Box Score

ITHACA, N.Y. -- With just one day of practice under their belts, one could excuse the Cornell men's hockey team if it came out rusty in the first exhibition game of the season on Saturday night against the U.S. Under-18 National Team at Lynah Rink. While the Big Red did show some signs of initial jitters, they did well enough to pick up a 3-3 tie against the top junior players in the United States.

The two sides skated to a scoreless first period before Team USA got on the board at the 11:45 mark of the second period as David Valek put a shot past Cornell goaltender Ben Scrivens after taking a pass from Kevin Lynch. It took the Big Red just under two minutes to respond as Riley Nash ripped a power play goal past Adam Murray after taking a feed from Brendon Nash, with Blake Gallagher also receiving an assist on the play.

The score would remain deadlocked at one at the end of the second period before the two teams opened up for two goals each in the third. Team USA went ahead on a strike from Jeremy Morin, a native of nearby Auburn, N.Y., on the power play, beating freshman netminder Mike Garman. Again, the Big Red responded shortly afterwards, as Tyler Roeszler took a pass from Evan Barlow and ripped a shot high to Murray's right side at the 7:36 mark of the third period.

Cornell went ahead on a shorthanded goal from Tyler Mugford, scoring just 11 seconds after a penalty was whistled on senior Jared Seminoff. Team USA responded on the power play, with Chris Brown tipping a Morin shot past Garman at the 16:12 mark of the third period.

Murray picked up 29 saves in earning the tie for Team USA, while Scrivens and Garman split time in goal for the Big Red. Scrivens made 10 saves in the first 31:45, while Garman made three stops in the final 33:15.

Cornell will now have a full week of practice before taking to the ice for another exhibition game, this time taking on Western Ontario at 7 p.m. on Friday at Lynah Rink.