Box Score (PDF)

ITHACA, N.Y. — Junior forward Alex Rauter scored an unassisted goal in the second period, but the Cornell men's hockey team surrendered four goals in the third period in a 4-1 loss to rival Harvard on Friday night in front of a sold-out crowd at Lynah Rink.
 
"I think the guys did a good, solid job, had scoring chances and good pressure, really played good smothering defense and had some great offensive opportunities," said Mike Schafer, the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Men's Hockey at Cornell. "But then we came out in the third and turned some pucks over and they capitalized on it."
 
Cornell (12-5-2, 7-3-2 ECAC Hockey, 4-2-1 Ivy League), which entered the weekend ranked 14th in both major college hockey polls, largely controlled play for the first 40 minutes. The best chance generated by Harvard (13-5-2, 9-4-2, 5-1-1) came on after a blown Big Red breakout at the 3:48 mark of the second period, but senior goaltender Mitch Gillam made a big glove save on Harvard's Sean Malone one-on-one shot from close range.
 
That set the stage for Rauter's unlikely goal. After dumping the puck into the Crimson zone on the left wing, he skated through traffic along the wall to put pressure on Harvard goalie Merrick Madsen behind the goal line. Rauter was able to poke the puck away from an exchange between Madsen and a defenseman, then beat the goalie back to the far post with a wraparound for his seventh goal of the year.
 
The game seemed to follow a blueprint befitting Cornell. Harvard had just 10 shots on goal through two periods and its power play, which entered the game firing at a national-best 28.6 percent conversion rate, came up empty in its one and only opportunity on the night.
 
"I think we played really well, actually, for the first 40 minutes," Rauter said. "We were hemming them down in their zone. We were disciplined. We didn't take many penalties and when we were on the kill, we got big blocks from (Jake) Weidner and (Eric) Freschi. And (Gillam) was playing strong."  
 
The Crimson eventually took the lead after a pair of soft point shots eventually found their way to the back of the Cornell net. Jake Horton tied the game 2:20 into the third period after Wiley Sherman snapped his stick in half with a slap shot from the left point. With a similar effect to a change-up in baseball, the puck threw off the defense and was tipped by Ty Pelton-Boyce to a wide-open Horton on top of the crease. Gillam made the initial save, but Horton jammed home his own rebound.
 
Clay Anderson's first goal of the season served as the winner with 11:31 left in the game — though it had a lot of help getting to goal. A shot from inside the right point slid along the ice was, deflected off the stick of a would-be shot-blocker, past another sliding Big Red defender and ticketed to go wide of the near post, only to bounce in off the toe of a Cornell defenseman standing beside the crease.
 
"It's a big rivalry so it's a tough night to have those kinds of things happen," Schafer said. "But we've got to pick it right back up and get ready for tomorrow."
 
Cornell came within inches of pulling even again just a shade over a minute later when Rauter broke free into the left circle of the Harvard zone and unleashed a shot that beat Madsen to the glove side. But the puck clanked squarely off the far post and kicked across the goal before being cleared away.
 
With the Big Red pressing for scoring chances late in the period, Harvard inflated the margin of victory with Ryan Donato's odd-man rush goal with 3:22 left and Lewis Zerter-Gossage's empty-net tally in the game's dying moments. It marked just the second time this season the Big Red yielded four goals, with the other occasion being a 4-3 loss Nov. 5 at Harvard.
 
Cornell, which lost for just the second time in its last 13 games, wraps up a four-game home stand at 7 p.m. Saturday against Dartmouth at Lynah Rink. Members from 1967 NCAA championship team will be on hand for a special ceremony during Saturday's game to celebrate Cornell's first NCAA championship.