WORCESTER, Mass. — The Cornell men's hockey team will compete in the NCAA tournament for the 21st time in program history, starting with a Northeast Region semifinal at 1 p.m. today against Boston University at DCU Center. The game will be broadcast on ESPNews with streaming available through WatchESPN. Joe Beninati will have the play-by-play and Billy Jaffe will provide color commentary. Additionally, Jason Weinstein will provide play-by-play with color commentary from Tony Eisenhut '88 for WHCU (870 AM, 95.9 FM) in the Ithaca area and worldwide via the station's website here.

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Northeast Region Semifinal #1
TIME: 1 p.m.
DATE: Saturday, March 24, 2018
PLACE: DCU Center  •  Worcester, Mass.
RECORDS: Cornell 25-5-2, 17-3-2 ECAC Hockey;
                    Boston University 21-13-4, 12-8-4 Hockey East
TV: ESPNews
VIDEO: WatchESPN
RADIO: WHCU (870 AM, 95.9 FM)
LIVE STATS: NCAA.com

Cornell game notes (PDF)
BU game notes (PDF)

The Season, In Brief:
•  Cornell won sole possession of the program's ninth Cleary Cup — awarded annually to ECAC Hockey's regular-season champion. It's the Big Red's first Cleary Cup since 2004-05.
•  As it has since Dec. 9, Cornell leads the nation in winning percentage (.812). 
•  Cornell posted its best regular-season mark since it went 24-4-1 during the 2002-03 season before a postseason run into the Frozen Four.
•  While Cornell is on pace to have its highest goal total for a season (3.16 per game) since the 2009-10 campaign, it is also once again the program's vaunted defense in the spotlight this year. 
•  The Big Red continues to lead the nation in team defense at 1.53 goals against per game, which would rank as the fourth-stingiest Division I season on record. The numbers have actually been even been better since Jan. 1, with Cornell yielding 1.32 goals per games over the last 19 games.

The Postseason, In Brief:
•  Cornell advanced to the ECAC Hockey Championship semifinals for the 10th time in the last 14 years with a two-game sweep of Quinnipiac in a quarterfinals series at Lynah Rink. 
•  Game 1 of the series featured a 9-1 shellacking of the Bobcats, marking the Big Red's highest goal output since Nov. 20, 1999. 
•  The Big Red was ousted by eventual league champion Princeton, 4-1, in last Friday's semifinals in Lake Placid, N.Y. Senior forward Trevor Yates scored Cornell's lone goal, breaking a 17-game drought since his last strike.

Awards Season:
•  Matthew Galajda is the first freshman goaltender to ever be selected as a top-10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, and he is also one of five finalists for the 2018 Mike Richter Award. It's the latest in a long line of postseason accolades — he is Ivy League Player of the Year and the Rookie of the Year while also being unanimously selected as the lone goalie on the All-Ivy League first team. Galajda is also the ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Year and Goaltender of the Year, as well as the first freshman All-ECAC Hockey first-team goalie since 1991-92 (Christian Soucy, Vermont).
•  Mike Schafer has been named the ECAC Hockey Tim Taylor Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his career. He was also named the Ivy League Coach of the Year for the first time since the circuit added the honor in 2015.
•  Sophomore defenseman Yanni Kaldis earned a spot on the All-Ivy first team for a second straight year, and is also an All-ECAC Hockey third-teamer.
•  Junior forward Anthony Angello is on the second team for both All-Ivy League and All-ECAC Hockey.
•  Junior defenseman Alec McCrea is on the All-Ivy League second team and was named the ECAC Hockey Best Defensive Defenseman.
•  Junior forward Mitch Vanderlaan received All-Ivy honorable mention.

Need-To-Know Numbers:
•  Cornell has been particularly dominant at even strength, leading the nation with a team rating of plus-49. The Big Red has surrendered just a paltry 30 even-strength goals so far. For perspective, the next two lowest totals in the nation are Clarkson at 50, and Northeastern and Minnesota State at 57.
•  The Big Red has three players in the top 10 nationally in rating, all junior defensemen. Matt Nuttle and Brendan Smith are tied for third at plus-22, while Alec McCrea — typically paired with Smith — is tied for sixth at plus-21. Junior forward Anthony Angello (plus-18) is tied for sixth among forwards.
•  Cornell is the only team in the NCAA tournament field that has not surrendered more than four goals in a game this season. 
•  The Big Red is the youngest team in ECAC Hockey and the seventh-youngest team in the country. Despite playing fewer games than everyone else, the Big Red rank fifth among the 16 NCAA tournament teams in freshman scoring (24-54–78).

The Goaltending Factory Continues:
•  Freshman Matthew Galajda (21-4-2, 1.49, .940, 9 SO) has taken the college hockey world by storm, leading the nation in goals against average, shutouts and ranking third in save percentage. 
•  While his numbers for the season are spectacular, they're even better since he regained the starting job Jan. 6. Including that night's 1-0 blanking of Quinnipiac, Galajda is 13-2-2 with a 1.13 GAA and .956 save pct. in 2018.
•  Galajda is tied for second on the program's all-time list for shutouts in a single season, one behind David McKee's record of 10 from 2004-05.

More Than Just Defense:
•  One of the keys to Cornell's success this season has been an increase in offensive production from its defensemen. After receiving 13 goals from blueliners in each of the last two seasons, the Big Red already has 21 goals from defensemen this year.
•  Sophomore Yanni Kaldis (4-15–19) has eight points over the last six games, taking over the team lead in points by defensemen. Kaldis is also tied for the team lead with eight power-play points.
•  Junior defensemen Matt Nuttle (2-10–12) has already more than doubled his point total from his first two collegiate seasons. 
•  Alec McCrea (5-7–12; 5 PPGs) and Brendan Smith (5-5–10) are the nation's best-rated defensive pairing at a combined plus-43. McCrea is also tied for the team lead in power-play goals.
•  Three of Cornell's top seven defensemen are freshmen. Alex Green (2-8–10) has logged top-four minutes all year, and Cody Haiskanen (2-1–3) and Matt Cairns (1-0–1) both scored their first collegiate goals in the final weekend of the regular season.

Forward Thinking:
•  The key to Cornell's attack this season has been depth. To wit, six of the 12 players who had multiple points in February have 10 or fewer points for the entire season.
•  Junior forward Anthony Angello (13-13–26) was the nation's leading goal-scorer in January with nine. The ECAC Hockey Player of the Month for January has 17 points in the 18 games since Jan. 1.
•  Senior forward Trevor Yates (12-13–25; 4 PPGs) ranks second in team scoring, scoring the Big Red's lone goal in last Friday's ECAC Hockey Championship semifinal loss to Princeton. While Yates now has six points over his last seven games, it was his first goal after a drought of 17 games.
•  Junior Mitch Vanderlaan (6-13–19) celebrated his return to the lineup with three goals in the March 9-10 quarterfinal series against Quinnipiac. Now with 12 points over his last 12 games, the Big Red co-captain missed the final six games of the regular season due to injury.
•  Using the combinations deployed in the first three postseason games, all four of Cornell's lines are represented among the team's top six scorers.

Fresh Faces:
•  The Big Red is the youngest team in ECAC Hockey and boasts one of the largest freshman classes in the country, with seven of the team's 10 newcomers appearing in the season opener — a first at Cornell since 1997.
•  Freshman forward Morgan Barron (5-12–17) became the first freshman in program history to record a point in each of his first seven collegiate games.
•  After doling out four assists March 9 vs. Quinnipiac, forward Brenden Locke (2-15–17) has moved into a tie with Barron for the team's freshman scoring lead and the team's overall assist lead. His plus-15 rating ranks fifth in the nation among first-year players.
•  Forward Tristan Mullin (4-2–6) has five points over the last six games, including the winning goal inside the final two minutes of the Feb. 17 game vs. Yale. His first goal of the season was also a game-winner, when Cornell beat Boston University at Madison Square Garden in New York.
•  Forward Kyle Betts (5-7–12) is tied with Barron for the team's goal-scoring lead among freshmen, netting the final goal Jan. 20 at Colgate. He also won a team-best 63.1 percent of his faceoffs in February.

Eye On The Ivy:
•  Cornell won 22nd Ivy League championship in program history, clinching on Jan. 27 with a 3-1 win at Dartmouth. It's the 18th outright title for the Big Red, and the third its won in the last eight years. 
•  A Feb. 16-17 home sweep of Brown and Yale gave the Big Red a 9-0-1 record in Ivy League play, marking the first time Cornell went undefeated through the Ancient Eight since 1995-96 — Mike Schafer's first season as head coach.

Feel The Draft?:
•  Cornell has six players on the roster who have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft, including four from 2014. Junior forward Beau Starrett (Chicago Blackhawks) was selected earliest in that group, having been taken in the third round with the 88th overall pick. 
•  Classmate Anthony Angello, also a forward, was selected in the fifth round by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Junior forwards Jared Fiegl (Arizona Coyotes) and Dwyer Tschantz (St. Louis Blues) were then picked in the seventh round. 
•  Two newcomers are also NHL draft picks — forward Morgan Barron (N.Y. Rangers in 2017) and defenseman Matt Cairns (Edmonton Oilers in 2016).

What, Me Worry?:
•  Cornell has trailed in just 10 of its 32 games to date, including deficits of at least two goals in seven of those contests. Remarkably, the Big Red has a 3-3-1 record in those games featuring a multiple-goal deficit.
•  The Big Red's resilience from an early deficit has become somewhat of a trend, with the team sporting a very respectable 16-16-5 record when yielding the game's first strike over the last three seasons. That's a stark turnaround from the team's 14-34-5 record when yielding the game's first goal from the previous three seasons (2012-15).

First Ivy League Coach To 400:
•  Already the winningest coach in program history and in Ivy League history, Mike Schafer ranks sixth among active coaches with 435 victories at the Division I level. He ranks second among current coaches at Cornell, behind just Dave Eldredge (men's and women's polo).

Scouting Boston University:
•  Having won the Hockey East tournament to secure an automatic bid into NCAAs, the Terriers are unbeaten in their last seven games (6-0-1) — the second-longest active streak in the country. BU defeated Providence, 2-0, in Saturday's championship game behind 30 saves from sophomore Jake Oettinger.
•  BU's youthful roster features 12 NHL draft picks, with sophomore junior right wing Bobo Carpenter (20-13–33; 7 PPGs) tied for the team lead with junior center Jordan Greenway (12-21–33), a 2018 Olympian. 
•  Sophomore Jake Oettinger (20-12-4, 2.42, .916, 5 SO), a first-round draft pick of the Dallas Stars, is the team's primary goaltender.
•  Senior forward Drew Melanson (5-12–17) is a post-graduate transfer from Rensselaer. He scored a goal in each of the final two games in the Hockey East tournament, including the winner in Saturday's final
•  The Terriers are 14-4 in games decided by one or two goals, but nine of their 13 losses are by three or more goals.
•  BU has outscored its opponent, 40-26, in the first period of games.

The Series Against Boston University:
•  Two longtime rivals, Cornell and Boston University have met 46 times, with the Big Red holding a 24-19-3 lead in the all-time series. 
•  The two programs have combined to win seven NCAA championships, with the Big Red defeating the Terriers for the title in 1967, Cornell's first national championship. BU reversed its fortunes against Cornell in the 1972 title game.
•  The teams have rekindled their rivalry, dating back to the pre-Hockey East days of ECAC Hockey, with Red Hot Hockey — a biennial series of games played on American Thanksgiving weekend at Madison Square Garden in New York.
•  Cornell trails in the Red Hot Hockey series, 1-3-2, but that one victory came on Nov. 25 this season, 4-3. Beau Starrett, Trevor Yates, Alec McCrea and Tristan Mullin scored the Cornell goals before a late BU rally minimized the final deficit.
•  Under Cornell head coach Mike Schafer, the Big Red is 4-5-2 against BU.

The Postseason History vs. Boston University:
•  The Big Red is 5-3 against the Terriers in postseason play, with the most recent meeting being a 7-4 Cornell victory in the 1979 ECAC Hockey consolation game at Boston Garden. 
•  Cornell and BU are an even 1-1 in NCAA tournament games — both coming in national championship games. The Big Red defeated the Terriers, 4-1, to win the program's first national title in 1967. BU then topped CU, 4-0, in the 1972 title game.

NCAA Championship History:
•  The Big Red is appearing in the NCAA's national championship tournament for the 21st time, which is tied for the fourth-most among 2018 qualifiers.
•  Since the NCAA tournament switched to single elimination in 1992, Cornell has advanced to the regional final or beyond in seven of 10 appearances. 
•  No other coach in this year's event has brought his current team to the NCAA tournament as often as Mike Schafer, who has guided the Big Red to its 11th trip to NCAAs in 23 years at the helm.

Up Next:
•  The winner of Saturday's first regional semifinal between Cornell and Boston University will take on the victor of the second — pitting second-seeded Michigan against third-seeded Northeastern — at 4 p.m. Sunday at the DCU Center in Worcester.