Box Score

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. -- Sophomore Riley Nash had a goal and two assists and junior Blake Gallagher added a pair of assists as the Cornell men's hockey team picked up a 4-1 win at Union on Friday night at Messa Rink in Schenectady, N.Y. The Big Red, ranked No. 5 in the nation, improves to 12-1-3 on the year and 7-0-2 in ECAC Hockey action, while Union falls to 11-9-1 and 4-5-0 in the league.

Cornell also got goals from Mike Devin, Evan Barlow and Sean Collins, with Devin's and Barlow's coming in the first period on the power play. The Big Red finished the game 2-for-4 on the power play, while holding Union to one goal in seven man-advantage opportunities.

Junior goaltender Ben Scrivens picked up 28 saves in the win, while Union sophomore netminder Corey Milan stopped 14 Cornell shots in taking the loss.

Cornell needed just under five minutes to break into the scoring column, capitalizing on the first power play chance of the night. Following a slashing call on Brock Matheson, the Big Red used 1:10 of the man advantage before Blake Gallagher hit Riley Nash in the corner with a pass. Nash's pass to Mike Devin at the center point set the sophomore defenseman up, and his slap shot beat Milan high to stake Cornell to the lead at the 4:40 mark of the first period.

Later in the period and in the span of just over a minute, Evan Barlow came up big on both ends of the ice, saving a goal and adding to the Big Red's tally. With 11:56 to play in the first, on a delayed penalty call on Union's Adam Presizniuk and Cornell goaltender Ben Scrivens at the bench, a missed pass sent the puck slowly gliding toward the Cornell goal. A diving effort by Evan Barlow to keep the puck out of the net ensued, as the senior swept the puck to the side of the goalpost just before it crossed the goal line to keep the score at 1-0. On the ensuing power play, the Big Red again beat Milan, this time with Barlow ripping a wrist shot high after taking a feed from Colin Greening and a face-off win by Riley Nash.

Other than the near-miss on the delayed penalty, Union's best chance at getting on the scoreboard came with 3:34 to play in the first as Lane Caffaro picked up a pass at the blue line and skated in alone into the slot, but his wrist shot found the pads of Scrivens, and the rebound was similarly smothered by the junior netminder.

Union finally got on the board in the second period following a tripping penalty on Mike Devin. Union's Justin Pallos won a faceoff in the Cornell end back to the point for Jason Walters, who fired a shot toward the Cornell goal. The puck then caromed off the chest of Adam Presizniuk and went into the top part of the goal, with Scrivens having no chance on the re-direct.

Cornell pushed the lead back up to two at the 12:14 mark of the third period on Sean Collins' first goal of his career. Collins picked up the puck on the faceoff circle to the right of Milan, skated in and fired a shot that Milan stopped with his pads to the far side of the goal. Collins never quit on the play, however, continuing around the backside of the goal to the far post, and picked up the puck and poked another shot at the goal. This one got underneath the pads of Milan and trickled across the goal line to push the lead to 3-1.

With 2:08 to play and with Milan at the bench for the extra skater as Union tried to close the gap, Riley Nash picked up a loose puck in the Cornell end and skated toward center ice, firing a shot from the faceoff circle that easily slid into the gaping net for the final margin.

Cornell, which, with the victory, moves into a tie for first place with Princeton with three games in hand over the Tigers, returns to action on Saturday, heading across town to face Rensselaer in a 7 p.m. contest at the Houston Field House in Troy, N.Y. Saturday night's game can be seen on Time Warner Sports in both the Capital District and in Central New York.