Ming DeMers/Sun Photography Editor

Cornell tied Clarkson on Saturday, earning two ECAC points with a shootout win.

February 1, 2025

Men’s Hockey Ties Clarkson After Blown Leads, Grabs Extra Point with Shootout Win

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With a 3-1 lead in the second period, men’s hockey got a power play.

Senior forward Sullivan Mack gathered the puck and fired. The shot beat Clarkson goaltender Ethan Langenegger.

But it rang square off the post.

In the matter of minutes, Clarkson had evened things up. On Saturday night, Cornell seemed to find its scoring touch, but a late rally by the Golden Knights forced the Red to settle for a tie. Sophomore defenseman Ben Robertson scored the shootout-winner to grab the extra ECAC point.

Cornell led 2-0 and 3-1, but another scoreless night on the power play led to another winless weekend.

After a bare lineup the night before, Cornell got a few reinforcements back in time for the clash with the Golden Knights. Senior forward Jack O’Leary, junior forward Nick DeSantis and sophomore defenseman Hoyt Stanley returned after serving their suspensions from the post-game brawl against Dartmouth last Saturday.

Two notable names remained out, however — senior forwards Kyle Penney and Ondrej Psenicka. Assistant Director of Athletics Communications Marshall Haim confirmed to The Sun that Psenicka was not suspended and missed this weekend’s action due to injury.

Perhaps the most notable return was not found within the lineup — head coach Mike Schafer ’86 was back behind the bench after missing Friday night’s game due to suspension.

And after a snakebitten offensive performance on Friday, Cornell (8-7-6, 5-5-4 ECAC) came out strong on Saturday and secured the crucial first goal of the game. It was Stanley, after a game of rest, that fired a nifty backhand shot past Clarkson netminder Ethan Langenegger. 

Scoring first has not been commonplace for the Red this season, but when the Red does get on the scoresheet first, it is undefeated — entering Saturday, Cornell was 4-0-3 when scoring first and, on the contrary, 4-7-2 when the opponent gets the game’s first goal.

After Stanley’s goal 3:35 in, it took only 2:09 for Cornell to double its lead. Sophomore forward Jake Kraft, who has had a scorching second half of the season with four goals and six points in 2025, cleaned up a loose rebound resulting from senior defenseman Hank Kempf’s shot. The goal gave Kempf his second point in as many games.

Despite securing the lead, Cornell’s momentum stalled — while discipline has been the major point of focus for Schafer’s squad, the Red took three penalties in the first period. 

Clarkson (14-9-3, 8-5-1 ECAC) would capitalize on its second man advantage, awarded to the Golden Knights after senior forward Kyler Kovich was guilty of holding. Luka Sukovic found an answer to the Red’s penalty kill which, before Saturday, had fended off 92 percent of opponents’ penalties since the calendar year turned.

After a first period that was riddled with penalties, the second period was played cleanly, with the Golden Knights — losers of its last two games, much like Cornell — eager to knot the game up.

But Cornell found the ever important next goal, distancing itself from Clarkson by two goals yet again. Sophomore forward Jonathan Castagna found Mack, who made no mistake in firing it past Langenegger. Both forwards earned their first points since Jan. 17 with the tally, while O’Leary earned a secondary assist for his first point since Jan. 3.

Cornell appeared comfortable with the lead for the majority of the second, almost making it 4-1 when junior forward Dalton Bancroft and sophomore forward Ryan Walsh emerged on a two-on-none breakaway but they failed to find the back of the net.

A late Clarkson rally, though, erased the Red’s lead quickly. First, Sukovic notched his second of the night by burying a big Shane rebound. That came with 2:58 left, and 1:33 later, the game was tied. O’Leary, left to guard the point without a stick, couldn’t deflect Ayrton Martino’s shot away from Shane — the puck passed through multiple players and past the Cornell netminder, who was heavily screened on the play.

Despite the tied game and second-period, Cornell healthily trailed Clarkson in shots. The Golden Knights outshot Cornell 22-12 through 40 minutes, edging the Red in shot-attempts, 25-8, in the second period alone.

Both teams entered the third looking to snap two-game winless streaks, and Cornell would get a prime opportunity to retake the lead when Clarkson was whistled for delay of game 3:25 into the period.

Cornell assembled perhaps its best stretch of play on the man advantage over its last few games, culminating in a shot by Mack that rang off the crossbar. Although the Red couldn’t find the go-ahead goal, the power play looked much more threatening and mustered two shots on Langenegger.

After relatively back-and-forth play throughout the third, Clarkson took control late. A two-on-one play developed in Cornell’s defensive zone but was skillfully broken up, but the ensuing shot rang off the iron. The pressure ultimately culminated in a Cornell penalty, as senior defenseman Michael Suda was sent off for holding with 2:03 left.

Cornell’s penalty-killers stood tall, however, even managing a pair of shorthanded chances. Time ultimately ticked down and the buzzer sounded with things tied up, 3-3.

4:29 of three-on-three play elapsed with no scoring, but after a Clarkson skater flew into Shane and knocked the netminder off his skates, the Red would earn a 31-second, four-on-three man advantage to conclude overtime.

But nothing would beat Langenegger, despite two massive offensive zone faceoff wins. The teams would head to a shootout after one final save by the Clarkson netminder, who finished with 24 saves compared to Shane’s 34. 

Junior forward Dalton Bancroft and Robertson scored in the shootout to clinch the all important extra ECAC point.

Cornell will return home to Lynah Rink next weekend for its first meetings with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Union on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Puck drop for both games is slated for 7 p.m. Action will be streamed live on ESPN+.