ITHACA, N.Y. — In search of its first victory of the season, the Cornell men's hockey team will return to the friendly confines of Lynah Rink for its next four games. The first two tilts of the season's longest home stand are Friday against Clarkson, in a rematch of a 2014 ECAC Hockey Championship quarterfinal series, and Saturday against St. Lawrence. Both games are scheduled to begin shortly after 7 p.m. and will be streamed live on subscription-based Big Red Digital with Jason Weinstein handling play-by-play and Tony Eisenhut providing color commentary. Their call is also available for free on Big Red Digital, and it can also be heard in the Ithaca area on WHCU-AM (870).
 
CLARKSON at CORNELL
TIME: 7 p.m.
DATE: Friday, November 14, 2014
PLACE: Lynah Rink · Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Clarkson 3-4-3, 1-0-1 ECAC Hockey · Cornell 0-3-1, 0-2 ECAC Hockey
LIVE VIDEO: Big Red Digital
AUDIO: Big Red Digital
RADIO: WHCU-AM (870)
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
 
ST. LAWRENCE at CORNELL
TIME: 7 p.m.
DATE: Saturday, November 15, 2014
PLACE: Lynah Rink · Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS*: St. Lawrence 6-3-1, 2-0 ECAC Hockey · Cornell 0-3-1, 0-2 ECAC Hockey
LIVE VIDEO: Big Red Digital
AUDIO: Big Red Digital
RADIO: WHCU-AM (870)
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
 (*—records do not include Friday's results)
 
Cornell game notes (PDF)
Clarkson game notes (PDF)
St. Lawrence game notes (PDF)
 
ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell has turned a marvelous defensive performance through its first four games, surrendering just six goals despite leaning heavily on three defensemen and two goalies with a combined three gamse of college hockey experience heading into the season. But the offensive production has lagged behind, accounting for just three goals in the Big Red's 0-3-1 start to the year. It's the first time the program hasn't won in its first four games since the 1989-90 season. ... Sophomore goaltender Mitch Gillam (0-2-1, 0.98, .969) has been as good as the numbers suggest – save for the dearth of victories. He has started three of the Big Red's four games, yielding just one goal in each contest. He entered the season with just one career start and two career appearances after a decorated junior career. ... Cornell's first goal of the season came on its second power play, but the team hasn't converted on any of its 17 chances on the man advantage since. ...  Sophomore forward Matt Buckles (1-1–2), sophomore defenseman Patrick McCarron (1-1–2) and senior defenseman Jacob MacDonald (0-2–2) hold the early team scoring lead. Freshman forward Trevor Yates has the team's other goal. ... Cornell dropped a pair of one-goal games to open ECAC Hockey play last weekend. Princeton rode a 40-save performance from its goalie to hand the Big Red a 2-1 loss against the run of play Friday, then Quinnipiac scored with less than two minutes left in the third period to secure a 1-0 victory Saturday despite Gillam's career-high 39-save performance. Cornell opened with a tie and a loss against Omaha at home. ... Mike Schafer, in his 20th season at the head coach, has been suspended for Friday's game as a result of post-game comments made last Saturday. Associate head coach Ben Syer will serve as head coach against Clarkson.
 
ABOUT CLARKSON
Entering last weekend winless in their last six, the Golden Knights put in a strong effort to secure three points in games at Yale and Brown. After hanging on for a 2-2 tie against the Bulldogs, Clarkson held off Brown for a 2-1 victory Saturday. The team's other two victories came on a season-opening road trip to Niagara and RIT before two games each against Vermont, Bowling Green and St. Lawrence yielded four losses and two ties. ... Senior forward Joe Zarbo (5-4–9) leads the team in scoring. Sophomore defenseman James de Haas (2-4–6), a Detroit Red Wings draft pick, had three assists in last weekend's games. ... Sophomore Steve Perry (3-3-1, 2.30, .896) remains the team's primary goaltender after establishing himself as the starter during the second half of last season. Perry earned the win against Brown, but sophomore Ville Runola (0-1-2, 1.78, .932) got the nod the night before at Yale. ... The power play has struggled in the early going, producing just two goals in 27 opportunities (7.4 percent).
 
ABOUT ST. LAWRENCE
The Saints started the season with a dreary 5-2 loss at RIT, but have been very strong ever since. SLU earned splits against nationally-ranked Ferris State and Miami (with by losses coming in overtime), then got the better of Clarkson in a non-league series with a win and a tie. Last weekend, the Saints swept their ECAC Hockey debut with a 5-2 win at Brown and 4-0 victory at Yale. ... As usual, there is no shortage of offense coming from the Saints. Through 10 games, sophomore forward Drew Smolcynski (1-8–9) leads the team, and there's a five-way tie for second place with seven points. Five players have a team-high three goals, including two on the power play from freshman forward Mike Marnell (3-1–4). ... Freshman Kyle Hayton (6-3-1, 1.97, .943) has laid claim to the starting goaltending role, excelling in the early going. ... The Saints are outscoring opponents 14-2 in the first period.
 
THE SERIES WITH CLARKSON
The Big Red and Golden Knights have met 127 times coming into this weekend, with Cornell owning a 61-52-14 lead in the all-time series. The Big Red recently had a nine-game unbeaten streak against Clarkson until the Golden Knights won the final meeting of the 2012-13 season. Then, last season, both home teams won the regular-season meetings before an ECAC Hockey Championship quarterfinal series in March at Lynah Rink. The Big Red won the first game before the Golden Knights forced a Game 3. Cornell prevailed, 1-0, in overtime. Mike Schafer holds a 34-17-7 record against the Golden Knights in his 19 years as head coach of the Big Red.
 
THE SERIES WITH ST. LAWRENCE
Cornell leads the all-time series against St. Lawrence, 57-42-8, including victories in five of the teams' last seven meetings. The Big Red used a four-goal first period to vault itself to a 5-2 victory in the teams' first meeting last season, with Joel Lowry registering two goals and an assist. The teams then engaged in a wild 4-4 tie in the rematch in January at Lynah Rink. Christian Hilbrich had two goals and an assist, then the Big Red peppered the Saints with nine shots on goal in the scoreless overtime. Cornell head coach Mike Schafer is 21-16-6 all-time against the Saints. Cornell and St. Lawrence first met during the 1926-27 season, when the Big Red's home games were played on Beebe Lake.
 
BLANK YOU VERY MUCH
Cornell has recorded at least one shutout in each of the last 19 seasons – a streak that was kept alive with a 1-0 overtime victory against Clarkson in Game 3 of the ECAC Hockey Championship quarterfinals last March. The last time the Big Red went a full season without posting a shutout came during the 1994-95 season under former coach Brian McCutcheon. The following year marked the first season for current head coach Mike Schafer.
 
LET'S GET IT STARTED
Cornell has an all-time record of 57-34-7 in season openers, staying unbeaten in its season debut for a fourth consecutive season after a 1-1 tie with Omaha last Friday. The Big Red won its three preview season debuts, including last year's 5-3 win at Omaha. Under current head coach Mike Schafer, the Big Red is 12-6-2 in season openers.
 
TRENDING
The Big Red welcomes two newcomers from the U.S. National Team Development Program this season in defenseman Ryan Bliss and forward Jared Fiegl. This marks the fifth consecutive season that at least one player from the U.S. Under-18s has joined the Big Red. The others were Clint Lewis (in 2013), Gavin Stoick (in 2012), Cole Bardreau (in 2011) and Andy Iles (in 2010).
 
NOW THAT'S A STREAK
It has been 1,551 games since the Big Red has been shutout in back-to-back contests – a streak that could come to an end Friday night against Clarkson. The Golden Knights were involved in the last time Cornell was blanked in consecutive games back in December 1963, when Clarkson and St. Lawrence held the Big Red off the scoresheet.
 
SITTING ATOP THE IVY
Cornell won the Ivy League championship outright in 2014. It's the second time in the last three years the Big Red claimed the Ivy crown, the 17th time it's done so outright and the 21st time overall in program history. Cornell came up just short of even more history when a 1-0 loss to Dartmouth on Feb. 28 proved to be the squad's only loss against the Ancient Eight last season. Just three times in program history has the Big Red completed the Ivy League schedule undefeated. The last time Cornell was unbeaten in Ivy games was 1996, when it was 9-0-1 in Mike Schafer's first season as the Big Red's head coach. The other two occasions were in 1969 and 1970.
 
NOT JUST A DEFENSEMAN
Senior blueliner Joakim Ryan ranked 11th in the nation in points per game for defensemen (0.75) last season. He was tied for second on the team in scoring with 24 points, and his eight goals ranked third on the team. Over the last two years, he has been on the ice for 88 of the team's 160 goals (55 percent). The production was nothing new for the San Jose Sharks draft pick, who set a program record for goals by a freshman defenseman in 2011-12 with seven. Ryan was named to both the media's and coaches' Preseason All-ECAC Hockey Teams.
 
FEEL THE DRAFT?
Cornell has seven players on the roster who have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft, including two picks from last June. Freshman forward Jared Fiegl was selected in the seventh round by the Arizona Coyotes, with the only other Big Red player selected by the organization being David LeNeveu in 2002. Freshman forward Dwyer Tschantz was then selected 11 picks later by the St. Louis Blues — the first time the organization has selected a Cornell product in 15 years. Other NHL draft picks on the team include defensemen Reece Willcox (Philadelphia Flyers) and Joakim Ryan (San Jose Sharks), forwards John McCarron (Edmonton Oilers), Joel Lowry (Los Angeles Kings) and Matt Buckles (Florida Panthers).
 
FIVE-ON-THREE PROWESS
There are few situations in hockey more dire than when a team is facing a two-man disadvantage, but the Big Red has made a habit of rising to the occasion in those scenarios. Cornell is a perfect 16-for-16 killing off a two-man disadvantage over the last three seasons, spanning a total of 14 minutes, 44 seconds. The last time Cornell surrendered a five-on-three goal was against Yale on Feb. 11, 2012.
 
THE 35th TO 350
Already the winningest coach in program history, Mike Schafer hit 350 victories for his career — all of which have come from behind the Big Red's bench — with a 4-2 win over Princeton on Nov. 1, 2013. He became the 35th coach all-time to rack up 350 victories across all NCAA divisions. Schafer is also just the third coach to pass 350 victories with Ivy League tenure, joining Ned Harkness (Cornell, Union and Rensselaer) and Tim Taylor (Yale).
 
GLOBAL INFLUENCE
The Big Red has 17 players on the roster born in the  United States. Cornell also now has players native to four 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 Denmark (Christian Hilbrich) and Finland (Teemu Tiitinen). Even within the United States, the Big Red has some untraditional hockey areas covered. Joel Lowry has lived in Florida, Tiitinen has lived in Georgia, John Knisley is native to South Carolina, and Cole Bardreau and Ryan Bliss were both born in North Carolina.
 
EXHIBITIONS IN NAME ONLY
Cornell is 20-1-3 in exhibitions since 2000, including a pair of victories last weekend by identical 3-2 scores against the U.S. National Team Development Program's Under-18 Team and Carleton. Freshman forward Jared Fiegl and junior forward Teemu Tiitinen had a goal and an assist apiece against the NTDP, with senior forward Joel Lowry scoring the winner. Senior defensemen Jacob MacDonald and Joakim Ryan then scored power-play goals to erase deficits against Carleton before Fiegl netted the winner on a rebound of a shot from freshman defenseman Ryan Bliss. Sophomore Mitch Gillam made 26 saves for the victory against the NTDP, then freshman Hayden Stewart had 24 stops the next day to earn the win against Carleton.
 
GOLDEN AGAIN
Senior forward Cole Bardreau won a gold medal while serving as an assistant captain for the United States at the 2013 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship in Ufa, Russia. It wasn't the first time Bardreau's earned gold with the U.S. either — he also wore an "A" while capturing gold at the IIHF Under-18 World Championship in April 2011. Junior defenseman Joakim Ryan was also among the 45 players who started in camp for the United States before the roster was trimmed in advance of the World Junior championships.
 
POLLS PROSE
The Big Red was ranked 14th in both the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine and USCHO.com polls in the preseason, but Cornell's slow start has seen it drop out of both the USCHO.com poll and the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll. The last time Cornell was unranked in either poll was the preseason of the 2013-14 campaign.
 
UP NEXT
The Big Red wraps up its four-game home stand next weekend with a return to Ivy League play against Yale on Friday, Nov. 21 and Brown on Saturday, Nov. 22. Cornell then heads to New York for The Frozen Apple against Penn State on Saturday, Nov. 29 at Madison Square Garden before returning home to wrap up the fall semester portion of the schedule with a two-game non-league series against Denver at Lynah Rink.