Box Score (PDF)
 
CANTON, N.Y. – The Cornell men's hockey team ended a long scoreless streak, but it couldn't dig itself out of an early hole in a 3-1 loss to St. Lawrence on Friday night at Appleton Arena. Junior defenseman Jacob MacDonald scored his first goal of the season and sophomore goaltender Mitch Gillam made 22 saves for the Big Red.
 
Cornell (5-7-2, 3-4 ECAC Hockey) shook off a nightmarish start, when it conceded two goals in the opening 4 minutes, 34 seconds. The Big Red got its game back in gear by the second period, and excellent penalty killing and Gillam's diligence kept the visitors within striking distance.
 
Finally, MacDonald broke through with 11:50 remaining in the game. Sophomore forward Gavin Stoick wheeled up the left wing boards and fed MacDonald cutting across the blue line from the other side. MacDonald stayed ahead of his defender and snapped off a wrist shot that zipped over the glove of Saints goalie Kyle Hayton. It was the Big Red's first goal since Dec. 6, a span of 195 minutes, 22 seconds.
 
But much of the Big Red's positive work in the third period was hindered by three penalties. Working on its final power play of the game, Cornell generated its best opportunity to knot the score and force overtime. Sophomore forward Jake Weidner won a draw cleanly to Hayton's left, then senior defenseman Joakim Ryan fed senior forward Cole Bardreau for a shot from the high slot — but Hayton deflected the puck over the glass with the shaft of his stick with 3:34 to play. Nine of the Big Red's 22 shots on goal came on its four power plays. The power play is now 0-for-15 over the squad's last six games.
 
St. Lawrence (9-9-2, 5-3) asserted control on the opening shift after a puck jumped over a Cornell defenseman's stick at the Saints' blue line about 45 seconds in. Junior defenseman Reece Willcox broke up the ensuing two-on-one, but the Big Red remained on its heels for the rest of the shift before an icing call. That trapped a defenseman and forward on the ice who had been there since the start of the game. After Cornell lost the faceoff to the right of goaltender Mitch Gillam, a defensive assignment was missed and allowed Christian Horn to set up Nolan Gluchowski in what seemed like acres of open ice on top of the circles, and he scored just 1:45 into the game.
 
The situation got worse for the Big Red before it got better. An open-ice hit attempt in the neutral zone was a little late, resulting in a tripping penalty to give St. Lawrence the game's first power play. A poor turnover in the Cornell zone was neutralized by Gillam's shoulder save on Gunnar Hughes' shot from 15 feet at the 4:10 mark. But 24 seconds later, Gavin Bayreuther wristed down a shot from the left point that ticked off a penalty-killer and inside the near post before Gillam ever saw the puck.
 
Gillam, the nation's leader in save percentage entering the game, did well to avert further damage for the visitors' side, making a total of nine saves in the opening 20 minutes. He stopped Gunnar Hughes and Horn from point-blank range after defensive turnovers, and stymied Drew Smolcynski on a two-on-one bid.
 
Hayton then kept the Big Red's attempts to rally at a minimum by standing tall early in the second period. Ryan, Bardreau and freshman forward Dwyer Tschantz all had quality opportunities turned away in the opening three minutes of the second period. After MacDonald's goal pulled the Big Red to within one, Brian Ward's empty-net goal with 26 seconds to play iced the game and secured the regular-season sweep of the series for the Saints.
 
The Big Red will attempt to halt its four-game winless streak at 7 p.m. Saturday, when it visits nearby Clarkson at Cheel Arena in Potsdam.