ITHACA, N.Y. — Senior forward Trevor Yates scored his team-leading sixth goal of the season with 2 minutes, 49 seconds remaining in the third period, capping the Cornell men's hockey team's dramatic 5-4 victory over Niagara on Tuesday night at Lynah Rink.
 
Cornell (8-1), which is currently ranked seventh in both major national college polls, scored four goals in the third period to stun Niagara (6-4-1). Junior defenseman Matt Nuttle had a career-high three assists for the Big Red, including the secondary helper on the winning goal. Sophomore forward Noah Bauld won a battle on the back wall before Yates swooped in for a wraparound to the left of Niagara goalie Brian Wilson. Wilson made the initial stop, but Yates poked it the rebound between the goalie's knees to cap the comeback.
 
The Big Red scored four goals in the third period to erase a pair of two-goal deficits, getting back in the win column after suffering its first loss of the season on Saturday against #5/5 Clarkson. Some of the same ills that befell Cornell in that game crept up again Tuesday, with Niagara initiating the scoring just past the midway mark of the first.
 
Senior forward Alex Rauter tied the game at 1 with a power-play goal before the first intermission, but the firewagon hockey ensued in the second period. Niagara potted a pair of goals in a span of 1:47 in the second period to take a 3-1 lead.
 
Junior forward Mitch Vanderlaan scored early in the third period to pull Cornell back within one, but Niagara's Justin Kendall responded 59 seconds later to seemingly quash any Cornell momentum. But freshman defenseman Alex Green answered right back for Cornell just 34 seconds after that, then set up a tying goal by junior defenseman Brendan Smith with 11:25 to play.
 
After Yates gave the Big Red its first lead of the night, Cornell uncharacteristically took a penalty for too many men on the ice to put the visitors on the power play with just 2:25 left. Niagara then pulled its goalie to create a frenetic six-on-four advantage, but freshman goaltender Matthew Galajda stopped both shots that made it through the defense. He made 21 saves to earn the victory.
 
Cornell's third-period outburst marked the first time its scored four goals in a period since March 12, 2016, when it defeated then-#1 Quinnipiac in Game 2 of an ECAC Hockey Championship quarterfinals series.
 
The Big Red's lineup:

How The Goals Were Scored:
Niagara's 1st Goal
1st period, 10:01  •  Niagara 1, Cornell 0
• Niagara defenseman Jack Zielinski took a shot from the right point that was blocked by Cornell's Kyle Betts. The Big Red was in position to retrieve the puck cleanly in the right corner, but a defenseman missed it and Niagara's Derian Plouffe took advantage. He swooped out from beside Matthew Galajda's left, then found Zach Mills breaking toward goal on the far side for an easy conversion into the wide side of the net.
 
Cornell's 1st Goal
1st period, 15:52  •  Cornell 1, Niagara 1
• With the Big Red working on its second power play of the frame, the Purple Eagles cleared just once in the early stages and changed just one of its four players on the ice. Cornell eventually re-entered the zone and had sustained possession in the zone for about a minute against tiring penalty killers. Yanni Kaldis fed Matt Nuttle on the right point with acres of space, and his shot was redirected in by Rauter in front of the net.
 
Niagara's 2nd Goal
2nd period, 7:12  •  Niagara 2, Cornell 1
• Keegan Harper rang the puck around the boards from the left point. Plouffe collected along the right side and worked his way up the half wall, eventually cycling with Harper. He attacked with speed around the edge, then center a pass to the top of the crease for Plouffe to convert as he was drawing a hooking penalty.
 
Niagara's 3rd Goal
2nd period, 8:59  •  Niagara 3, Cornell 1
• On the power play, Niagara's Noah Delmas knifed down a clearing try at the right point with a Cornell player blowing the zone. He then stick-handled around a defender to create a quick odd-man chance. With the defense on its heels, Delmas snapped a shot that hit the near post, then Tanner Lomsnes cashed in the rebound.
 
Cornell's 2nd Goal
3rd period, 4:17  •  Niagara 3, Cornell 2
• A massive board battle in the right corner of the Niagara zone involving three players for each team ended with Brenden Locke's chip around a defender back to the point. Nuttle alertly found that Vanderlaan was the first player to the net out of the scrum, feathering a pass into his path as he drove toward goal. Vanderlaan got Wilson to commit on a shot fake, then maneuvered around to the far side before flipping in a forehand.
 
Niagara's 4th Goal
3rd period, 5:16  •  Niagara 4, Cornell 2
• The Big Red had possession in its zone, but a ring around the boards was easily kept in by Johnny Curran at the right point. He faked a shot and dished down to Justin Kendall at the bottom of the right circle. His initial shot was saved, but then he shook his defender while tracking down the rebound. With a screen set up in front, his shot from the right dot went in short side.
 
Cornell's 3rd Goal
3rd period, 5:50  •  Niagara 4, Cornell 3
• Jeff Malott won a battle in the right corner, then Yates passed back to Alex Green at the right point. His defender blew a tire coming off the half wall, allowing Green a lane toward the top of the slot while traffic was created. With Malott undefended on top of the crease, Green splashed the net over the right shoulder of a helpless Wilson.
 
Cornell's 4th Goal
3rd period, 8:35  •  Cornell 4, Niagara 4
• Morgan Barron took a shot that went wide and bounded toward the left corner. As bodies gathered near the puck on the half wall, Barron's check on an attempted Niagara clear allowed Green to keep the zone at the point, and he quickly spun to avoid a defender and pass across to Smith at the center point. He took open space toward goal and ripped a shot from the high slot that, again, sailed over the right shoulder of a screened Wilson.
 
Cornell's 5th Goal
3rd period, 17:11  •  Cornell 5, Niagara 4
• Niagara broke out into the neutral zone and attempted a cross-ice pass, but Nuttle read the play, intercepted the pass, entered the zone and took a shot from the right circle that was blockered away by Wilson. Yates gained possession and pushed it through the left corner. Noah Bauld turned it past his defender, then poked it past another approaching defender to send Yates in the clear behind the net. He wrapped the puck around the post to Wilson's left, then was first to poke in the rebound between Wilson's legs.
 
Up Next:
• Cornell heads to the Big Apple for the biennial Red Hot Hockey game against Boston University on Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
• The Big Red closes out its semester with a pair of non-league games Dec. 1-2 at Miami before a four-week hiatus for final exams and the holidays.