ITHACA, N.Y. — Senior forward Jared Fiegl scored his second goal of the weekend, but the Cornell men's hockey team's 11-game unbeaten streak came to a close Saturday when Rensselaer hung on for a 2-1 upset victory at Lynah Rink.
 
RPI (5-20-4, 4-10-2 ECAC Hockey) got on the board just 20 seconds into the game, stunning both the crowd and a Cornell (19-3-1, 13-2-1) squad that hadn't faced a deficit since Jan. 12. It turned out to be an omen, with the Big Red essentially trying to slog through a night where the Engineers were content to nurse its lead and make ice tough to come by.
 
"They did a good job right from the opening draw," said Mike Schafer, the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Men's Hockey at Cornell. "It's an unfortunate bounce on the first goal with (our defender on the play), he jammed it and it kind of went right in the back of the net. It seemed to signify what the rest of the night would be like for us."
 
Even with a new coach behind the bench this year, RPI continues to be a thorn in Cornell's side. The Engineers have now gone 4-2-3 against the Big Red over the last five seasons, despite Cornell having the decided edge in overall performances over that span.
 
Cornell has overcome deficits several times this season, but the tough start reached beyond just that – it seeped into the second period. Power plays for either side were sparse, and the Big Red seemed to be primed to grasp some momentum with a chance on the man advantage early in the second.
 
Instead, a turnover deep in defensive territory led to Brady Wiffen's goal and a two-goal RPI lead. It was the first short-handed goal the Big Red has conceded in 32 games, dating back to Feb. 12 last season against Brown.
 
Still, Fiegl's unassisted goal on spectacular individual effort just 1:35 into the third period changed the complexion. Cornell turned into the aggressor, in hot pursuit of a tying goal for the rest of the game. It just essentially ran out of game.
 
Meanwhile, in New Jersey, Princeton handed Clarkson a 4-3 loss that allowed Cornell to maintain its three-point cushion on first place in ECAC Hockey with three weekends remaining in the regular season. The Big Red took a minor hit in the Pairwise Rankings, dropping one spot to third, and it may fall out of first in the national polls on Monday. But none of those developments are certain to be ultimately negative, depending on what transpires after Cornell's first loss since Dec. 1 at Miami.
 
"(RPI) played hard throughout the course of the night and we didn't respond well to it," Schafer said. "A little taste of a loss will go a long, long way for this hockey team."

The Big Red's Lineup:

How The Goals Were Scored:
RPI's 1st Goal
1st period, :20   •  Hayhurst 8 (Liljegren, Prapavessis)  •  RPI 1, Cornell 0  
•  Liljegren came up the right wing on a two-on-two through the neutral zone with speed, but a Cornell defender kept pace and a backhand swat toward the middle was stick-checked wide to the near post and off the backboards. Hayhurst won a race to it as it slid back into the left circle, simply rearing back and blasting a slap shot that ramped up a defender's stick and hit the roof of the net over Galajda's right shoulder and inside the near post.
 
RPI's 2nd Goal
2nd period, 6:15 (sh)   •  Wiffen 5 (Tironese)  •  RPI 2, Cornell 0  
•  On the power play, the Big Red attempted to build up speed to come up ice from deep in its own zone – but an attempted cross-ice pass was knifed down by Tironese, the lone forechecker on the play. As he gained possession while drifting away from goal in the left circle, he opted instead to tee up Wiffen for a one-time that beat Galajda to the stick side.
 
Cornell's Goal
3rd period, 1:35   •  Fiegl 2 (unassisted)  •  RPI 2, Cornell 1
•  With the puck ping-ponging around in the left corner of the RPI zone, Fiegl stole it from the top of the circle and maneuvered to the inside of a charging defender. He faked toward goal to get Marshall down but had no angle, so he opted instead to go behind the net. With Marshall and the RPI defense scrambling to the far post, Fiegl wrapped the puck around and it popped up into the net off a stick.

Up Next:
• Cornell embarks on a highly-anticipated road trip to the North Country, starting with a matchup of ECAC Hockey's top two teams on Friday at Clarkson. The Big Red then shifts a few miles to the west to take on resurgent St. Lawrence the following night.