TROY, N.Y. — The Cornell men's hockey team clinched sole possession of the Cleary Cup for the first time since 2005 on Friday night, using a string of three consecutive goals from the middle of the second period to the middle of the third to power a 4-2 victory over Rensselaer on Friday night at Houston Field House.
 
Freshman forward Morgan Barron scored what turned out to be the winning goal 84 seconds into the third period, then helped set up freshman defenseman Cody Haiskanen's first collegiate goal about 10 minutes later. Senior forward Trevor Yates had assists on both strikes as well.
 
Cornell (23-3-2, 17-2-2 ECAC Hockey) got a boost heading into the game with the return to the lineup of junior defensemen Brendan Smith and Alec McCrea, both ranked in the top five nationally in rating. Even better, Smith opened the scoring early in the second – except RPI equalized with Jacob Hayhurst's goal on the rush just 18 seconds later.
 
The Big Red took the lead for good on junior forward Anthony Angello's team-leading 13th goal off a beautiful feed from sophomore defenseman Yanni Kaldis, who has three assists in his last two games.
 
Freshman goaltender Matthew Galajda made 27 saves to earn the victory, with RPI's second goal coming on a low-percentage shot through traffic in the final minutes of the game.
 
With the victory, Cornell has assured itself of the No. 1 overall seed for the ECAC Hockey Championship playoffs. The Big Red will have a bye through next weekend's first round, then will take on the lowest-remaining seed in a three-game quarterfinal series March 9-11 at Lynah Rink.
 
It's the ninth time Cornell has won the league's regular-season title, but the fourth time since the trophy took its name after the 2001 season. Since the 2001-02 season, the Big Red has finished in at least the top four in 13 of 16 seasons.

The Big Red's Lineup:

How The Goals Were Scored:
Cornell's 1st Goal
2nd period, 1:33   •  Smith 5 (Betts)  •  Cornell 1, RPI 0
•  Betts won a faceoff to the right of Marshall, with the puck sliding back to Smith at the center point. With the defense closing, he quickly got off a shot that went through traffic and clanked off the post to Marshall's right and in.
 
RPI's 1st Goal
2nd period, 1:51   •  Hayhurst 10 (Burgess, Samec)  •  Cornell 1, RPI 1
•  With a couple forwards trapped in the offensive zone as RPI broughr the play up the right wing into the neutral zone, the Big Red defense failed to adjust. Burgess whipped a pass to Hayhurst flying up the middle with just one defender back. He had lots of room to line up a shot as he hit the high slot, beating Galajda over the catching glove.
 
Cornell's 2nd Goal
2nd period, 12:07   •  Angello 13 (Kaldis, Locke)  •  Cornell 2, RPI 1
•  After the Big Red gained the zone, an Angello shot from the top of the right circle was blocked. RPI whacked the rebound only as far as the right point, where Locke kept it in and went to work. He patiently skated the perimeter and circled all the way behind the net, then dished off to Kaldis near the left outside hash mark as the latter rolled down the wall. It didn't take long for Kaldis to pick out Angello separated from his check on the far side of the slot, and Angello tapped it in.
 
Cornell's 3rd Goal
3rd period, 1:24   •  Barron 5 (Yates, Donaldson)  •  Cornell 3, RPI 1
•  Haiskanen made a long pass from the corner to Donaldson in the neutral zone, who was hit hard by an RPI defenseman stepping up. But Donaldson stayed with the play, getting his stick around the puck in the defender's feet and allowed Yates to swoop in and send the puck to Barron on an odd-man rush. Barron entered the zone on the right zone, cut to the middle on his defender and beat Marshall to the near post.
 
Cornell's 4th Goal
3rd period, 11:26   •  Haiskanen 1 (Yates, Barron)  •  Cornell 4, RPI 1
•  Yates won a neutral-zone faceoff off Barron's skates, then gained possession and wheeled up the left side into RPI's zone. He cut back toward the point and fed Haiskanen circling around, giving him an open lane into the left circle. With a screen set up in front, he cut to the middle as he approached the slot and banged a puck between Marshall's legs.
 
RPI's 2nd Goal
3rd period, 16:17   •  Polino 2 (Samec, Hayhurst)  •  Cornell 4, RPI 2
•  The Engineers possessed the puck in the offensive zone, but the Big Red was in decent shape defensively. Eventually, Polino pulled up at the outside left hash mark and just sent a low-percentage shot that found its way through a screen of both a forward and a defender between an unsuspecting Galajda's legs.
 
Up Next:
•  The Big Red shuttles west across state Route 7 to wrap up its season at 7 p.m. Saturday at Union in Schenectady.