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NEW HAVEN, Conn. — The Cornell men's hockey team started slow for a second straight night, but this time it couldn't mount a comeback. Yale scored in the second minute of the game, then tacked on two more in the second period to skate away with a 4-0 victory on Saturday night at Ingalls Rink.
 
Cornell (11-12-6, 9-9-4 ECAC Hockey) has finished the season seventh in the ECAC Hockey standings, which means it will host a best-of-three series in the first round against 10th-seeded Union from March 6-8 at Lynah Rink. All of the series' games are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
 
The Big Red found itself in the same position Saturday as it did Friday at Brown — in an early hole. This time, a neutral-zone turnover coincided with a poor line change, which allowed Mike Doherty plenty of time and space for easy offensive-zone entry and a slap shot from 40 feet that Cornell goalie Mitch Gillam turned into the right corner. With the Big Red defensively scrambling, Chris Izmirlian was first to the puck and worked a give-and-go with Doherty. That set up a one-timer from the right circle that pinged off the near post and in, giving a 1-0 lead to Yale (17-7-5, 12-6-4).
 
Gillam did well to limit the damage, sliding to his left to stop Izmirliam on a three-on-two at the 2:49, and standing tall to turn away Adam Larkin's shot from the slot at 3:12. Cornell gradually took over territorially from there, earning the period's only two power plays. But Yale, the defensive team in the country entering the night, did well to limit any serious threats on sophomore goalie Alex Lyon.
 
Cornell once again seemed to get its legs going early in the second period, only to have the pendulum swing the other direction. Gillam started off by making a big save on John Hayden's breakaway at the 4:52 mark, but there was little he could do on Trent Ruffolo's goal four minutes later. A Big Red defenseman attempted to break out up the middle from behind the net, but the puck hit a pile of accumulated snow next to the post. That slowed the puck enough to slip through the Cornell player's skates, and Ruffolo's pursuit was rewarded with a backhand goal past a helpless Gillam.
 
Yale pushed its lead to 3-0 at the 14:07 mark when Frankie DiChiara's blast from the left circle hit Gillam square in the mask, only to have the puck bounce directly to Carson Cooper for a tap-in from the top of the crease. The Bulldogs had just three shots from below the top of the circles in the frame — and two went in.
 
The Bulldogs closed the scoring on Doherty's empty-net goal inside the final minute. Lyon made 16 saves for the shutout, marking the sixth time this season the Big Red was blanked.