Box Score

POTSDAM, N.Y. – Junior forward Greg Miller scored his team-leading 12th goal of the season and the men's hockey team mustered a 1-1 tie Friday at Clarkson, which clinches a first-round bye for Cornell in the first round of the ECAC Hockey Championship playoffs.
 
The deadlock gives 12th-ranked Cornell (13-6-7, 10-3-6 ECAC Hockey) seven ties on the season, which is a program record. Sophomore goalie Andy Iles made 24 saves, only surrendering the tying goal on a Clarkson power play with 6:34 remaining in the third period.
 
The first period was scoreless, though the Big Red tested Golden Knights senior goalie Paul Karpowich with a few quality chances. Junior defenseman Nick D'Agostino cranked a shot off the post from the slot with 7:45 remaining in the period, then sophomore Dustin Mowrey sent a similar opportunity a few inches wide of the same post. Off a faceoff in the Clarkson end about three minutes later, junior forward Greg Miller nearly chipped the puck off Karpowich's back and into the net – a play that forced the officials into a lengthy review to determine if the visitors had taken the lead.
 
Clarkson, which had two power plays go for naught in the opening 20 minutes, got its best chance when a busted Cornell breakout led to a Ben Sexton-led rush, but Iles got his stick on the shot. The Big Red threatened one last time when Joel Lowry wristed a shot from the right circle as the buzzer sounded, but Karpowich made the save.
 
Cornell broke through in the second period on Miller's strike. He found some open space just above the crease and perfectly redirected a pass under Karpowich's blocker from sophomore linemate Dustin Mowrey in the right corner. Senior defenseman Keir Ross also assisted on the play. The goal ended Karpowich's personal shutout streak against the Big Red at 101 minutes, 34 seconds, dating back to Feb. 4, 2011.
 
The Big Red had several opportunities to distance itself from the hosts, but couldn't extend the lead. A slick pass from freshman forward Brian Ferlin just inside the Clarkson blue line in the frame's seventh minute sent senior forward Sean Collins away on a mini-breakaway, but Karpowich got a glove on his shot. A few moments later, Mowrey was thwarted from in tight.
 
Clarkson got the next chance at the 8:15 mark, but Allan McPherson's shot from the left circle was stopped by Iles. Cornell answered right back with a busted rush that ended up with D'Agostino winding up for a one-timer from the high slot that Karpowich came across to stop.
 
The Big Red was 0-for-4 on the power play, while Clarkson broke through on their third and final chance on the man advantage. WIth just seconds left on the power play, Louke Oakley emerged from behind the net to Iles' right on a jam play. Iles made the save, but the puck squirted out to the weak side in the ensuing scrum for a wide-open Nick Tremblay to slam into the cage with 6:34 to play.
 
Both teams then had chances in the extra frame, with Collins denied on a close-range shot at the :42 mark, and Clarkson's Sexton rattling a post with a shot 35 seconds later.
 
The Big Red is back in action at 7 p.m. Saturday just down the road in Canton against red-hot St. Lawrence, winners of five straight.
 
Notes: Cornell has clinched a spot in the league's top four with three games remaining, meaning it will host a best-of-three quarterfinal series March 9-11 at Lynah Rink. ... Union defeated Princeton on Friday, 3-0, to extend its lead for first place in ECAC Hockey to two points over Cornell. But Colgate's 3-2 loss at St. Lawrence extended the Big Red's lead on second place to three points. … The Big Red has lost just twice in its last 14 games (6-2-6). … Cornell is unbeaten in its last eight games against Clarkson (5-0-3), including a 1-0-2 lead in the season series. … The Big Red is 9-1-2 on Fridays.