Box Score

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Matt Buckles and Cole Bardreau scored goals, then the men's hockey team used 33 saves from Andy Iles to fend off Brown for a 2-1 victory Saturday night at Meehan Auditorium.
 
Bardreau's would-be insurance goal turned out to be the winner after the Bears broke Iles' shutout bid with an extra-attacker goal in the final two minutes. Iles then snagged a drive by Jake Goldberg with 16.7 seconds remaining to send 11^th-ranked Cornell (12-4-5, 8-3-4 ECAC Hockey) to its ninth straight game without a loss.
 
The first period came and went without any goals to speak of. Brown's only power play of the frame yielded a pretty passing play to set up Matt Wahl for an open shot from the low slot, but Iles squeezed down his right arm to make the save. About a minute later, the Big Red's Joakim Ryan got loose for a shot from the high slot that handcuffed Brown's Tyler Steel – but the freshman goalie recovered in time to reach back as he was falling to the ice to corral the loose puck.
 
Buckles then gave the Big Red the lead at the 11:04 mark of the second period with his third goal of the season. Classmate Jake Weidner created the play with a cross-zone pass from the right side to find Jeff Kubiak open on the other side. Kubiak kicked the puck from his skates to his stick and slid it into the crease. A scramble ensued with Buckles getting the final touch from the blue paint.
 
Iles made the lead stand up, even as more ice opened up with penalty-induced lessened man power. Nick Lappin got a dangerous backhand off from the right circle with the teams skating four-on-four, but Iles flashed out his right pad to make the save 3:49 before the break. As Brown enjoyed a power play late in the frame, Steel alertly caught the Big Red in a line change with a long pass to send Lappin away on a break. He faked Iles to the ice, but the goalie stretched his left pad to the post to stop the forehand tuck-in attempt with 50 seconds left. Mark Naclerio followed up, but Iles stayed strong on the post to keep the Big Red ahead 1-0 after 40 minutes.

The Big Red hunkered down in the third period, but made its two shots on goal count. Joel Lowry created the play by pickpocketed a Brown defender in the neutral zone and started a rush the other way. He drew the last defender back to him on the left wall, then sent a pass to Bardreau streaking down the middle. The junior centerman finished off the play with a shot over Steel's glove to give Cornell a 2-0 lead with 6:09 to play.
 
With the win, the Big Red moved up into sole possession of third place in ECAC Hockey with 20 points – trailing just Union (22) and Quinnipiac (21). Cornell also strengthened its hold on the Ivy League lead with a 6-0-1 record.
 
Now 8-1-4 in its last 13 games, the Big Red wraps up a stretch of seven games away from home in a nine-game span at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 8 at Colgate.