PRINCETON, N.J.. — The men's hockey team's first road trip of the season comes to a close Saturday night, when it takes on resurgent Princeton in its first Ivy League contest of the year. The game will face off at 7 p.m. and be broadcast by the Ivy League Network. Jason Weinstein will provide Cornell play-by-play that can be heard in the Ithaca area on WHCU (870 AM, 95.9 FM) and around the world via the station's website.

Game 4: #18 CORNELL at PRINCETON
TIME: 7 p.m.
DATE: Saturday, Nov. 4, 2017
PLACE: Hobey Baker Rink  •  Princeton, N.J.
RECORDS: Cornell 3-0, 1-0 ECAC Hockey, 0-0 Ivy League; Princeton 1-0-1, 0-0-1 ECAC Hockey, 0-0 Ivy League
VIDEO: Ivy League Network
RADIO : WHCU (870 AM, 95.9 FM)
LIVE STATS: GoPrincetonTigers.com

Cornell game notes (PDF)
Princeton game notes

Big Red Rewind:
•  Cornell started ECAC Hockey play with a 2-1 victory over #11/12 Quinnipiac last night in Hamden, Conn.
•  Sophomore defenseman Brendan Smith opened the scoring, then freshman forward Morgan Barron's power-play goal midway through the third served as  the game-winner
•  Freshman Matthew Galajda stopped 28 of 29 shots to earn his third victory in as many starts, in which he's surrendered a total of just two goals.
•  The Big Red will be the last team in the country to surrender a power-play goal, as it has started the young season a perfect 16-for-16 on the penalty kill.

About the Big Red:
•  Cornell started its season with a bang last weekend, convincingly sweeping a two-game non-league series against Alabama-Huntsville at Lynah Rink. This marks the fourth time in the last six years the Big Red has started 2-0.
•  The Big Red never trailed and actually held the lead for 112:16 of the weekend's 120 minutes to breeze to victories of 5-1 on Friday and 3-0 on Saturday.
•  UAH came into the weekend with hot special teams play, but Cornell scored four power-play goals and was a perfect 12-for-12 on the penalty kill.
•  Freshman goaltender Matthew Galajda played a big role in the weekend, stopping 16 of 16 shots in his first collegiate period en route to a 28-save victory in Game 1, then an 11-save shutout on Saturday.
•  Senior forward Trevor Yates has taken the early lead in team scoring with four points on three goals — all on the power play — and one assist. He was named the ECAC Hockey Player of the Week on Tuesday. Sophomore forward Jeff Malott scored twice in the opener.

Highlights From Last Night's 2-1 Win at Quinnipiac:


Power Play Ace:
•  Senior forward Trevor Yates' power-play prowess has picked up right where it left off last year. After leading the team with eight goals on the man advantage last year, Yates potted three power-play goals last weekend against Alabama-Huntsville. He has 11 power-play goals in his last 35 games.

A New 'Tender's Turn:
•  The Big Red graduated three-year starting goaltender Mitch Gillam '17 after last season, but the team hasn't yet missed a beat with freshman Matthew Galajda taking the reins in the early going this year. Galajda (3-0, 0.67, .971, SO) is the first Big Red freshman goalie to record a shutout within his first two starts since Ben Scrivens '10 did so during the 2006-07 season.

Fresh Faces:
•  Eight freshmen made their collegiate debuts during the Big Red's first two games last weekend, including seven on Friday. It marked the first time Cornell had seven freshmen skate in its season opener since 1997.

The Offensive Defense:
•  Cornell scored quickly in each of last weekend's games, and both goals came from seemingly unlikely sources — a pair of everyday defensemen that scored a combined three goals last season, juniors Alec McCrea and Matt Nuttle. The last time the Big Red had the first goal scored by a blueliner in each of its first two games was 1995 — Mike Schafer's first year as head coach. Junior Brendan Smith continued the trend last night by scoring Cornell's first goal against Quinnipiac.

Feel The Draft?:
•  Cornell has six players on the roster who have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft, including four from 2014. Junior forward Beau Starrett (Chicago Blackhawks) was selected earliest in that group, having been taken in the third round with the 88th overall pick.
•  Classmate Anthony Angello, also a forward, was selected in the fifth round by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Junior forwards Jared Fiegl (Arizona Coyotes) and Dwyer Tschantz (St. Louis Blues) were then picked in the seventh round.
•  Two newcomers are also NHL draft picks — forward Morgan Barron (N.Y. Rangers in 2017) and defenseman Matt Cairns (Edmonton Oilers in 2016).

First Ivy League Coach To 400:
•  Already the winningest coach in program history and in Ivy League history, Mike Schafer eclipsed another milestone in his career with his 400th victory last January.
•  Schafer ranks 10th in victories among active Division I coaches and is Cornell's fifth-winningest coach across all sports — second among current coaches, behind just Dave Eldredge (men's and women's polo).

Turning The Trick:
•  After having no hat tricks since 2011, the Big Red had two last year. Mitch Vanderlaan's hat trick Nov. 12 at Yale earned him ECAC Hockey Player of the Week on Nov. 15. He potted a couple more goals Nov. 19 against Princeton to become the first player from Cornell with seven goals in the first seven games of the season since Blake Gallagher did so in 2009-10.
•  Jeff Malott then scored his first three collegiate goals in a span of 8 minutes, 44 seconds during the first period to power the Big Red past Princeton on Jan. 13. He was subsequently named ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week after becoming the first Cornell freshman with a hat trick since current NHLer Matt Moulson on Feb. 7, 2003.

What, Me Worry?:
•  Eight of Cornell's 21 victories last season came in games in which the Big Red surrendered the first goal, with the team maintaining a winning record even when it conceded first.
•  The Big Red's resilience from an early deficit has become somewhat of a trend, with the team sporting a very respectable 21-20-8 record when yielding the game's first strike over the last two years. That's a stark turnaround from the team's 14-34-5 record when yielding the game's first goal from the previous three seasons (2012-15).

Helping Out:
Members and friends of the Cornell men's hockey program embarked on another mission trip to the Dominican Republic through the Portal de Belén Foundation over in the summer of 2016. It was the fourth time the program has participated, following trips in 2009, 2012 and 2014. Current members of the team Ryan Bliss, Alec McCrea, Anthony Angello, Alex Rauter, Hayden Stewart, Trent Shore, Jared Fiegl and Dwyer Tschantz were among current team members on the trip, as well as Mike Schafer, the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Men's Hockey.


About Princeton:
•  The Tigers opened their season with a 4-2 victory over Holy Cross on Sunday, handing the Crusaders their first loss in six games this year. Sophomore defenseman Derek Topatigh assisted on all three of the Tigers' second-period goals.
•  Senior forward Eric Robinson, sophomore forward Jackson Kressey and freshman defenseman Reid Yochim each had a goal and an assist against the Crusaders. Preseason All-ECAC Hockey selection Max Véronneau, a junior forward, started the scoring.
•  Freshman Ryan Ferland (1-0-1, 0.96, .974, SO) made 38 saves in his collegiate debut, then earned a 36-save shutout last night in a scoreless tie against Colgate.
•  Ron Fogarty is in his fourth season as the head coach at Princeton, helping the squad break through for 15 victories last year after winning just nine in his first two years of rebuilding the program.

The Series Against Princeton:
•  Cornell has been dominant against the Tigers, holding a 90-51-8 lead all-time with wins in each of the teams' last five meetings.
•  In its last trip to Hobey Baker Rink, the Big Red won behind a natural hat trick from Jeff Malott. His first collegiate goals all came within a span of less than 10 minutes in the first period of Cornell's 5-1 victory on Jan. 13.
•  The Tigers took a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes in the teams' first clash last year on Nov. 6, 2016 at Lynah Rink. But the Big Red pulled even on goals by Jared Fiegl and Beau Starrett before Mitch Vanderlaan scored twice in the final seven minutes to cap the comeback.

Up Next:
•  Cornell returns to Ithaca for a five-game home stand, starting with an exciting Ivy League weekend Friday, Nov. 10 against Dartmouth and Saturday, Nov. 11 versus Harvard.
•  The Big Red then closes out the home stand by hosting Clarkson (Nov. 17), St. Lawrence (Nov. 18) and Niagara (Nov. 21).