounded, the action only picked up from there — a brawl ensued in front of the Red’s student section, as each player from both teams pushed and shoved as a sold-out Lynah Rink crowd cheered them on.
“I don’t blame any of the guys on our team. I blame myself for our guys going down there,” Schafer said.
Cornell will look to wash the sour taste out of its mouth next weekend as it travels to North Country to take on St. Lawrence on Friday and Clarkson on Saturday.