LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — For the third straight year and the 11th time in the last 15 years, the Cornell men's hockey team will compete in the final weekend of play in the ECAC Hockey Championships, taking on Brown at 4 p.m. Friday in the first semifinal at Herb Brooks Arena. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ in the U.S. with Perry Laskaris on play-by-play and former Cornell captain and assistant coach Topher Scott '08 providing color commentary. The same production can be viewed by international viewers through a different platform via Stretch Internet. The game can also be heard on WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM) and worldwide via the station's website with 15th-year play-by-play man Jason Weinstein on the call, Tony Eisenhut '88 providing color commentary and Grady Whittenburg conducting rinkside interviews.

GAME INFORMATION

ECAC Hockey Championship, semifinal
#10 Cornell vs. Brown
4 p.m. Friday, March 22, 2019
PLACE: Herb Brooks Arena  •  Lake Placid, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 19-9-4, 13-5-4 ECAC Hockey (2 seed)
                    Brown 15-13-5, 8-9-5 ECAC Hockey (8 seed)
VIDEO (U.S.): ESPN+
VIDEO (International): Stretch Internet
RADIO: WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM)
LIVE STATS: ECACHockey.com
TICKETS: Whiteface.com
GAME NOTES (PDF): Cornell | Brown
 

Union Series Redux:

•  Cornell survived the league's only quarterfinal series to require a third game, scoring three unanswered goals to defeat Union, 4-2, on Sunday at Lynah Rink.
•  Kyle Betts opened the scoring just 57 seconds in, making Cornell the only team in the country with seven goals inside the 2-minute mark of a game.
•  After the Dutchmen took a 2-1 lead later in the first, Beau Starrett's seventh goal of the season sent the teams into the third period tied. Tristan Mullin and Jeff Malott scored 42 seconds apart to give the Big Red the lead for good.
•  Mullin's goal, which came with just five seconds remaining in a five-minute major, was the only power-play goal for either team in 23 opportunities.


•  Junior forward Noah Bauld led the team in scoring for the series with five points after recording four points in 25 regular-season games.
•  Union stunned Cornell by scoring twice in the final 10 minutes of the series' Game 1 on Friday night to secure a 3-2 victory.
•  In Saturday's Game 2, Brenden Locke and Mitch Vanderlaan scored goals 41 seconds early in the first period, and Matthew Galajda needed to make just 15 saves for his fourth shutout of the season in a 4-0 victory.
 

The Regular Season In Brief:

•  Cornell won a share of the program's 10th Cleary Cup — awarded annually to ECAC Hockey's regular-season champion. It's the Big Red second consecutive Cleary Cup and the fourth during the tenure of 24th-year head coach Mike Schafer.
•  Since Dec. 1, the Big Red has led the nation on the penalty kill with a 93.3 percent success rate. That stretch includes a streak of 41 consecutive penalty kills, which is the program's longest since the turn of the century.
•  The Big Red's power play has also excelled over that stretch, scoring on 23.7 percent of its opportunities — 10th-best in the nation over that span. 
•  Cornell posted a 12-3-4 record over its final 18 games of the regular season. The team has surrendered just 32 goals in that stretch (1.68 per game). 
•  The Big Red remains 10th in both the USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls for a third straight week.
 

The Red's Barron:

•  Sophomore forward Morgan Barron (13-19–32; 6 PPG) leads the team in goals, points and power-play goals. He also averages 4.41 shots on goal per game, which ranks third-most in the nation behind just Arizona State's Johnny Walker (4.94) and Princeton's Ryan Kuffner (4.71).
•  Barron is the first Cornellian to eclipse the 30-point plateau since Greg Miller '13 had 33 points during his senior season on East Hill. The last Big Red underclassman with 30 points was Riley Nash's 35 points during a 2008-09 campaign in which he was a sophomore.
•  Barron has named to the All-Ivy League and All-ECAC Hockey first team and was a finalist for ECAC Hockey Best Defensive Forward.
 

Super Sophs:

•  An all-sophomore line of Brenden Locke (6-9–15) between Morgan Barron and Cam Donaldson (12-12–24; 4 PPG) was formed after Locke returned to the lineup following the season's five-week semester break.
•  Donaldson, who earned a spot on the All-ECAC Hockey third team and All-Ivy League honorable mention, is tied for the team lead in rating (plus-16) and ranks second on the team in goals.
•  Thirteen of Locke's 16 points on the season have come in the 20 games since starting to pivot a line flanked by Barron and Donaldson. That includes the opening goal in last Saturday's Game 2 just 1:21 into the contest.
•  The Big Red's sophomore class averages 1.34 goals per game, which is highest in ECAC Hockey and fourth-highest in the nation.
 

Forward Thinking:

•  Senior forward Mitch Vanderlaan (10-18–28) ranks second on the team in overall scoring and third in assists. The Big Red's second-year captain is also the team's active leading scorer with 95 points in 128 collegiate games. He's earned All-Ivy League honorable mention for a second straight year.
•  The Big Red has scored first in 78.1 percent of its games this season (25 times in 32 games), which leads the nation. Cornell also is tops in nation in goals during first periods, outscoring opponents 38-13 inside 20 minutes.
 

Freshman Force:

•  Freshman forward Michael Regush (11-3–14) scored nine of his goals in ECAC Hockey play, which tied for the most in the league among newcomers.
•  Regush is the first Big Red freshman with five power-play goals in a single season since Riley Nash had seven during the 2007-08 campaign.
 

More Than Just Defense:

•  With 15 assists in his last 18 games, junior defenseman Yanni Kaldis (4-20–24; 2 PPG) is tied for the team lead in assists and leads blueliners in overall scoring. He has been named to the All-Ivy League first team for a third time — a first for a Cornellian since Matt Moulson '06 from 2004-06. He's also earned a spot on the All-ECAC Hockey second team.
•  Matt Nuttle (3-14–17), one of three senior pillars on defense, has been named the ECAC Hockey Best Defensive Defenseman Award. He boasts a lofty plus-16 rating that is tied for fifth in ECAC Hockey. He is a staggering plus-39 over the last two seasons, becoming the second Cornellian to win the award in as many years. Nuttle and Alec McCrea (3-4–7) are the first classmates to ever both win the award.
 

Goaltending, Inc.:

•  Sophomore Matthew Galajda (15-8-3, 1.93, .916, 4 SO) rounded into form after an early-season injury led to a five-game absence. Since Jan. 1, his 1.60 goals against average leads ECAC Hockey and his .932 save percentage is a very close second. He was named the league's Goalie of the Month for February and was placed on the All-ECAC Hockey third team.
•  When Galajda hasn't played, sophomore Austin McGrath (4-1-1, 2.02, .924) has made the most of his first collegiate starts — enough to earn All-Ivy League first team honors despite making just four starts in Ancient Eight games.
 

Two Crowns Down:

•  Cornell won the program's 23rd Ivy League championship, marking the Big Red's second straight Ivy crown and its 19th outright title. Having won the Ancient Eight championship with a sterling 9-0-1 record last season, Cornell is 17-2-3 in its last 22 Ivy League contests.
•  In winning the Cleary Cup for a second straight year (though shared this time around), the Big Red has won the ECAC Hockey's regular-season title in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2002 and 2003.
 

Circle Time:

•  Cornell ranks sixth in the nation in team faceoff percentage (54.4%). The Big Red won 43 of 69 draws (62.3%) in last Saturday's Game 2 vs. Union — including a monster night from sophomore Kyle Betts, who was 19-2.
•  Michael Regush (56.2%) and Max Andreev (55.6%) and both rank in the top 10 nationally among rookies. Senior Beau Starrett once again leads the Big Red in draws taken with a 55.9% success rate.
 

Hobey Hopefuls:

•  Junior defenseman Yanni Kaldis and sophomore forwards Morgan Barron and Cam Donaldson were announced among the 81 initial nominees for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award on Jan. 16.
•  The process for selecting college hockey's most outstanding player is in the fan voting phase, with Cornell looking to place someone in the round of 10 finalists for a second straight year. Matthew Galajda was in that elite group last year, becoming the first freshman goaltender to ever be selected among the final 10.
 

Next Man Up:

•  Through 32 games this season, Cornell has used 20 different combinations of skaters in its lineup due to injuries. The Big Red has had its most preferred lineup for less than one period all season (Nov. 2 vs. Yale, before an injury about1 0 minutes in).
•  Cornell has already lost 37 man-games to injury from its top six defensemen. All of them have been in the same lineup just twice this season (Nov. 2 vs. Yale; Feb. 1 at Union).
•  The Big Red's injury woes on defense are in stark contrast to last season, when Cornell lost just 10 man-games to injury from its top seven defensemen all year.
 

Understudy Extraordinaire:

•  With Mike Schafer not in attendance for the Jan. 4-5 games due to illness, Associate Head Coach Ben Syer continued his unbeaten streak as an acting head coach. Now in his eighth season with the program, Syer is 7-0-4 all-time when at the helm. All but one of those games has been at Cornell.
 

Feel The Draft?:

•  Cornell has five players on the roster who have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft — one in each of the last five drafts. Sophomore defenseman Matt Cairns (Edmonton Oilers) was selected earliest in that group, having been taken in the third round with the 84th overall pick in 2016.
•  Senior forward Beau Starrett (Chicago Blackhawks) was also taken in the third round during the 2014 draft. One other forward is a draft pick in Morgan Barron, who was snagged in the sixth round by the N.Y. Rangers in 2017. He then became the first freshman in program history to have at least one point in each of his first seven games. 
•  Three underclassmen represent the Big Red's three NHL Draft picks along the blue line. Alex Green leads that group after his outstanding collegiate debut led to a fourth-round selection by the Tampa Bay Lightning last summer.
•  Defenseman Misha Song (N.Y. Islanders in 2015) is the only newcomer to have his NHL rights already owned.
 

Scouting Brown:

•  After completing a memorable first-round sweep of Princeton with a goal in triple overtime, the Bears followed up the effort with a stunning road quarterfinal sweep of top-seeded Quinnipiac last weekend.
•  Brent Beaudoin (8-11–19) scored an extra-attacker goal wit 21.5 seconds left in the third period, then Jack Gessert provided the overtime winner in a Game 1 triumph over the Bobcats last Friday. Brown then scored four third-period goals the next night to earn its first league semifinal berth since 2013.
•  Senior Tommy Marchin (11-15–26) leads the team in scoring and shots on goal (143). He typically plays on the left wing opposite sophomore Chris Berger (8-11–19) and freshman Tristan Crozier (4-15–19) at center.
•  Junior Zach Guittari (7-13–20; team-best plus-10 rating) ranks second in team scoring, and he leads the team with four power-play goals.
•  Junior goaltender Gavin Nieto (11-5-1, 2.25, .916, SO) returned from an injury at the start of the playoffs. He's posted a 1.81 goals against average and .924 save percentage while winning the last four games.
•  While Brown's power play ranks 57th among 60 teams in the nation at 12.9%, seven of its 13 goals on the man advantage have come in the team's last 13 games. The Bears' power play is a respectable 18.4% since Feb. 1.
 

The Series Against Brown:

•  The Big Red has a commanding 79-43-8 lead in the all-time series with Brown. 
•  Though Cornell enters Friday's game on a 13-game unbeaten streak (10-0-3), the last meeting between the teams felt like a loss for the Big Red. Tristan Mullin and Mitch Vanderlaan both scored and assisted on each other's goals, then Matt Cairns pushed the visitors' lead to 3-0 before Brown surged back with three third-period goals in a span of 53 seconds to salvage a tie.


•  Cornell won this season's first meeting, 3-2, on Nov. 3 at Lynah Rink behind three second-period goals — including Michael Regush's first collegiate strike.


•  Mike Schafer is a dominating 37-7-6 against the Bears during his 24-plus seasons as the Big Red's head coach.
 

Postseason History vs. Brown:

•  Friday's game will be the 131st meeting all-time between the Big Red and the Bears, but just the sixth in the postseason. Cornell is 3-2 against Brown in the ECAC Hockey Championships.
•  The most recent meeting between the teams in the playoffs came in the 2010 semifinals in Albany, when Ben Scrivens '10 made 23 saves in a 3-0 shutout that preceded the team's last victory in the finals.
 

The First Program To 100 ECAC Hockey Championship Wins:

•  The Big Red now owns 113 victories in the ECAC Hockey Championship playoffs, which leads the league. 
•  Cornell has won eight games in the first round, 63 in the quarterfinals, one in the preliminary round of championship weekend, 22 in the semifinals, seven consolation games and 12 championships. 
•  Of note: Preliminaries and consolation games are no longer part of the ECAC Hockey playoff format.
 

Up Next:

•  The winner of tonight's game will advance to the ECAC Hockey Championship final at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Herb Brooks Arena. The other semifinal pits Clarkson against Harvard.
•  Cornell is also currently in contention for one of the 16 berths for the NCAA tournament. The selection show is scheduled for 7 p.m. Sunday, with regional play March 29-31 at sites in Allentown, Pa.; Fargo, N.D.; Manchester, N.H. and Providence, R.I.