ITHACA, N.Y. — Juniors Morgan Barron, Matt Cairns and Tristan Mullin, and freshman Jack Malone all scored power-play goals to lead the Cornell men's hockey team to a 6-2 victory over Nipissing in an exhibition on Sunday afternoon at Lynah Rink.

Cairns and sophomore Max Andreev led the offensive charge with a goal and two assists apiece for Cornell, which entered the weekend ranked fifth in the nation in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls. Sophomore Michael Regush scored the other goal for the Big Red just 73 seconds into the third period to give the Big Red a three-goal lead and essentially put the game away.

"It was a lot like other exhibitions in that we were rusty in a lot of different areas," said Mike Schafer '86, the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Men's Hockey. "We had a lot of guys who would normally play that weren't in the lineup, so it was a good chance to take a really good look at the young guys to see what they could do."

Goals by Barron and Andreev gave Cornell a 2-0 lead within 12 minutes in a first period in which it would eventually outshoot Nipissing by a 16-3 margin. But the high-octane Lakers — an Ontario University Athletics team based out of North Bay, Ontario — struck twice shorthanded to tie the game by the 4:36 mark of the second. Jacob Hickey scored on a breakaway, then Brock Welsh finished off a two-on-one rush.

"It's just early-season stuff," Schafer said. "The people away from the puck have to anticipate the play more."

But it took just 11 seconds for Cornell to pull back in front on Cairns' goal. Mullin doubled the lead heading into the second intermission before Regush and Malone capped the scoring in the first 6:23 of the third. Three freshmen had multiple points on the day — Malone (a goal and an assist), and Sam Malinski and Ben Berard (two assists apiece).

Each of Cornell's three goaltenders played one period. Sophomore Nate McDonald saw the most action, stopping all nine shots he faced in the third period.

The Big Red is back in action with its second and final exhibition at 7 p.m. Saturday, when it hosts USA Hockey's National Team Development Program Under-18 team at Lynah Rink.