Box Score (PDF)

ITHACA, N.Y. — The line of Mitch Vanderlaan, Anthony Angello and Jeff Kubiak each had two points, and the men's hockey team completed a weekend sweep of Niagara with a dominating 4-0 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 4,267 fans Saturday night at Lynah Rink.
 
Vanderlaan opened the scoring with his first career goal, then set up the first of Kubiak's two goals on the night. Angello also assisted on the first two goals, and Holden Anderson capped the scoring with a little more than five minutes left in the second period. Mitch Gillam made 19 saves for his second career shutout for Cornell, which opened the season with a 3-2 victory in overtime against Niagara on Friday.
 
After falling behind early a night ago at Niagara (0-5-1), Cornell (2-0) reversed course and delivered a dominant first period Saturday. The Big Red outshot the Purple Eagles, 18-4, and three of those Niagara shots came from outside the blue line until a sharp-angle offering from Stanislav Dzakhov with 1:21 left in the period.
 
By that point, Cornell had a 2-0 lead. Vanderlaan opened the scoring 6:37 into the game on a set play. With the faceoff on the right wing in the offensive zone, Angello won the puck forward into space and went directly toward goal. As a defender closed in, he slid the puck across the top of the crease to a hard-charging Vanderlaan, who had an easy conversion. Angello then helped create the second goal five and a half minutes later, kicking the puck off the wall on a breakout to feed Kubiak steaming up the middle. Kubiak passed to Vanderlaan as the Big Red entered the zone, then chipped the return feed over the blocker of Niagara starting goalie Guillaume Therien to double the home side's lead.
 
The Purple Eagles needed a quick start to the second period to keep pace, but instead were called for a penalty. That set the stage for Kubiak's second goal of the night, as he tipped Alec McCrea's point shot past Therien just 1:51 into the frame. Ryan Bliss earned the secondary assist.
 
On the hunt for the program's first hat trick since 2011, Kubiak then hit the post twice later in the period — but it was Anderson who scored the Big Red's fourth goal. Trevor Yates created the play with a tenacious forecheck, stripping Patrick Conte of the puck at the blue line. Reece Willcox then teed up Anderson from the center point, and his shot splashed the net past relief goalie Joe O'Brien's right shoulder.
 
Ten of Gillam's 19 saves came in a fairly uneventful third period as the Big Red nursed its lead.
 
Cornell starts ECAC Hockey play next weekend as it continues its four-game home stand. The Big Red hosts Princeton at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, then takes on undefeated Quinnipiac at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7 at Lynah Rink.
 
Notes
* The Big Red owns a 14-2 advantage in the all-time series between the teams, all under Mike Schafer's tenure. This is Cornell's 10th straight victory against Niagara since 2001.
* While Gillam has two career shutouts, tonight's is the first where he also won the game. His first shutout was a 0-0 tie against Lake Superior State on Dec. 28, 2014 at the Florida College Classic.
* Kubiak doubled his career goal total tonight. He had one goal in each of his first two seasons on East Hill. He is tied with Angello for the early team lead in scoring with three points.