Three posts were hit. A goal was overturned. A major penalty was called with five minutes left.
The hockey gods seemed to be against men’s hockey on Saturday night, as the Red — seeded sixth in the ECAC playoffs — entered the third period knotted 1-1 with 11th-seeded Yale at Lynah Rink.
Yet despite a series of misfortunes, Cornell exploded with a four-goal third period to upend the Bulldogs and advance to the ECAC quarterfinals.
Senior defenseman Tim Rego potted two goals in his final game at Lynah Rink. Head coach Mike Schafer ’86, after a long career with hundreds of games at the historic building as both a player and coach, retires knowing he won his final game at Lynah.
“It would’ve been tough to walk off that ice [after] getting your season ended, and in your last year as a coach,” Schafer said. “You see it this afternoon at the women’s game, you see it tonight — hockey is beloved here.”
Senior forward Ondrej Psenicka registered a goal and an assist, while sophomore defenseman Ben Robertson also tallied a two-point game with a pair of assists. Senior goaltender Ian Shane made 18 saves to cap off his career at Lynah Rink.
On the other end, Yale goaltender Jack Stark made 28 saves, losing at Lynah for the first time in his career. The netminder had not allowed more than one goal against Cornell in two previous appearances.
Much like the Cornell women’s hockey team did hours earlier at Lynah Rink en route to its fifth ECAC title, the Red got off to a quick start. Sustained pressure in the offensive zone led to a pair of prime scoring opportunities by sophomore forward Jonathan Castagna and senior defenseman Tim Rego, both of which rang square off the pipe.
It was only a matter of time before a shot finally found the back of the net.
It was Rego who cashed in just 2:33 into the game, ripping a shot past Stark to open the scoring. The lone assist was credited to sophomore defenseman Ben Robertson, who found Rego before the senior toe-dragged around a Bulldog skater and lit the lamp.
The Red earned a power play opportunity of its own within the last five minutes of period one and showcased some strong passing along the perimeter, but the Red couldn’t beat Stark, the goaltender that aided Yale to a shootout win at Lynah Rink on Nov. 8.
The teams traded penalties to start the second period, and although Yale wouldn’t find the back of the net on its man advantage, it began to pick up its play and looked threatening in the offensive zone. Shane was forced to make 11 saves in the second period, many of them off of second-chance attempts that left him and his defense scrambling to preserve the lead.
The Bulldogs eventually tied things up with 3:33 remaining in period two, as William Dineen made a hard drive to the net and moved Shane enough out of position to tuck it by the Cornell netminder.
The onslaught of penalties carried into the final frame as both teams looked to keep their seasons alive. Yale’s Zach Wagnon was sent off for a faceoff violation just 58 seconds into the period, awarding Cornell its third man-up chance of the evening.
Stark ultimately stole the show — the sophomore made multiple flailing stops that kept his team in the game.
“[Stark] made four highlight saves on our power play — highlight. Like, I don’t know how he kept it out,” Schafer said. “We just kept plugging away. … There’s no quit in Yale.”
Cornell did eventually beat Stark, only in an illegal fashion. Mack celebrated for what would’ve been his seventh goal of the season, but a successful Yale challenge for goaltender interference overturned the go-ahead goal. Mack had shoved Stark’s right leg pad, which covered the puck, over the goal line.
Cornell continued to search for the go-ahead goal, outshooting the Bulldogs 10-0 within the first six minutes of the final frame. With the momentum well within its grasp, Cornell secured yet another power play and a chance to regain the lead.
That it would do — Psenicka cleaned up a loose puck in the slot and buried it, giving Cornell the lead once again. Yale once again challenged for goaltender interference as junior forward Nick DeSantis was camped out just atop the blue paint of the crease, but the goal ultimately stood.
“Our [power play] unit was working all night and getting looks,” Rego said. “[We] were talking about how it’s playoffs and our percentages reset, so we’re just going to keep focusing on it and keep getting looks and keep doing good work.”
It seems that one goal was all the Red needed to get things going. 37 seconds after Psenicka’s power play tally, a shot from sophomore defenseman Hoyt Stanley deflected off of Penney and past Stark to extend the lead to two goals.
As time continued to wind down, Cornell continued to control play in Yale’s defensive zone.
With 5:19 left, though, things turned for the worse.
Yale challenged a hit that had occurred over two minutes earlier — the 7:22 mark — for a major penalty that had gone uncalled at the time. A lengthy review delivered a five-minute major penalty and misconduct to Mack, giving Yale a five-minute power play for the final 5:19 of the game.
But the Bulldogs had little time to utilize the man-advantage. With 3:39 left, Yale’s Connor Sullivan was sent off for interference, leveling the play at four-on-four.
30 seconds later, Rego grabbed his second goal of the game. A DeSantis empty-netter iced the game for the Red.
“People don’t think playing in the first round is good, but I think this was good for us — coming in, do-or-die, seeing what we’re made of this year with our ups and downs,” Rego said. “The boys proved to be resilient, and it’s good to win hockey games.”
With the win, the Red advances to the ECAC quarterfinals and will travel a short distance to Hamilton, New York, for a best-of-three series against Colgate. Those games will take place next Friday, Saturday and Sunday (if needed). All action will be streamed live on ESPN+.
“It’s difficult to have that whole week off and then amp it back up to this kind of pace. This game tonight was a different pace than the regular season,” Schafer said. “So it gives us a little bit of an advantage coming in on Friday night that we’ve already played this type of hockey and faced elimination.”
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.
