Box Score

PRINCETON, N.J. -- An opening-night matchup between two of the top teams in ECAC Hockey and two of the best netminders in the league lived up to its billing, as the Cornell men's hockey team opened its season with a 1-0 victory over reigning league champion Princeton on Friday afternoon at Hobey Baker Rink in Princeton, N.J. Cornell senior Tyler Mugford scored the game's only goal early in the third period.

Ben Scrivens made 43 saves, two off his career high, for the shutout victory for the Big Red, including 20 stops in the third period alone. Princeton's Zane Kalemba made 18 saves, but the one that got past him in the third period would cost the Tigers the victory.

Mugford's tally, the fourth of his career, came moments after the Big Red killed off a 5-on-3 Princeton power play to open the third period. The momentum shift of the successful penalty kill, plus Mugford's strike, gave Cornell the needed lift to close out the Tigers.

Princeton got the game's first power play chance when Cornell's Dan Nicholls was whistled for holding at the 5:57 mark of the contest, but the Big Red penalty killers held the Tigers to just one shot on the two-minute minor, a shot that was corralled by Scrivens as Cornell escaped unharmed.

With 9:16 gone in the first period, a tripping call on Princeton's Tyler Beachell resulted in the Cornell power play unit taking to the ice for the first time. Cornell wound up with the best chance of the early part of the game when Riley Nash received the puck open on the back post with Kalemba on the top of the crease, but the sophomore could not get the puck off his stick before the Princeton defense knocked the puck away into the corner.

Scrivens looked sharp in the early going, making several stops on close-range shots, including back-to-back saves on shots by Dan Bartlett and Jody Peterson. Cornell got its second power-play chance shortly afterward on an interference call on Princeton's Mike Kramer, but could not muster a shot on the man advantage.

With 28 seconds remaining in the first period, the Tigers went back on the power play as Jared Seminoff was whistled for a holding call. Cornell was able to close out the remainder of the period as the two teams went to the locker rooms scoreless.

With the Tigers on the man advantage to open the second period, Princeton had an excellent chance to break the scoreless deadlock. Catching the Cornell penalty killers in a line change, Princeton's Kramer passed the puck up to Beachell, whose one-on-one was stopped by Scrivens, but squirted through and toward the goal, only to be alertly flipped away from danger by Michael Kennedy. Minutes later, another Princeton chance resulted on a dump-in that caught Scrivens off-guard, forcing the junior to make a diving stop with the shaft of his stick before covering up the puck.

Things began to open up offensively in the second period, with Cornell recording a pair of shots that Kalemba smothered, and a tipped shot by Tyler Roeszler that went just wide of the goal post. Cornell had another as Blake Gallagher slipped behind the Princeton defense on a line change and was the recipient of a tape-to-tape pass from Evan Barlow, but his chance at goal was stopped yet again by Kalemba at the 6:57 mark of the second period.

With 5:07 to play in the second, the Big Red went back on the power play as Locke Jillson picked up a loose puck at the Princeton blue line and skated in, but an interference call on the Tigers' Brad Schroeder resulted in Jillson not getting a shot off and Schroeder serving two. After controlling the puck in the Princeton zone for a large chunk of the power play, Sean Collins tried stuffing the puck into the near post, but again Kalemba was there as the Tigers cleared the zone.

Princeton again went on the power play in the closing moments of the period as Tyler Mugford was called for roughing with 1:19 to play in the second. Cornell was three seconds away from finishing the period unscathed when Brendon Nash was whistled for cross checking, giving the Tigers a 5-on-3 power play for 41 seconds as the third period opened up.

After Princeton won the opening draw to begin the third period, the Big Red got a huge save from Scrivens with 14 seconds left on the penalty to Mugford. Cornell then won the ensuing faceoff and flipped the puck down the ice, putting the Princeton man advantage down to a 5-on-4 as Mugford was released. Cornell again was able to clear the defensive zone without allowing a shot, putting the time left on the penalty to Nash down to 27 seconds with a faceoff to the right of Scrivens. Mugford won the draw and the Big Red was again able to clear the zone, with the Tigers unable to get a shot off as Cornell was able to escape unscathed.

Cornell then grabbed momentum just 3:20 into the period. Following a faceoff in the Cornell zone, the Big Red gained the puck and broke out of the zone with Jared Seminoff leading the way. Seminoff then dished the puck to Mugford at the Princeton blue line, and the senior's wrist shot from the top of the circle beat Kalemba high to the glove side as Cornell took a 1-0 lead.

Princeton had its chances in the ensuing minutes, but each time, Scrivens was up to the task. His highlight-reel caliber save came with nine minutes gone in the third, as he went nearly horizontal to make a save on Taylor Fedun's shot from the bottom of the faceoff circle to Scrivens' right.

With 6:48 to play, Evan Barlow was sent to the penalty box for a goaltender interference call, once again putting the Tigers on the power play. Cornell was able to clear the zone three times in the first minute of the penalty on Barlow, then kept the Tigers out of the zone for the next 20 seconds. Cornell again was able to clear, this time killing the penalty down to 20 seconds remaining. As the penalty expired, Princeton's Derrick Pallis ripped a shot from the blue line that Scrivens made a diving jump of a stop to keep from getting into the goal.

Kalemba went to the bench with 1:05 to play for the extra skater, and the Big Red nearly made the Tigers pay, but an offsides whistle negated an empty net goal with 54 seconds left.

Cornell returns to action on Saturday night, seeking a four-point weekend to open the year, by making the trip to Hamden, Conn., for a 7 p.m. matchup against Quinnipiac at the TD Banknorth Sports Center.