LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — Men’s hockey is slated to face No. 12 Quinnipiac in the ECAC semifinal at Herb Brooks Arena at 4 p.m. Friday.
This story will be updated throughout the day Friday, March 21. For the latest updates on the men’s hockey team, follow senior editor and men’s hockey beat reporter Jane McNally @janemcnally_
March 21, 9:56 a.m.: Cornell has taken the ice for morning skate. About half the team is out on the ice, including one goaltender (junior Remington Keopple).
March 21, 10:26 a.m.: Morning skate is mostly over. Some of the presumptive scratches are staying on the ice a bit longer. Lineup prediction for Friday's game:
Mack - Walsh - Bancroft
Psenicka - Kovich - DeSantis
Penney - Castagna - Major
Kraft - Catalano - O'Leary
O'Brien
Robertson - Rego
Suda - Stanley
Kempf - Fegaras
Shane
Keopple
March 21, 10:42 a.m.: That's it for morning skate as the last few players leave the ice. The team will prepare for a 4 p.m. puck drop against Quinnipiac.
The numbers:
Records: Cornell (16-10-6, 10-8-4 ECAC) Quinnipiac (24-10-2, 16-5-1 ECAC).
Power play percentage: Cornell 13.1% (61st) Quinnipiac 30.3% (1st).
Penalty kill percentage: Cornell 83.5% (14th) Quinnipiac 89.0% (3rd).
Faceoff win percentage: Cornell 54% (9th) Quinnipiac 55.6% (1st).
Goals scored per game on average: Cornell 3.1 (20th) Quinnipiac 3.6 (5th).
Goals against per game on average: Cornell 2.3 (11th) Quinnipiac 2.1 (6th).
Series history: Cornell has the slight edge in the all-time series spread, 27-21-6. In the ECAC playoffs, the Bobcats take the cake with seven wins as opposed to the Red’s six. The two teams have never met deeper than the quarterfinal round.
Season series: 0-1-2. Cornell first faced the Bobcats at Lynah Rink on Nov. 22, falling 3-1 after an empty-net goal sealed an otherwise close matchup.
Eight days later, the Red faced off against Quinnipiac once again under the lights at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Cornell led 2-0 and trailed 3-2, but rallied for a 3-3 tie and ceremonial shootout win in front of its devoted fanbase. The game did not count for the ECAC standings as it was played in a neutral site.
On Jan. 19, Cornell traveled to Hamden, Connecticut for its final regular season meeting with the Bobcats. The Red settled for another tie, only this time picking up an extra ECAC point with a shootout win.
Cornell’s last time out: Cornell Sweeps Colgate, Advances to Lake Placid.
Final score: Cornell 3, Colgate 0.
The Red allowed just one goal in six periods en route to a sweep of Colgate to punch its ticket to Lake Placid. That lone Raider goal came on the power play in the 4-1 win for Cornell in game one.
In game two, the Red used an 18-save shutout by senior goaltender Ian Shane to clinch its third consecutive ECAC championship weekend berth. Senior forward Sullivan Mack, freshman forward Charlie Major and junior forward Dalton Bancroft each scored for Cornell.
Quinnipiac’s last time out: The Bobcats made light work of Brown in its quarterfinal matchup, completing its sweep with a 4-0 game two victory. Quinnipiac also allowed just one goal across the two games, also a Brown power play goal in the opening game.
In game two, Quinnipiac led 1-0 heading into the third period, but tacked on three insurance goals to cement its spot at championship weekend. The Bobcats are in search of its first ECAC tournament title since the 2015-2016 season.
Scouting the Bobcats: Quinnipiac’s leading scorer is Jeremy Wilmer, a junior forward that played his first two seasons at Boston University. Wilmer has tallied 39 points on the season and is third on the team in goals (14) behind Jack Ricketts (20) and Travis Treloar (16). All three of those players transferred to Quinnipiac from different schools — B.U., Holy Cross and Ohio State, respectively.
Between the pipes, Dylan Silverstein has started all three games against Cornell this season. But the sophomore has not started since late February, leaving the crease for fellow sophomore Matej Marinov, who made 54 saves on 55 shots across both quarterfinal games against Brown.
The Bobcats are not as deep with NHL-bound talent as they once were, with only two players from its 2023 national championship team on its current roster, and with the departure of Collin Graf (San Jose Sharks), Jacob Quillan (Toronto Maple Leafs/Toronto Marlies) and former star goaltender Yaniv Perets. Still, Quinnipiac’s Cleary Cup-winning squad is lethal offensively, boasting the nation’s top power play unit, converting at a 30.3 percent clip.
“I think one of the main focuses has got to be discipline. … Quinnipiac has got a great power play,” said head coach Mike Schafer ’86 ahead of the matchup. “I think discipline in the championship round is always imperative. I think it’s even more imperative against Quinnipiac.”
Cornell beats Quinnipiac if: … it stays out of the penalty box. Cornell gave Colgate seven power plays in Saturday’s game. The penalty-killers came up big, as did Shane, but that type of undisciplined play is not going to fly against the top power-play in the nation. If Cornell takes anywhere near the volume of penalties it did last Saturday, things could get ugly real quick.
Cornell dominated Colgate five-on-five. In the Quinnipiac series this year, both the Red and the Bobcats have scored four goals each at five-on-five. While it’s essential to square away the third-worst power play in the country, not putting itself in those situations is most easily attainable for the Red.
What they’re saying in Ithaca: Schafer on the Quinnipiac-Cornell rivalry as of late: “It’s a really tight matchup. You look at the last two games: 2-2, 3-3. Typically, our games against Quinnipiac are really low-scoring chance games for both teams. There’s the odd outlier that occurs once in a while between the two of us. But, typically they’re very tightly contested and I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
Schafer on the Red’s current four-game winning streak, improved play down the stretch: ““I think that depth helps you as far as who’s playing with who and how much guys are playing in a game, I think it allows them to not get tired, not get worn down, not have to shoulder all the responsibility. I think that practice is harder; For the last three weeks, we’ve had way tougher practices than we’ve had, probably since just before New Year’s, when we had some healthy guys. So all those are contributing factors to playing much better down the stretch.”
What they’re saying in Hamden: Quinnipiac senior goaltender Noah Altman on Feb. 22 on the losing streak in Lake Placid: “We’re not having the chat this year about the Lake Placid thing. Like, there’s no reason to chat about it. We’re an entirely new team.”
Quinnipiac graduate student defenseman Cooper Moore: “Our backs are against the wall here. We know that it’s do or die right now, and we’ve been working all year to get to this point, and we’re feeling really good about our game right now, and we’re just really excited to keep rolling.”
Injury report: Cornell’s lone regular out of the lineup last weekend was junior forward Nick DeSantis. According to Schafer, “all signs are pointing” to DeSantis’ return to the lineup this weekend.
How to watch or listen: Video on ESPN+ (subscription needed), radio in Ithaca on WHCU 97.7 FM/870 AM, on Twitter @DailySunSports.
Jane McNally is a senior editor on the 143rd editorial board and was the sports editor on the 142nd editorial board. She is a member of the class of 2026 in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. You can follow her on X @JaneMcNally_ and reach her at jmcnally@cornellsun.com.
