Box Score (PDF)

PRINCETON, N.J. — Freshman forward Jeff Malott's first three collegiate goals came in the form of a hat trick — all in a span of 14 minutes, 21 seconds in the first period — and the 19th-ranked Cornell men's hockey team sailed to a 5-1 victory over Princeton on Friday night at Hobey Baker Rink in its return to ECAC Hockey and Ivy League play. It was also the 400th win in the career of Mike Schafer, the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Men's Hockey at Cornell.
 
Malott started the scoring 5:37 into the game. On the forecheck, he collected a pass intended for a Princeton defenseman and worked his behind the net and around to the left of Princeton goalie Colton Phinney. With no defensive pressure, he turned the puck to his forehand a fired a shot that got through Phinney's left side to give the visitors and early lead — though the Tigers tied the game just 29 seconds later on a bad-angle goal from Max Véronneau.
 
Cornell (10-4-2, 5-2-1 ECAC Hockey, 4-1-1 Ivy League) regained the lead at the 11:32 mark when Malott redirected a point shot from senior defenseman Holden Anderson past Phinney. It was a little bit of déjà vu less than three minutes later, when Malott tipped a shot from senior defenseman Patrick McCarron past Phinney from the slot to give Cornell a 3-1 lead.

"I would have been happy if I stopped at just one," said Malott, who is one of just two freshmen to appear in each Cornell game to date this year. "It's been a long time coming, and I've got great linemates (senior forward Eric Freschi and junior forward Trevor Yates) that helped out with that."
 
Malott became the first Cornell freshman with a hat trick since current NHLer Matt Moulson scored three times against Dartmouth on Feb. 7, 2003. He is also the second Big Red player with a hat trick this season — a first for the program since 2004 — and the other three-goal performance this season belongs to sophomore Mitch Vanderlaan, who netted Cornell's fourth strike with his team-leading ninth goal on a power-play in the second period.
 
Sophomore defenseman Alec McCrea came down the halfwall to retrieve the puck ringing around the boards, then set up freshman defenseman Yanni Kaldis at the center point. With Princeton's penalty kill scrambling to get back into position, Kaldis calmly passed to the left circle where Vanderlaan placed a perfect shot high off the near post and into the net.
 
Princeton (7-11-1, 3-9-1, 0-5-1) got back into the game once it took on a more physical tint, yielding to five consecutive power plays for the home side during the final two periods. A dangerous one-timer from Jackson Cressey was stopped by senior goaltender Mitch Gillam at the 11:37 mark of the second period. The Big Red killed off three consecutive Princeton power plays in the opening half of the third period. Cornell entered the night ranked fifth in the nation on the penalty kill and has now been successful on 36 of its opponents' last 38 power plays.
 
Junior forward Alex Rauter closed out the scoring with an empty-net goal late in the third period.
 
Already the winningest coach in program history and in Ivy League hockey history, Schafer is ranked 10th among active Division I men's hockey coaches. He is Cornell's fifth-winningest coach all-time and second among active coaches, behind only Dave Eldredge (492 wins with women's polo; 439 wins with men's polo).
 
"I knew at the beginning of the year I was getting pretty close, but I forgot all about it with all of the preparations," Schafer said. "Guys surprised me after the game. It means a lot."

The Big Red is back in action at 7 p.m. Saturday, when it travels to Hamden, Conn. to take on #15/15 Quinnipiac.