This story has been updated
TOLEDO, Ohio — One shot can change everything.
For men’s hockey, one shot could have sent it to the Frozen Four, somewhere head coach Mike Schafer ’86 had been only once before.
For Boston University, one shot sent it to its third straight championship weekend. For Cornell, one shot ended a Cinderella season — and an unfathomably legendary career.
Men’s hockey saw its season end in Toledo, Ohio on Saturday, falling to Boston University 3-2 in overtime. Cornell scored a late third-period goal to send the game to extra time before BU’s Quinn Hutson scored 6:25 into the extra period to advance his Terriers to the Frozen Four.
The game marks the final one of Schafer’s career. The regional final has been something that has eluded Schafer — in 11 appearances, the head coach has won only once, which happened 22 years ago.
“I'm the best freaking coach going into the first round of the NCAA [Tournament]. I just couldn't get it done in the second round,” Schafer said with a laugh. “But I'm okay with it. I'm okay with my career, and I'm very proud of it.”
Saturday marked eight straight NCAA regional final losses. Three were in overtime. Six of the eight were by one goal.
One shot.
Senior goaltender Ian Shane also saw his Cornell career end, making a season-high 40 saves, which also stands as the second-most he’s made in a single game in his career. The shot that beat him was one from distance, his own forward screening him as it eked underneath his arm.
“[Hutson’s goal] was just one of those goals. You throw it on net, and it goes through, right? And what are you going to do? It just hurts,” Schafer said.
The Red’s storybook season has come to an end, finishing 19-11-6. Cornell will look to fight its regional final demons next year, only this time with associate head coach Casey Jones ’90 at the helm.
“I mean, it's the best job in the country: [the] best band, best University, best combination of hockey and academics,” Schafer said. “I'm very grateful, but I am angry. [I’m] competitive. So if you ask about emotion, I would be lying if I didn't say there was a lot of hate in there too for losing tonight.”
BU came out with more jump, but it was Cornell that earned the game’s first goal. Junior forward Dalton Bancroft’s initial shot was blockered away by BU goaltender Mikhail Yegorov, but the rebound hit sophomore forward Ryan Walsh and ricocheted into the net. The score was originally called no-goal, citing a hand-pass, but Schafer’s challenge successfully overturned the call, giving the Red a 1-0.
But much like Cornell did on Thursday, it struggled defensively after getting on the board. Just 1:12 after Walsh’s tally, BU evened the score on an own-goal that trickled off the skate of senior defenseman Hank Kempf and past Shane.
With just 2:00 left in the period, a lengthy review after a post-whistle scrum resulted in a five-minute major facemask penalty called on Walsh. The Red would be tasked with killing five minutes of the nation’s fourth-best power play.
As time dwindled down, BU continued to push and overtook Cornell in shots after mustering seven unanswered. But the Terriers — the most penalized team in the nation — made an undisciplined play to slash a Cornell stick as the clock struck zero.
Both the Red and the Terriers were tied in nearly every stat category after 40 minutes. Both teams had 23 shots on goal — each tallying 13 and 10 in the first and second periods, respectively. Cornell had a slight edge in faceoffs won, 16-15, and the score was knotted at 1-1.
“It was a really back and forth game, a really even game. We knew they [had] a pretty flashy offense, but I thought we managed some of their pushes pretty well,” said senior defenseman Hank Kempf. “I thought we played with some pretty good pace throughout a lot of our pushes. … Sometimes the bounces just didn't go our way.”
The second period nearly passed without a single penalty being called, but Bancroft was whistled for holding just as the final buzzer sounded, awarding BU a power play to begin the third period.
It took only 34 seconds for the Terriers’ power play to click. Cole Hutson skated in hard and sniped the puck far corner against Shane, delivering BU its first lead of the night.
On its heels for the first time all game, Cornell scrambled to find the tying goal. In turn, BU played calm and composed, giving Cornell’s game right back to it as the Red struggled to establish time in its offensive zone.
Cornell got the momentum swing it was looking for when a BU skater was nabbed for tripping at 8:52 of the third period. And although Cornell wouldn’t convert then, minutes of offensive zone pressure ultimately culminated in the tying goal it needed. Senior forward Jack O’Leary finished off a nifty feed and beat Yegorov to make it a 2-2 game with 5:30 left to play.
“What can you ask more of [from] your athletes? You can't go back and change time, and all you can do is go and look at how we played,” Schafer said. “We came to play hard, and we did. We showed a great comeback.”
The Terriers nearly countered Cornell’s tally with a goal of their own after a Bancroft turnover resulted in a flurry of shots that Shane pounced on top of. Looking to avoid this being his last game, the senior was stellar between the pipes for Cornell, as was his counterpart — freshman Yegorov.
Cornell set up a couple of faceoff plays as minutes left turned to seconds left, but extra time would ultimately be needed to determine which team would head to the Frozen Four.
Overtime began with a couple of prime chances by Cornell after some big rebounds from Yegorov. But things quickly turned in BU’s favor, with the Terriers establishing zone time and firing shot after shot on Shane.
Ultimately, one squeaked through. Quinn Hutson was the hero for BU, finding a seam and sending his team to the Frozen Four for the third straight season.
It took minutes for the final Cornell player to leave the ice. Some of whom lingered included seniors Kempf and Shane, who then headed to the locker room to take off the Carnelian sweater for the final time.
“[Schafer] has really been the greatest mentor in my life, outside of my family, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart,” Kempf said. “It's just been such a tremendous four years. I can't believe it’s over.”
Schafer was tasked with both reckoning with the ending of his own career and that of his seniors.
“There's nothing you can say at that moment like that. I closed our locker room just because it's hard for anybody to be in that locker room to see what's going on with those guys,” Schafer said “Every coach has gone through it, every program — when the seniors [are] done, it's one of the most emotional, hard things as an athlete.”
At the end of it all, the Terriers will get another shot at a national championship. Schafer will not.
“[Cornell] has given me everything. It’s given my family everything. It's given me joy. It's given me security [and] a great place in Ithaca to raise my kids,” Schafer said. “It's done everything in my life that I think any person would want. So it's not bad — good career and an unbelievable wife and family, and that's all you can ask for.”
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.
