LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — Men’s hockey has found many ways to win. It has also found many ways to lose.
Special teams have been the difference between mediocrity and greatness for Cornell. Owning one of the worst power play’s in the country, the Red has lost more special teams battles than it has won this season.
So when the Red scored twice on the power play and once shorthanded to beat Quinnipiac in the ECAC tournament semifinals, fans weren’t the only ones surprised — head coach Mike Schafer ’86 was, too.
“This game couldn't have [gone] any more opposite than most of our games have gone this year,” Schafer said.
Cornell defeated Quinnipiac, 3-2, in overtime of the ECAC semifinals. Cornell surrendered a goal with 5:20 remaining that put the Bobcats ahead, 2-1, but senior forward Kyler Kovich scored a shorthanded goal in the final two minutes to tie the game and send it to overtime.
Senior defenseman Tim Rego ultimately scored the deciding goal in overtime — on the power play.
“They heard it from the media [and] everybody all year [about] our power play,” Schafer said. “In the biggest game and [in] the biggest moments, they stepped up and got the job done tonight. So very proud of these guys.”
The win sends Cornell to Saturday’s championship game, where the Red will look to defend its title.
“Being able to watch [the seniors] put the jersey on for at least one more game is something really special,” said sophomore forward Ryan Walsh. “And to have the opportunity for these guys to go back-to-back in the last two years is something really cool, as a guy who will be around next year.”
Senior goaltender Ian Shane made 22 saves on 24 Quinnipiac shots, aiding a penalty kill unit that stymied four out of five Quinnipiac power plays. Before Friday, the Bobcats were scoring on 30.3 percent of their man advantage attempts.
Shane, who won the ECAC Goaltender of the Year award last season, has been stellar down the stretch after an otherwise shaky senior campaign. The Manhattan Beach, California native has stepped up for Cornell in big games, and on stages that will only continue to get bigger as Cornell continues its improbable playoff run.
“I'm really proud of Ian. I think as a goaltender, he went through some tough spots this year. We played games with eight forwards and [did] not exactly protect him very well,” Schafer said. “He's risen to the challenge here in the playoffs. … So very proud of him, because it wasn't easy for him to struggle through that mental aspect of raising his game. He had some doubts. We all had doubts, right? [About] our whole team.”
After an early power play for Cornell with no score, the Red (17-10-6, 10-8-4 ECAC) was gifted another power play chance late in the period when Elliott Groenewold of Quinnipiac (24-11-2, 16-5-1 ECAC) was nabbed for interference with just 50 seconds left in the period.
The stalemate seemed destined to hold into the first intermission, but sophomore forward Jonathan Castagna had other ideas. The hero in last year’s ECAC title game with two goals and the game-winner, Castagna potted a loose puck past Bobcat netminder Matej Marinov with just 4.9 seconds left in the period to give Cornell the lead.
Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold appeared to call for goaltender interference, gesturing his arms in an ‘X’ shape — the referee’s signal for interference. But no official challenge was made, and the goal stood.
Pecknold made an eye-opening comment about the officiating in the postgame press conference.
“I just want to get clarity right out of the gate — I'm not going to take any questions on NCAA rules on the officiating tonight. Any questions on that you can ask [ECAC commissioner] Doug Christiansen. That's my opening statement.” Pecknold said.
Discipline — or a lack thereof — was the key theme in the second period. After not taking a penalty in the first period, Cornell took four in the middle frame.
It was the third penalty, a senior defenseman Michael Suda infraction for hitting-from-behind, that the Bobcats would cash in on. Just eight seconds after the faceoff, Andon Cerbone deflected a flukey puck over the shoulder of Shane to knot the score.
A late Kovich penalty would bleed into the final frame, giving Cornell its third successful penalty kill on four attempts. Though it surrendered the Cerbone goal in the second period, it largely stymied the top man-advantage unit in the country.
“We struggled a bit in the beginning of the season [on the penalty kill] and over Christmas [break] it was a real big point to us to have a high PK percentage, keep them off the board and just gain momentum off the kill,” Rego said. “I thought we did that perfectly tonight.”
As time winded down and both teams grew tired, the game began to open up. Bobbled pucks were the difference.
But late, the Bobcats finally found the right timing — Quinnipiac took its first lead of the game with 5:20 left. An initial shot attempt was blocked and Quinnipiac Chris Pelosi dragged the puck past a diving Shane and buried it, tallying what appeared to be a deciding goal.
Spoiler alert — it wasn’t.
“I was upset,” Schafer said. “It's always bleak, but our team — they just believed.”
Cornell pulled Shane with around three minutes left, and things seemed even more bleak when Castagna took an interference penalty in the offensive zone.
But then, the puck was chippied out of the zone, and Kovich emerged with senior forward Kyle Penney on a two-on-one, shorthanded rush. Kovich found an impossible angle, one that seemed improbable to pass Marinov, who hadn’t surrendered more than one goal since Feb. 18.
Before the crowd had any time to find the puck, Kovich had his hands up. Then Penney’s were up. Then the crowd.
Cornell tied the game on a shorthanded goal with just 1:39 remaining, sending the game into overtime.
“I said to the guys after the game: that short handed goal will be legendary,” Schafer said.
The Red killed off the remaining time on Castagna’s penalty, which bled partially into overtime. Cornell generated a handful of good looks on Marinov and play was choppy as the minutes passed on.
Then, with 6:24 left in the overtime, a whistle blew. Quinnipiac was being gestured to the penalty box, sending Cornell to the power play.
“It might be the second or third time we won a special teams battle this year,” Schafer said.
The Red’s power play ranked 61st in the nation heading into Friday’s matchup. It had already scored on the man advantage earlier in the game and Quinnipiac’s penalty kill hadn’t given up multiple power play goals in a game since Nov. 9.
With all the odds stacked against it, Cornell broke through. On a one-timer with 5:21 left, Rego potted the overtime-winner.
“It's a great feeling [after] seeing those guys go to war for 70 minutes,” Rego said. “And [to] come out on top against a really good hockey team.”
It was his eighth goal of the year and it sends the Red to the ECAC championship game on Saturday at 5 p.m.
“You know, we were lucky tonight. You can't put Quinnipiac on the power play as much as we did tonight,” Schafer said. “I thought we dodged a bullet with that. So, more discipline and more confidence in themselves [tomorrow].”
Clarkson defeated Dartmouth in the second semifinal game, 4-1, so the Red will take on the Golden Knights in the championship game. The winner receives an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. All action will be streamed live on ESPN+.
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.
