ITHACA, N.Y. -- The men's hockey team wraps up its regular season this weekend with a pair of Ivy League contests against Dartmouth and Harvard, with Saturday's game against the Crimson also serving as the team's annual Senior Night. A live webcast of both games is available online through the new subscription-based Ivy League Digital Network. Play-by-play from Jason Weinstein and color commentary from Tony Eisenhut will be available for both games for free on the ILDN and can also be heard in the Ithaca area on WHCU-AM (870).
 
DARTMOUTH at #11/11 CORNELL
TIME: 7 p.m.
DATE: Friday, February 28
PLACE: Lynah Rink · Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 14-7-5, 10-6-4 ECAC Hockey · Dartmouth 7-16-4, 6-12-2 ECAC Hockey
WEBCAST: Ivy League Digital Network
AUDIO: Ivy League Digital Network
RADIO: WHCU-AM (870)
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
 
HARVARD at #11/11 CORNELL
TIME: 7 p.m.
DATE: Saturday, March 1
PLACE: Lynah Rink · Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS*: Cornell 14-7-5, 10-6-4 ECAC Hockey · Harvard 9-14-4, 5-11-4 ECAC Hockey
WEBCAST: Ivy League Digital Network
AUDIO: Ivy League Digital Network
RADIO: WHCU-AM (870)
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
* - does not include Friday's results

Cornell game notes (PDF)
Dartmouth game notes (coming soon)
Harvard game notes (PDF)
 
ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell notched an impressive road sweep last weekend, topping 2013 national runner-up Quinnipiac and Princeton to clinch the outright Ivy League title for the second time in the last three years. Leading scorer Brian Ferlin (12 goals-12 assists–24 points; 6 PPGs) notched the winning goal on a breakaway against the Bobcats, then got the Big Red on the board against the Tigers with a goal which snapped the team's 0-for-32 slump on the man advantage. Senior goaltender Andy Iles (13-7-5, 2.26 goals-against average, .920 save percentage) stopped 64 of the 66 shots he saw over the weekend and has inched closer to becoming the program's all-time leader in career saves (see "The Puck Stops Here" note). ... Junior defenseman Joakim Ryan (6-15–21) is ninth in the nation in points per game for blueliners (0.81). He is tied for second on the team in scoring with junior forward Joel Lowry (6-15–21). ... Senior Dustin Mowrey (6-14–20) had a six-game scoring streak in January, but has missed the last four games. He leads the team in points per game (0.95).
 
SCENARIO CENTRAL
The Big Red can still finish as high as second or as low as sixth in the ECAC Hockey standings. With at least one win or two ties this weekend, Cornell would clinch a spot in the top four and a coveted first-round bye for the ECAC Hockey Championship playoffs.
 
CHASING A LITTLE IVY HISTORY
With its win last Saturday at Princeton, Cornell has already locked up the outright Ivy League championship. 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. But there is still the potential for even more history this weekend. If the Big Red doesn't lose to either Dartmouth or Harvard, it will complete the Ivy League schedule undefeated for just the fourth time in program history. The last time Cornell was unbeaten in Ancient Eight games was in 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 – the latter season serving as the last time Cornell won a national title.
 
THE PUCK STOPS HERE
With 66 saves last weekend, senior goaltender Andy Iles is now just nine save shy of the program's all-time career saves record. Iles has accumulated 2,864 saves over his collegiate career. He passed Jason Elliott (2,462) for second on the all-time list on Nov. 23, and now trails only current Los Angeles Kings starting goalie Ben Scrivens (2,873) (see chart on Page 3). Iles was also named the ECAC Hockey Goalie of the Week on Tuesday.
 
ABOUT DARTMOUTH
College hockey pundits were surprised when the Big Green got off to a dismal 0-8 start, but Dartmouth appears to be heating up at the right time. Now 4-1-1 over the last three weeks, the Big Green is coming off a 2-1 overtime victory vs. Brown last Friday and then a 3-3 tie with nationally ranked Yale on Saturday. ... Junior Eric Neiley (12-10–22; 4 PPGs) leads the team in scoring, followed by classmate Brandon McNalley (5-12–17; 4 PPGs). Sophomore Brad Schierhorn (7-8–15) is the only player on the entire team to play in all 27 games so far. ... Three goalies have started at least four games apiece for Dartmouth, but sophomore Charles Grant (6-9-3, 3.24, .901) has been the team's back stop for the last four games.
 
ABOUT HARVARD
The Crimson is coming off a disappointing weekend in which it scored just twice at home in losses to Yale and Brown. Harvard has scored more than three goals in an ECAC Hockey game just once this season (Nov. 16 at Princeton). ... Harvard's top eight scorers are either freshmen or sophomores, including leader Jimmy Vesey (13-9–22; 4 PPGs; 5 GWGs). Sophomore Kyle Criscuolo (11-8–19; 4 PPGs) ranks second and freshman Sean Malone (5-13–18) leads the team in assists. ... Junior Steve Michalek (4-6-2, 2.41, .922, 2 SOs) and senior Raphael Girard (5-7-2, 2.59, .922, 2 SOs) split time in goal. ... The Crimson has scored just 11 first-period goals in 27 games coming into the weekend.
 
THE SERIES WITH DARTMOUTH
Cornell holds a 79-43-5 lead in the all-time series against Dartmouth, a series that dates back to a Dartmouth win on Feb. 2, 1909, in Hanover, N.H. Cornell currently owns a nine-game unbeaten streak (7-0-3) in the series, and is 13-3-3 over the last eight seasons. The teams tied their first meeting of this season, 1-1, on Jan. 18 at Dartmouth. Dustin Mowrey scored the Big Red's lone goal 4:25 into the game off a feed from Brian Ferlin. The teams' last clash at Lynah Rink also produced a 1-1 draw Nov. 17, 2012. Once again, it was Mowrey providing Cornell's goal before Dartmouth tied the game with 52 seconds remaining in the third period on an extra-attacker goal. Head coach Mike Schafer is 22-16-5 against the Big Green during his tenure behind the Cornell bench.
 
THE SERIES WITH HARVARD
One of the best rivalries in all of college hockey, Cornell holds a 72-61-9 lead in the all-time series with the Crimson. The Big Red has been particularly successful of late, boasting a 8-4-2 advantage in the teams' 14 meetings since the 2008-09 season began. The Big Red won this season's first meeting Jan. 17 in Cambridge, Mass. Joakim Ryan set up first-period goals by Madison Dias (shorthanded) and Christian Hilbrich, then Dustin Mowrey broke a 2-all tie with 20 seconds remaining in the second period. Harvard won last season clash at Lynah Rink, 4-1, on Nov. 16, 2012. John Knisley scored his first collegiate goal in that game for the Big Red. Cornell head coach Mike Schafer holds a 32-14-4 career mark against Harvard.
 
POLLS PROSE
The Big Red climbed two spots to 11th in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine and in the USCHO.com polls this week. More importantly, the Big Red moved up three positions to 11th in the PairWise Rankings, which are used to help determine which teams qualify for the NCAA tournament. That would place Cornell as a third seed in one of the four regionals, if the season ended today. The Big Red has been ranked as high as eighth in the USA Today/USA Magazine poll, ninth in the USCHO.com poll and sixth in the PairWise Rakings.
 
BRINGING BACK THE POWER
The Big Red ended an 11-game slump on the power play in last Saturday's win at Princeton. Cornell was 0-for-32 on the man advantage before Brian Ferlin and Jacob MacDonald both scored power-play goals to lead Cornell to its second road sweep in a four-week span. Despite its mid-season struggles, the Big Red's power play is still converting 20.2 percent of the time, which is 14th-most effective in the country.
 
AND THE WINNER IS ...
Senior Andy Iles was named the ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week on Tuesday after stopping 64 of 66 shots last weekend in an impressive road sweep of Quinnipiac and Princeton. It's the third time Iles has won the award this season, with the other two occasions coming after games against Yale and Brown (Nov. 26 and Feb. 4). The Big Red also had the league's Rookie of the Week on Feb. 4, when freshman forward Jeff Kubiak was honored for scoring his first collegiate goal against Yale and adding two assists on the weekend.
 
NOT JUST A DEFENSEMAN
As of Monday, junior blueliner Joakim Ryan is ninth in the nation in points per game for defensemen (0.81). Just six games into the season, Ryan had already equaled his goal total from all of last year with three. Two of his strikes came in a 3-3 tie Nov. 8 at Rensselaer. He led the team with 20 assists last season and was tied for third in points with 23. He was also on the ice for 41 of the team's 83 goals, which ranked second on the team to only leading scorer Greg Miller (43). 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.
 
BLANK YOU VERY MUCH
Cornell has recorded at least one shutout in each of the last 18 seasons. 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, 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. The Big Red is still seeking its first shutout of this season after Brown (Feb. 1) and Princeton (Feb. 22) scratched out extra-attacker goals late in the third periods of recent games.
 
CLASS-Y GUY
Andy Iles is one of 10 national finalists for the Senior CLASS Award, which is presented annually to an NCAA Division I senior that has notable achievements in four areas of excellence — community, classroom, character and competition. Iles is continuing the program's tradition of highly decorated goaltenders, having been named the ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Year (2011) and an All-Ivy League First Team selection (2012). Outside of the rink, he has been involved in a service trip with the Portal De Belen Foundation to Don Juan, Dominican Republic, and is the organizer and planner of the Cornell Hockey Teddy Bear Toss, which donates proceeds to Cancer Resource Center of the Finger Lakes and the Franziska Racker Centers. He is also a five-time member of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences' Dean's List and carries a 3.78 cumulative grade point average. Iles is one of just two Ivy League student-athletes to make the list of finalists (Brown's Dennis Robertson is the other).
 
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 14-for-14 killing off a two-man disadvantage over the last two seasons, spanning a total of 12 minutes, 4 seconds. The last time Cornell surrendered a five-on-three goal was against Yale on Feb. 11, 2012.
 
IRON MAN
Andy Iles started 80 consecutive games in goal for the Big Red, spanning all of the last two seasons and the final game of his freshman campaign, before the streak came to an end Nov. 26 with Mitch Gillam getting the nod against Niagara. Iles' 80 consecutive starts are tied for fifth in NCAA Division I history, leaving him 24 games a familiar leader. Cornell's Ben Scrivens holds the current record of 104 consecutive starts from 2006-10. Iles was one of just two goalies to be used exclusively by his team in 2011-12, with Minnesota's Kent Patterson being the other. By starting and finishing all of the Big Red's games that season, 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.
 
FEEL THE DRAFT?
Cornell has seven players on the roster who have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft, including one pick from last June. Freshman forward Matt Buckles became the first Cornellian to be selected by the Florida Panthers, when the NHL's southern-most team nabbed the Toronto native in the fourth round with the 98th overall selection. Other NHL draft picks on the team include defensemen Reece Willcox (Philadelphia Flyers), Joakim Ryan (San Jose Sharks) and Kirill Gotovets (Tampa Bay Lightning; has since been traded to the Chicago Blackhawks) and forwards John McCarron (Edmonton Oilers), Brian Ferlin (Boston Bruins) and Joel Lowry (Los Angeles Kings).
 
NOW THAT'S A STREAK
It has been 1,541 games since the Big Red has been shutout in back-to-back contests. The streak dates back December 1963 with games vs. Clarkson and St. Lawrence.
 
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. He became the 35th coach all-time to rack up 350 victories across all NCAA divisions, with four of them passing the milestone last season (Ferris State's Bob Daniels, Connecticut's Bruce Marshall, Notre Dame's Jeff Jackson and Quinnipiac's Rand Pecknold). 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 14 players on the roster born in the  United States. Cornell 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).
 
GOLDEN AGAIN
Junior 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. He then scored a goal and added an assist in his first game back with the Big Red last weekend against Union. 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.
 
COLLECTING HARDWARE
While forward Cole Bardreau became the first Cornell player to earn gold with the U.S. at the IIHF World Junior Championships, goalie Andy Iles was the first to earn a medal with Team USA. Iles claimed bronze at the 2011 tournament in Buffalo, N.Y., with the only player before him to compete with the United States being goaltender Jean-Marc Pelletier in 1998.
 
UP NEXT
The entire ECAC Hockey landscape will be watching scoreboards this weekend to see how final seeding for the playoffs materializes. The first round best-of-three series will be staged March 7-9, with the winners moving on to quarterfinals series (also best-of-three) March 14-16 at the top four seeds' home sites.