Box Score
 
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – With a victory  in the ECAC Hockey Championship consolation game on Saturday, the Cornell men's hockey team has won more than just mere consolation – it has put itself in line for an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament.
 
The Big Red defeated Colgate, 3-0, at Boardwalk Hall to take third place in the league tournament. But more importantly, Cornell holds 13th place in the PairWise rankings – which, under convention wisdom for selection of the NCAA tournament field – assures the Big Red a spot in one of four regionals next weekend in either Worcester, Mass.; Bridgeport, Conn.; Green Bay, Wis. or St. Paul, Minn.
 
Sophomore goalie Andy Iles made 25 saves for the shutout, his sixth of the season. Forwards took care of all three Cornell goals, coming from senior Sean Collins, sophomore Dustin Mowrey and freshman John McCarron.
 
The first period featured plenty of action and plenty of penalties. Iles introduced himself to the game with a huge save shifting to his right to stifle an Austin Smith one-timer at the 7:13 mark, then a left skate save on Spiro Goulakos' shot through traffic from the center point 17 seconds later.
 
Two minutes later, Cornell countered with a Locke Jillson pass to Cole Bardreau that left Bardreau with some net to shoot at from a sharp angle, but Colgate goalie Alex Evin was able to stab at the puck with his glove to make the save. The Big Red got a little closer at the 11:48 mark, with junior forward Erik Axell cranking a shot from the right circle off the near post. Colgate then put together a pair of chances on a Kurtis Bartliff shot that popped Iles in the mask, then Matt Firman slipped a shot under Iles' blocker that rung off the far post and out of harm's way.
 
The Raiders were then whistled for simultaneous penalties, giving the Big Red a full two minutes of five-on-three power play. Cornell couldn't capitalize, but answered with a pivotal goal just before the intermission. A line rush created a pair of pretty passes by Joel Lowry and Locke Jillson set up Collins in the low slot, who beat Evin low with 25 seconds left before the break.
 
The Collins line continued its strong play in the middle period, but it was Axell's line that drew the penalty leading to the Big Red's second goal – specifically, winger Vince Mihalek taking a high stick while battling for position in front of the net. Freshman defenseman Joakim Ryan set up a long shot from junior forward Greg Miller, which was stopped by Evin, but Mowrey slipped the rebound under Evin for a 2-0 lead.
 
McCarron then scored another insurance goal unassisted with 2:12 left in the period. A quick stick helped McCarron knife down a pass through the Colgate slot. He bided his time, then made a move to the backhand to beat Evin and give Cornell a three-goal lead heading into the final frame.
 
The selection show for the NCAA tournament will be shown live at noon on Sunday on ESPNU.