ITHACA, N.Y. — Off to its best start since 2008 and one of just two remaining undefeated teams in Division I, the Cornell men's hockey team will make its first two-game road trip of the season this weekend when it travels Friday to Princeton and Saturday to Quinnipiac. Friday's game will serve as the Ivy League debut for the defending champion Big Red, after the team posted a 7-1-2 mark against Ancient Eight foes last season. Jason Weinstein will handle the play-by-play for both games on WHCU-AM (870) in the Ithaca area, and his call can be accessed worldwide through Cornell's Redcast subscription service.
 
GAME 5: #4/4 CORNELL at PRINCETON
DATES: Friday, Nov. 9, 2012
TIME: 7 p.m.
SITE: Hobey Baker Rink — Princeton, N.J.
2012-13 RECORDS: Cornell 3-0-1, 1-0-1 ECAC Hockey; Princeton 0-2-0, 0-0-0 ECAC Hockey
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 81-48-8
LAST MEETING: Tied, 3-3, on Jan. 14, 2012 in Princeton, N.J.
RADIO: WHCU 870 AM (Jason Weinstein)
LIVE STATS: www.goprincetontigers.com
LIVE VIDEO: www.goprincetontigers.com
 
GAME 6: #4/4 CORNELL at QUINNIPIAC
DATES: Saturday, Nov. 10, 2012
TIME: 7 p.m.
SITE: TD Bank Sports Center — Hamden, Conn.
2012-13 RECORDS: Cornell 3-0-1, 1-0-1 ECAC Hockey; Quinnipiac 3-3-1, 0-0-0 ECAC Hockey
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 14-5-2
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 3-2, on Jan. 13, 2012 in Hamden, Conn.
RADIO: WHCU 870 AM (Jason Weinstein)
LIVE STATS: http://quinnipiacbobcats.com
LIVE VIDEO: http://quinnipiacbobcats.com
 
Cornell game notes (PDF)
Princeton game notes (PDF)
Quinnipiac game notes (PDF)
 
ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell is coming off its annual tangle with travel partner Colgate, having secured a 3-1 victory on Friday behind 44 saves from junior goaltender Andy Iles and a come-from-behind 2-2 tie on Saturday. Cole Bardreau and Nick D'Agostino scored goals in the second half of the third period to help secure the point in the rematch, while Iles finished with 23 saves — including several of the extraordinary variety — to ensure Cornell stayed within striking distance. Sophomore defenseman Joakim Ryan assisted on both Saturday goals, giving him four helpers in four games this season. The San Jose Sharks draft pick is tied with sophomore forward Joel Lowry for the team scoring lead with four points. Lowry assisted on Dustin Mowrey's goal just 41 seconds into Friday's game, then tacked on an empty-netter in the third period for his team-leading third goal. Last weekend's results helped the Big Red jump up to fourth in both the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine and the USCHO.com polls. It's the first time Cornell has started the season 3-0-1 since 2008, and the team currently leads the country in team defense (1.25 goals against per game). The Big Red's 27.3 percent conversion rate on the power play currently ranks sixth in the nation.
 
ABOUT PRINCETON
The Tigers will be starting league play after an idle weekend coinciding with a school break. Princeton started its season with a pair of exhibition losses to Guelph, then two more setbacks against Brown and Yale at the Ivy Shootout. All four games were decided by a single goal. ... Sophomore forward Tyler Maugeri scored a goal in each game, while junior forward Andrew Calof accounted for the other marker against Yale. Calof has led the team in scoring in each of his other two seasons with Princeton. ... Senior defenseman Michael Sdao also has a pair of assists to join Maugeri and Calof atop the team scoring tables. Sdao is also the team's lone NHL draft pick, having been selected by the Ottawa Senators. ... Senior Mike Condon has started both of the Tigers' regular-season games in goal after primarily splitting time with junior Sean Bonar over the last two seasons.
 
ABOUT QUINNIPIAC
The Bobcats have been just inside or just outside of the USCHO.com Top 20 poll with their 3-3-1 start, which included a season-opening 2-1 victory at Maine and a win and tie at home against Ohio State. ... Senior forward Jeremy Langlois has a team-leading six points on three goals and three assists, while senior forward Clay Harvey has a team-high four assists. ... Sophomore forward Matthew Peca led the league in rookie scoring last season, primarily playing on a line with twins Connor and Kellen Jones. But the twins have just one point between them so far, at least in part due to the fact that Connor has missed the last four games with an injury. ... Senior Eric Hartzell (3-2-1, 1.66, .932) is in his third season as the starting goalie. He was pulled in his last game, a 5-1 loss to Colgate on Saturday. ... The Bobcats are second in the country in penalty minutes per game, but the penalty kill is a perfect 27-for-27. In stark contrast, the power play is 0-for-29 and has already surrendered four short-handed goals.
 
THE SERIES WITH PRINCETON
The Big Red holds a commanding 81-48-8 lead all-time, currently riding a three-game unbeaten streak. Cornell won last season's first meeting, 4-0, on Nov. 18, 2011 at Lynah Rink to start off a streak of three consecutive shutouts for Andy Iles and the Cornell defense. The teams then tied, 3-3, in last season's matchup at Hobey Baker Rink on Jan. 14 after the Tigers stormed back from a three-goal deficit. The squads alternated victories in New Jersey the last six years prior to that.
 
THE SERIES WITH QUINNIPIAC
Cornell holds a 14-5-2 lead in the all-time series against the Bobcats, who joined the Division I ranks in 1998 with Rand Pecknold at the helm. The Big Red swept last season's series, winning 4-0 on Nov. 19, 2011 at Lynah Rink. Cornell then scored a pair of short-handed goals in the third period to nail down a 3-2 victory on Jan. 13 at TD Bank Sports Center, with Joel Lowry providing the winning goal. ... Cornell has won the last five regular-season meetings between the squads. The Big Red also won a best-of-three ECAC Hockey quarterfinal series against the Bobcats in March 2011. ... Cornell is 4-0-1 all-time at TD Bank Sports Center. ... The Bobcats have scored just one power-play goal in its last 36 chances against the Big Red.
 
AFTER FURTHER REVIEW ...
Junior forward Armand de Swardt was awarded his second career collegiate goal on Oct. 27 through a post-game scoring change. Video review revealed de Swardt deflected a shot by Brian Ferlin past Colorado College goalie Josh Thorimbert for a power-play goal to kick off the scoring in a 3-2 victory. It was de Swardt's first goal since he scored against Dartmouth in the ECAC Hockey semifinals in March 2011.
 
LET'S GET IT STARTED
Cornell has won 10 of its last 12 league openers, including last weekend's 3-1 victory at Colgate. The Big Red recently improved its all-time record in season debuts to 56-32-6. By also winning Saturday's rematch with Colorado College, Cornell won its first two non-league games for the first time since 2006.
 
WASTING NO TIME
Junior forward Dustin Mowrey scored just 41 seconds into Friday's game at Colgate, marking the earliest goal Cornell has scored in a game since Nick D'Agostino opened the scoring just 31 seconds into the Big Red's games against Harvard on Feb. 18, 2011.
 
BLANK YOU VERY MUCH
With its season-opening 2-0 victory over Colorado College, Cornell has recorded at least one shutout in each of the last 18 seasons. The last time the Big Red went a full schedule without posting a shutout came during the 1994-95 season under former coach Brian McCutcheon, as Cornell finished that year 11-15-4. The following year marked the first season for current head coach Mike Schafer, and his clubs have never gone a full year without recording a shutout.
 
WHO NEEDS FIVE-ON-FIVE GOALS?
All five of the Big Red's goals in its two victories Oct. 26-27 over Colorado College came on the man advantage, including one strike on a five-on-three. It was the first time since 2000 that Cornell opened the season without scoring a five-on-five goal. The last time the team scored as many as five power-play goals in its first two games actually wasn't that long ago — 2009, when it racked up six against Niagara and Dartmouth.
 
EXHIBITIONS IN NAME ONLY
Just because exhibition games don't count in the standings doesn't mean the Big Red takes a soft approach to them. Cornell has posted a 16-1-3 record in exhibitions since 2000, and even that one loss came at the hands of a future Big Red player. Andy Iles made 39 saves for the U.S. Under-18 team in a 3-2 victory over the Big Red at Lynah on Oct. 24, 2009. The average margin of victory for Cornell's 15 wins is a whopping 4.5 goals.
 
CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Cornell head coach Mike Schafer is quickly moving up the ranks of the coaching fraternity in his win totals. Now in his 18th season, Schafer has 335 career victories, ranking him second in ECAC Hockey. Schafer trails only Quinnipiac's Rand Pecknold by one game. Schafer is tops among Ivy League coaches, with Dartmouth's Bob Gaudet up to 317 career victories in his 23 seasons at the helm.
 
ILES FILES
Andy Iles is the only goalie in Division I this season who was used exclusively by his team last season. By playing all of the Big Red's games in 2011-12, Iles became the first goalie at Cornell to accomplish that feat since Darren Eliot in 1982-83, and the first Cornell sophomore to do so since Laing Kennedy in 1960-61 — when the season was just 19 games long. Iles was named the ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week after the two season-opening victories against Colorado College, then he followed that up with 44 saves against Colgate on Nov. 2.
 
FOR THE RECORD
With three consecutive shutouts last November, Andy Iles recorded the second-longest shutout streak in program history, spanning 213 minutes, 35 seconds over a five-game span. The only Cornell shutout streak that went longer was posted by Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Ben Scrivens, who held the opposition scoreless for 267:11 during the 2010 playoffs. But Iles wasn't done there — he posted back-to-back shutouts against St. Lawrence and Clarkson on Dec. 2 and Dec. 3, respectively, spurring another lengthy shutout streak of 152:36 that ranks ninth all-time in Big Red history. His success has stretched into the postseason, as evidenced by a career-high 46 saves in a March 9 double-overtime victory against Dartmouth. Iles was third in the nation with six shutouts and 10th in goal-against average (2.12). He also set a record for longest streak in ECAC Hockey play of 286:54 from November to January.
 
THE OFFENSIVE DEFENSE
The Big Red scored six shorthanded goals last season, its highest total since the 2005-06 season. Sophomore defenseman Joakim Ryan had two of those goals on the penalty kill, with the second coming in an NCAA tournament victory over Michigan. Other returning players who scored shorthanded goals last season include sophomore forward Joel Lowry and senior forward Vince Mihalek.
 
COLLECTING HARDWARE
Andy Iles became the first Cornell hockey player to earn a medal for the United States at the IIHF World Junior Championships when he was part of Team USA that claimed bronze at the 2011 tournament in Buffalo, N.Y. Iles is just the second Cornell player to be a member of the United States team, joining Jean-Marc Pelletier in 1998. The last Cornell player to earn a medal for any nation at the IIHF World Junior Championships was Sasha Pokulok, who claimed gold with Canada in 2006. The bronze medal won by Iles is the first bronze of the seven medals claimed by Cornellians at the world's most prestigious junior hockey tournament.
 
MAKING THE CUT
Sophomore forward Cole Bardreau competed for the U.S. throughout the USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp over the summer in Lake Placid, N.Y. Bardreau,  who was a member of the U.S. team that captured the gold medal at the IIHF Under-18 World Championship in April 2011, was one of the 34 players that survived a mid-camp cut during evaluation for a possible spot on the national team for the IIHF World Junior Championships in December and January. Sophomore defenseman Joakim Ryan was also among the 45 players who started the camp with the U.S. before the roster was trimmed.
 
INTERNATIONAL EXPOSURE
Junior Kirill Gotovets got a taste of the big time when he was selected to represent his native Belarus in the 2010 IIHF World Championships — not an age group World Championships (though he did play for Belarus at the U20 World Championship as well) — playing against some of the best players the world has to offer. He played in three of Belarus' eight games at the World Championships, recording two shots and two minutes in penalties, helping his nation to a 10th-place finish.
 
FEEL THE DRAFT?
Cornell has eight players on the roster who have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft, including three picks from last June. Freshman defenseman Reece Willcox was selected in the fifth round by the Philadelphia Flyers, then sophomore forward John McCarron was snagged in the sixth round by the Edmonton Oilers. The San Jose Sharks then selected sophomore defenseman Joakim Ryan in the seventh round, giving the Big Red its most NHL draft picks entering a season since it had eight in the 2006-07 campaign. Other NHL draft picks on this year's team include sophomore forwards Brian Ferlin (Boston Bruins) and Joel Lowry (Los Angeles Kings), senior defensemen Braden Birch (Chicago Blackhawks) and Nick D'Agostino (Pittsburgh Penguins), and junior defenseman Kirill Gotovets (Tampa Bay Lightning).
 
FIRST 1,000 DOWN
The Big Red's 2-1 win over Quinnipiac in game one of the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals last season marked the 1,000th victory all-time for the Cornell men's hockey program. Cornell became the 17th program to reach that milestone.
 
GLOBAL INFLUENCE
The Big Red has 11 players on the roster born in the United States, the second-highest total for a Mike Schafer-coached team at Cornell (trailing only the 12 it had last season). The Big Red also now has players native to seven different countries on its squad. Aside from the bulk of its roster hailing from the United States and Canada, Cornell also has a player from Belarus (Kirill Gotovets), Denmark (Christian Hilbrich), Finland (Teemu Tiitinen), Singapore (Dustin Mowrey) and South Africa (Armand de Swardt).
 
CLOSER TO HOME
Hometown fans of the Big Red got a rare treat when goalie Andy Iles became the first Ithaca native to play for the team since Mike Tallman in 1988-89. Sophomore forward Kevin Cole then made his collegiate debut last season, marking the first time in at least 50 years — and perhaps the first time in program history — that two Ithaca natives have played for the Big Red in the same season. Cole was born in Ithaca and raised in nearby Lansing before heading off to junior programs in Syracuse and Cornwall, Ontario. His father, Dave, lettered for the Big Red in the 1981-82 season. Yet another Ithaca area connection came on board this season when the Big Red added junior defenseman Craig Esposito, who is also from Lansing and serves as one of the tri-captains on Cornell's men's golf team. Freshman forward John Knisley, who calls Pittsford, N.Y. home, also joins the Big Red this season to give Cornell five players that call Upstate New York home for the first time since 1963-64.
 
CLOSER TO HOME
Cornell has earned at least two points on its annual weekend trip to Princeton and Quinnipiac every year since the Bobcats joined ECAC Hockey for the 2005-06 season and became the Tigers' travel partner. 
 
A LITTLE HISTORY
Sophomore forward Joel Lowry had five points in his four games against Princeton and Quinnipiac last season. Junior forward Dustin Mowrey also had at least one point in each game against the Tigers and Bobcats, scoring twice and adding two assists. He also had an assist at Princeton during his freshman season, helping to set up Nick D'Agostino's winning goal with 1:17 remaining in the third period on Jan. 7, 2011 in front of a sold-out crowd at Hobey Baker Rink.
 
UP NEXT
The Big Red returns home for a highly anticipated showdown with Harvard on Friday, Nov. 16, which will be the first of two games this season to be featured on NBC Sports Network. The following night also features an Ivy League matchup against Dartmouth for a game that will be televised on the Time Warner Sports Network.