Box Score

ITHACA, N.Y. — The men's hockey team wrapped up its exhibition schedule with a 2-2 tie against Brock University on Saturday night.
 
Following an early goal, Brock started a trend of taking penalties that would continue the whole game. With Cornell on a 5-on-3 power play, defenseman Braden Birch made the Badgers pay. Fellow defenseman Jacob MacDonald fed Birch at the high point, who ripped a hard slap shot off the crossbar and past goalie Dalton McGrath.
 
The Big Red would take the lead eight minutes later when John Esposito finished off a great passing play. But the play started several seconds earlier with MacDonald dispossessing a Brock forward on a one-on-one just inside the Cornell blue line. MacDonald then started the counter attack, feeding Miller for a shot in the Badgers' zone. Miller's shot missed the net, but he gathered the puck along the back wall and fed Esposito for a conversion from short range.
 
Brock put a close to the scoring for the night early in the second period on a set play off a faceoff to Cornell goalie Andy Iles' left. The center won the draw cleanly back to the left point, where the defenseman angled a shot off the back wall so that it would carom toward the top of the crease. Johnson Andrews was there to slam home what proved to be the tying goal.
 
The next 25 minutes of play held a lot of excitement and golden opportunities, but none were converted. The best chance Cornell got was a five-minute power play caused by a hitting from behind penalty. But the Big Red couldn't capitalize, ending the night 1-for-7 on the man advantage.
 
In overtime, it seemed as though the Big Red would find the winner, as it continued to have the lion's share of the opportunities in the extra session. A late flurry in the last few seconds of the game certainly excited the Lynah Faithful, but the score remained deadlocked.
 
The Big Red threw a lot of rubber on the Brock net, outshooting the Badgers 34-22 on the night – including a 14-5 edge over the third period and overtime. Iles was great for Cornell once again as he got in front of 20 Brock shots. MacDonald chipped in another assist to make it two for him on the night. John McCarron added an assist on the Birch power-play goal.
 
The games start counting when the Big Red returns to action Friday, Oct. 26, when it hosts Colorado College in the first of a two-game set at Lynah Rink.