ITHACA, N.Y. – As the preseason favorite in ECAC Hockey, it's easy to make the analogy that the Cornell men's hockey team had to be looking over its shoulder early this year. But that expression took on a whole new meaning Friday night after Quinnipiac's bizarre game-winning goal at Lynah Rink.
 
Midway through the third period of a tie game, the Bobcats' Chase Priskie took a shot from the neutral zone that sailed wide only to spin off the seamless glass and carom back toward goal. The puck then hit Cornell goalie Matthew Galajda in the back and dropped into the net. An empty-net goal sealed it, and Quinnipiac recorded a 4-2 victory.
 
Yanni Kaldis helped set up Morgan Barron's team-leading fifth goal to stake Cornell (4-3, 2-1 ECAC Hockey) to an early lead, then Kaldis scored a four-on-four goal in the second. But Quinnipiac (8-2, 3-2) scored three unanswered goals in the third, including the fluky winner. It marked the first time the Big Red has trailed in November.
 
"It's an unfortunate break, but it's something we need to forget quickly," said Mike Schafer, the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Men's Hockey at Cornell.
 
It always figured to be an uphill battle for the 17th-ranked Big Red, which suited up every healthy player its had on its roster. Cornell played its second straight game without two of its top four defensemen, and the depleted roster took a further hit when senior stalwart center Beau Starrett was ejected for a major penalty in the second period.
 
"I'm proud of our guys. When you look at the guys we have out (of the lineup), and then we lose Beau. … We had guys who have never played center tonight. Those guys filled in and did a great job," Schafer said.
 
Quinnipiac, which had six of the night's eight power plays, took advantage of the lengthy man advantage with Brogan Rafferty's goal to tie the game early in the second. Kaldis pulled the Big Red back ahead less than two minutes later, but the Bobcats equalized with Joe O'Connor's first goal of the season in the third period's fifth minute.
 
In a rematch of a 2018 ECAC Hockey Championship semifinal and a potentially pivotal Ivy League contest, Cornell hosts Princeton at 7 p.m. Saturday at Lynah Rink.
 

The Big Red's Lineup:

 

How The Goals Were Scored:

Cornell's 1st Goal
1st period, 2:08  •  Barron 5 (Kaldis, Regush) (pp)  •  Cornell 1, Quinnipiac 0
• An attempted Bobcats clear up the wall took a deflection off Regush's stick to allow Kaldis to collect at the point. He drifted toward the middle before setting up Barron for a one-timer toward the top of the right circle that was stopped by Shortridge. But the hard rebound caromed around the boards and allowed Barron to recollect. He passed to Kaldis who again teed up Barron from nearly the same spot, with this shot going bar down through Regush's screen.
 
Quinnipiac's 1st Goal
2nd period, 6:05  •  Rafferty 3 (Fortunato) (pp)  •  Cornell 1, Quinnipiac 1
• On the first shift after a major penalty was called on the Big Red, a Cornell clearing attempt was cut down at the right point by Rafferty. He traded passes with Fortunato to set up a shot from the center point that beat Galajda high to the glove side.
 
Cornell's 2nd Goal
2nd period, 7:56  •  Kaldis 4 (Mullin, Haiskanen)  •  Cornell 2, Quinnipiac 1
• On a four-on-four, Haiskanen took a shot from the right point that was deflected wide by Mullin from in tight. Kaldis came down the half wall on the far side to collect the puck. As he cut back toward the point, the defense sagged and he circled toward open ice down the slot. From there, he ripped a shot over Shortridge's glove.
 
Quinnipiac's 2nd Goal
3rd period, 4:50  •  O'Connor 1 (Fortunato)  •  Cornell 2, Quinnipiac 2
• As Cornell tried to advance the puck up the right wing, a turnover at Quinnipiac's blue line allowed Fortunato to swat the back along the wall in front of the Quinnipiac bench. O'Connor had just jumped on the ice, and he was afforded acres of space with Cornell's defense changing behind the play. His shot beat Galajda high to the near post.
 
Quinnipiac's 3rd Goal
3rd period, 10:18  •  Priskie 8 (Fallstrom)  •  Quinnipiac 3, Cornell 2
• Fallstrom won a faceoff just outside the Cornell blue line back to Priskie at center ice. Rather than the traditional dump-in along the boards, Priskie opted to fire toward goal. His shot sailed just over the crossbar, but it took a hard bounce off the glass on the end wall and caromed back off Galajda's back and into the net.
 
Quinnipiac's 4th Goal
3rd period, 19:33  •  Whalen 4 (Fallstrom, Cukste) (en)  •  Quinnipiac 4, Cornell 2
• Cukste flipped a puck along the right wall that hit a leaping a Big Red forward, but Fallstrom was next to the puck and knifed it to Whalen near the blue line. He then slid a quick shot into the open net from 150 feet.
 

Up Next:

• In a rematch of a 2018 ECAC Hockey Championship semifinal and a potentially pivotal Ivy League contest, Cornell hosts Princeton at 7 p.m. Saturday at Lynah Rink.