PORRENTRUY, Switzerland — Embarking on a trip to Italy and Switzerland for a series of exhibition games, the men's hockey team concluded the stretch of three games in four days with a shootout loss to HC Ajoie on Tuesday, after the teams played to a 2-2 tie in regulation.

Junior forward John Knisley got the Big Red on the board with his team-leading third goal of the trip with 4:11 left in the first period. Defenseman Reece Willcox worked the puck up the left wing to the Ajoie blue line, where Christian Hilbrich make a quick pass to the middle to send Knisley on a two-on-one alongside John McCarron. Knisley faked a shot from the slot to draw the last defenseman to his knees, then skated around him on the forehand and snapped a shot by the goaltender's glove.

After HC Ajoie scored a pair of second-period goals, Cornell drew even late in the frame on sophomore forward Jeff Kubiak's first goal of the trip. Sophomore forward Jake Weidner started a two-on-two rush up the left wing and dished off to Kubiak toward the middle. He used a toe-drag to beat his defender toward the middle, then beat the goalie with a shot along the ice. Senior defenseman Joakim Ryan scored the Big Red's lone goal in the shootout, while sophomore goalie Ryan Coon made his first start in a Cornell uniform before classmate Mitch Gillam played the second half of the game.

Cornell kicked off its trek with a Saturday shootout victory over HC Red Ice Martigny, which plays in the same Switzerland National League B professional circuit as the other two opponents on the trip. Red Ice, which includes Big Red program alumnus Mike Knoepfli '05 on its roster, took a quick three-goal lead before Cornell rallied. Knisley got the Big Red on the board with a rebound goal, then sophomore Holden Anderson pulled the visitors within one with a power-play strike. Knisley tacked on his second goal of the game to send the game to a three-round shootout. Gillam stopped all three shots he faced in the shootout, and sophomore defenseman Patrick McCarron scored the only goal to lift the Big Red to the victory.

Anderson then added his second goal of the trip to go along with tallies from classmates Patrick McCarron, Jake Weidner and Matt Buckles to give the Big Red a one-goal lead Monday against GCK Lions in Zurich. Senior captain John McCarron's empty-net goal sealed the victory.

Aside from the games in Switzerland, the Big Red has toured Como and Aosta in northern Italy. The team headed to Milan on Wednesday afternoon before ending the day in Bassano Del Grappa.