ITHACA, N.Y. — Sophomore Max Andreev, and juniors Brenden Locke and Tristan Mullin each scored a goal and duo of junior goaltenders Matthew Galajda and Austin McGrath needed to make just 13 saves in the Cornell men's hockey team's 3-0 victory over USA Hockey's National Team Development Program Under-18 Team on Saturday night at Lynah Rink.

Cornell, which is ranked fourth in the nation in the latest USCHO.com poll, turned a much cleaner performance in its second and final exhibition, brandishing its physical dominance. Though no match for the Big Red's size and strength, the NTDP — which has all but four members of its team already committed to join NCAA Division I programs next year — has skill and scoring ability to spare. Cornell simply quashed it, yielding the bare minimum of scoring chances outside of the NTDP's unsuccessful three power plays.

"I'm pretty happy with it," said Mike Schafer '86, the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Men's Hockey at Cornell. "Going in, I told our team that I wanted us to be consistent and take away their time and space to create plays. ... I think we did a good job of that."

Andreev got the Big Red on the board in the game's sixth minute after a quick play by junior forward Morgan Barron from behind the NTDP net led to sophomore forward Michael Regush ringing a shot off the post. Andreev was there to convert the rebound, as Cornell had eight of the game's first nine shots on goal.

Locke doubled the lead in the second period after senior forward Noah Bauld dispossessed an NTDP defenseman in the right corner, then swooped in toward goal from below the circle. His pass found Locke to slam in the wide side.

The scoring was capped by Mullin just after a power play ended in the third. Freshman forward Jack Malone started the play by gaining the zone along the right wall. Though the puck was poked away from him, Malone's speed forced the NTDP defensemen to sag. That allowed Mullin plenty of space as he collected and skated to the top of the right circle before uncorking a rising shot over the glove of NTDP goaltender Noah Grannan.

All the while, Cornell — which dressed 22 skates (three more than the limit in the regular season) — continued to tinker with combinations and situational play with a variety of players. Behind that, Galajda made eight stops over the first 40 minutes before McGrath came on for a five-save third period.

"We had a lot of guys on the bench tonight, so it was hard to find continuity with lines," Schafer said. "We used guys in a lot of different roles just to see where we are."

The long wait for Cornell's regular season finally comes to a close Friday and Saturday, when it travels to Michigan State for a pair of non-league games with 7 p.m. faceoffs.