PRINCETON, N.J. — Junior goalie Mitch Gillam made 32 saves for his fifth shutout of the season, and the Cornell men's hockey team used John Knisley's goal to secure a 1-0 victory over Princeton on Saturday night at Hobey Baker Rink.
 
After a fairly uneventful first period, Princeton was the first team to push the puck over a goal line — though the goal didn't count after the referees' review confirmed the puck was swatted in by the hand of a Princeton forward at the 1:27 mark.
 
Cornell started to generate more chances as the period went along. After a strong shift by the Jeff Kubiak line, Princeton cleared the zone. Defenseman Alec McCrea flagged down the puck just inside his own blue line, then looked up ice and threaded a pass to John Knisley breaking toward the left wall. Knisley entered the zone with speed and snapped a shot that found its way under the left arm of Princeton goalie Colton Phinney for his second goal of the season, allowing Cornell to take a 1-0 lead.
 
That turned out to be all the offense the sold-out crowd would see, and Cornell started to take control later in the second period. The momentum rode into the early third, when the Big Red forecheck gave Princeton fits.
 
The Tigers eventually found some traction later in the final frame and challenged Gillam a few more times. He slid to his left to thwart Eric Robinson's wraparound with 4:04 to play. Jake Weidner came through with a big shot block with 1:13 to play, then the Big Red caught a break when Robinson's shot from the left circle hit the post with 31 seconds remaining.
 
With the win, Cornell — which entered the weekend ranked 17th in the USCHO.com poll — improved to 12-7-4 overall and 7-6-3 ECAC Hockey play, snapping a seven-game winless streak.
 
Cornell associate head coach Ben Syer is now 5-0-1 in his career as acting head coach. Mike Schafer missed the game while recovering from a concussion suffered in practice earlier this week.
 
The Big Red returns home for two more ECAC Hockey games next weekend. Both opponents are also Ivy League foes — Brown comes to Lynah Rink at 7 p.m. Friday, followed by a visit from Yale at 7 p.m. Saturday.