Box Score (PDF)
 
ITHACA, N.Y. — Senior forward John McCarron scored twice in the third period, including an extra-attacker goal with 32.8 seconds remaining, to help the Cornell Men's Hockey team battle back for a 2-2 deadlock with Rensselaer on Friday night at Lynah Rink.
 
McCarron tripled his season goal total with the tallies, and helped Cornell (10-11-5, 8-8-3 ECAC Hockey) stay in the hunt for one of the league's coveted top four spots and subsequent first-round bye. The Big Red is in the seventh place with 19 points, but trails the four teams ahead of it by four or fewer points with three games left in the regular season.
 
With Rensselaer (9-22-2, 7-11-1) leading by two after two periods, McCarron's first goal came 3 minutes, 31 seconds into the third to cut the Big Red's deficit in half. Sophomore forward Jake Weidner and senior forward Cole Bardreau made two quick passes from along the blue to set up McCarron in open space in the high slot. He turned and fired a shot over the blocker of RPI goalie Jason Kasdorf, giving the Big Red power-play goals in three straight games for the first time since November.
 
Down to desperate moments late, Cornell pulled sophomore goalie Mitch Gillam in favor of an extra-attacker. The strategy paid off. Bardreau set up senior defenseman Jacob MacDonald for a shot from the high slot that was blocked by an RPI defender. But the puck bounced to McCarron in the right circle, and he quickly sent a shot into the near side of the net to send the sold-out crowd into a frenzy.
 
Cornell then came within inches of scoring the winner in overtime, but sophomore forward Jeff Kubiak's blast rang off the post to Kasdorf's left.
 
The Big Red fell behind after defensemen overpursued plays on the wall in the defensive zone. After a few bounces of the puck, Renesselaer forwards were all alone in prime scoring areas. Lou Nanne scored the first goal at the 11:55 mark of the second period, and Viktor Liljegren doubling the lead just 33 seconds later.
 
Though neither team scored in the opening 20 minutes, the Big Red had the advantage in play. Eric Freschi set up Weidner for a shot from the left circle just 4:39 into the game that was deflected away by Kasdorf's left shoulder. Just before the midway mark, Dwyer Tschantz sent Matt Buckles away on a pseudo-breakaway, but Buckles was heavily pressured and could only manage a forehand shot that was also shrugged away by Kasdorf.
 
RPI had the period's only power play, but couldn't generate any scoring chances over the two minutes. In fact, Cornell had the best opportunity during the stretch when McCarron drove down the right wing and sent a shot on goal that forced Kasdorf to kick a rebound dangerously into the slot. Bardreau got on the end of it, but his shot went straight into the midsection of defenseman Jared Wilson. Gillam, who entered the night leading the nation in save percentage and ranked second in goals-against average, was forced to make just four first-period saves. He finished the night with 22 stops.
 
Bardreau now has seven points over a four-game scoring streak, and Weidner also has at least one point in each of his last four games. The tie not only extended RPI's winless streak to seven games, it also assured Cornell would not be swept by RPI in a regular-season series for the first time since the 1997-98 season.
 
With just three games left in the regular season, Cornell will play its final home game before the postseason at 7 p.m. Saturday against three-time defending ECAC Hockey champion and defending national champion Union. There will be a post-game ceremony honoring the four-year careers of the team's six seniors —Bardreau, Madison Dias, Joel Lowry, MacDonald, McCarron and Joakim Ryan.