SCHENECTADY, N.Y. — The Cornell men's hockey team wraps up a stretch of seven straight games and 11 of its first 15 games away from home when it takes on Union at 7 p.m. Saturday at Messa Rink. The game will be broadcast by the host school on ESPN+ in the U.S. There is also an option for international viewers also available through Stretch Internet. Featuring the call of Jason Weinstein, the game can also be heard on WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM) and worldwide through the station's website.

Game Information:

#2 Cornell at Union
7 p.m. EST Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020
PLACE: Messa Rink  •  Schenectady, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 12-1-1, 8-1 ECAC Hockey;
                    Union 6-15-1, 4-7 ECAC Hockey
BROADCAST: ESPN+
RADIO: WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM)
LIVE STATS: UnionAthletics.com
TICKETS: UnionAthletics.com
WEEKEND GAME NOTES (PDF): Cornell | Union

Friday Night Redux:

•  Cornell hit full flight off the hop Friday, dominating Rensselaer in the first period before eventually building a big lead and staving off the hosts for a 3-0 victory at Houston Field House in Troy. Junior goaltender Matthew Galajda made 25 saves for his second shutout of the season and 16th of his collegiate career.
•  Junior forward Tristan Mullin opened the scoring with his fourth goal of the year and team-leading third strike on the power play. The Big Red is now 3-for-6 over the last three games on the man advantage following an 0-for-18 skid to close out the first semester.
•  Junior forward Brenden Locke scored the Big Red's second goal in the eighth minute of the second period, converting from the slot after junior forward Cam Donaldson beat a defender and two backcheckers while drawing the RPI goalie to the ice before passing off to Locke. Mullin and Locke both had two points on the night, assisting on each other's goals. 
•  Senior forward Jeff Malott then closed the scoring just before the game's midway point, smashing in a rebound after a shot from the point by freshman defenseman Travis Mitchell hit a skate near the goal mouth.

The First Half:

•  With tonight's game marking the midway point of the regular season, Cornell leads the nation in winning percentage (.893) at this point for the second time in the last three seasons.
•  The win last night at RPI pushed the Big Red to 12-1-1 overall and 8-1 in ECAC Hockey, which keeps Cornell tied with Clarkson atop the league standings — though the Big Red has a game in hand.
•  Coupled with North Dakota's home loss to Omaha, Cornell's victory last night has moved it up to first in the Pairwise Comparison Ratings. The Big Red entered the weekend ranked second in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine national polls.
•  The Big Red was the last team in the nation to suffer its first loss, rattling off 10 consecutive wins to start the year before a 2-1 loss Dec. 7 at Dartmouth.

Highlights From Friday's Win at RPI:

By The Numbers:

•  The Big Red ranks second in the country in team defense (1.36 goals against per game) and tied for fifth in offense (3.71 goals per game). That leads to the nation's best scoring margin (+2.36).
•  For the first time in the program's modern-era history, Cornell has not surrendered more than two goals in its first 14 games of the season. Not only is the Big Red the last remaining team in the nation yet to yield three goals in a game, it's also the last remaining team yet to concede four.
•  After producing one goal on two chances last night, the Big Red now ranks fourth in the nation with a 28.3% success rate on the power play.
•  One of the keys to Cornell's hot start has been its ability to play with the lead. The Big Red has scored first in each of its last 11 victories and it has only trailed for a total of 16 minutes, 5 seconds in its 12 victories.
•  The Big Red has scored 27 of its 52 goals in second periods this year. That's an average of 1.93 goals per middle stanza, which by a wide margin leads the country for any period. The next closest is Minnesota State's average of 1.65 goals per third period.

The Red's Barron:

•  Junior forward Morgan Barron (9-8–17) leads the team in scoring and 53 shots on goal. He ranks third in ECAC Hockey and 15th in the nation with an average of 1.21 points per game.
•  Barron pulled off the heroics needed to salvage a 2-2 tie with Providence last Saturday, scoring the tying goal on a one-timer from the right circle with 1:12 left in the third period. It marked the first time in 114 games the Big Red scored a goal with its goalie pulled in favor of an extra attacker, dating back to a goal from Mitch Vanderlaan '19 on Oct. 28, 2016 at Merrimack.
•  Barron became the first Cornell men's hockey player with at least 12 points through six games since Matt Moulson '06 and Ryan Vesce '04 both did so in the 2003-04 campaign.
•  A sixth-round draft pick of the New York Rangers, Barron was named to the All-ECAC Hockey first team last season after leading the squad with 34 points on 15 goals and 19 assists. He was tabbed a Preseason All-ECAC Hockey selection in September.

The New BBC Line:

•  Junior forward Brenden Locke (6-8–14) ranks second on the team in scoring, and his plus-16 rating ranks tied for seventh in the country. Locke's six goals have come on just 14 shots on target, giving him a national-best average of .429 goals per shot on the frame.
•  Locke traditionally centers a line with freshman Ben Berard (3-6–9) and junior Cam Donaldson (2-11–13) on the wings, dubbed the BBC Line in reference to an acronym of the trio's first names.
•  Donaldson's highlight-reel assist of Locke's goal last night gives him 0.92 assists per game, which ranks 10th in the country 

Forward Thinking:

•  Sophomore forward Michael Regush (5-4–9) ranks third on the team in goal-scoring after netting 12 goals in his collegiate debut.
•  Junior forward Tristan Mullin (4-3–7) is tied for fourth on the team in goals, but leads the lead with three goals on the power play. Senior forward Jeff Malott (4-4–8) also scored his fourth goal of the season last night.

More Than Just Defense:

•  Junior defenseman Alex Green (3-8–11, plus-11), a fourth-round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning, has already more than doubled his point production from an injury-riddled sophomore campaign.
•  Tied with Green for the team lead in scoring from the blue line is Yanni Kaldis (2-9–11), the team's leading active scorer with 72 collegiate points. The three-time selection to the All-Ivy League first team was also a Preseason All-ECAC Hockey selection in September.
•  Travis Mitchell (2-7–9, plus-14) and Sam Malinski (2-7–9, plus-11) are tied for fifth nationally in scoring for freshman defenseman with an average of 0.64 points per game. Malinski's 35 shots on goal are second-most on the team, and Mitchell's rating is best among all of the nation's freshman defensemen.

Goaltending, Inc.:

•  Junior goaltender Matthew Galajda (12-1-1, 1.36, .944) ranks second in the nation in both goals against average and save percentage, having surrendered just eight even-strength goals through 14 games.
•  Galajda has returned to form after sophomore season was cut short by multiple injuries. As a freshman, he was a Hobey Baker Memorial Award finalist, a Mike Richter Award finalist, a first-team All-American, the ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Year and Ivy League Player of the Year.
•  Last night's shutout at RPI was the 16th of Galajda's collegiate career, which keeps him third in program history behind just 19 from Ben Scrivens '10 and 18 from David McKee (2003-06).
•  The Big Red has the rare claim of two all-league goaltenders from a season ago in Galajda and classmate Austin McGrath. Though McGrath hasn't appeared yet this season, he was an All-Ivy League first-team selection last year.

Honor Roll:

•  Cornell laid claim to five of ECAC Hockey's weekly awards over its first five weeks of the season and two monthly awards for November. Junior Matthew Galajda was named the league's goalie of the month and freshman defenseman Sam Malinski was tabbed rookie of the month.
•  Three of the team's five weekly honors to date were rookies of the week. Malinski earned the accolade after each of his first two weekends in the collegiate ranks (Nov. 4, Nov. 11), then freshman forward Ben Berard claimed it Nov. 25 after scoring his first collegiate goal two days earlier against Princeton. 

The Twin Tradition:

•  The arrival of freshmen Ben and Zach Tupker give the Big Red its fourth pair of twins in Mike Schafer's 25-year tenure as the program's head coach. The others were the Devins (Joe and Mike, 2007-11), the Abbotts (Chris and Cam, 2001-06), and the McRaes (Mark and Matt, 1999-2003). 

Feel The Draft?:

•  Cornell has six players on the roster who have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft — at least one in each of the last five drafts. Freshman forward Matt Stienburg (Colorado Avalanche) was selected earliest in that group, having been taken in the third round with the 63rd overall pick in June.
•  Junior defenseman Matt Cairns (Edmonton Oilers) was also taken in the third round with the 84th overall pick in the 2016 draft. Classmate Alex Green was taken with an overaged selection by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2018 draft, and Misha Song (2015 sixth round, New York Islanders) gives the Big Red blue line three NHL picks.
•  Two sixth-round picks also give Cornell three NHL picks when joined by Stienburg. Junior Morgan Barron, a fellow St. Andrew's graduate, was snagged in the sixth round by the N.Y. Rangers in 2017. Freshman Jack Malone was taken by the Vancouver Canucks in the sixth round last summer.

Scouting Union:

•  The Dutchmen fell to 6-16-1 overall and 4-8 in ECAC Hockey in gut-wrenching fashion on Friday night, when Colgate rallied from a two-goal deficit and scored the winner on a controversial penalty shot with just 1:11 to play in the third period at Messa Rink. 
•  Freshman defenseman Dylan Anhorn (3-4–7) and sophomore forward Parker Foo (1-0–1) scored power-play goals for Union during the first period before the Raiders' rally. Junior goaltender Darion Hanson (6-15-1, 2.64, .911, 2 SO) made 25 saves in the loss.
•  Union split its games in the North Country last weekend, rallying for a 5-4 overtime victory on Friday at St. Lawrence before being blanked the next night in a 2-0 loss to Clarkson. Even with last night's loss, the Dutchmen are 4-4-1 over their last nine games.
•  The Dutchmen rank second-to-last in the nation with an average of 1.68 goals per game. The win over St. Lawrence marked just the second time in 22 games that Union scored at least four goals.
•  Senior forward Anthony Rinaldi (4-11–15) leads the team in scoring, and his 66 shots on goal are more than double posted by all but three others on the team. He typically plays on the right wing of a line centered by freshman Gabriel Seger (2-9–11).
•  Junior forward Sean Harrison (4-4–8) is tied with Rinaldi for the team lead in goal-scoring.
•  Hanson has started all 22 of the team's games in goal. He serves as a co-captain alongside junior defenseman Vas Kolias (1-5–6).
•  Union has played opponents even in first periods, 14-14, but the Dutchmen have been outscored 45-21 over the next 40 minutes of games.
•  Rick Bennett is in his ninth season as the head coach at Union.

The Series Against Union:

•  Cornell holds a 43-22-9 lead in the all-time series and is 9-2-1 in the last 12 meetings between the squads – including two victories in a best-of-three ECAC Hockey Championship quarterfinal series last March.
•  In the teams' 14 meetings spanning the last four seasons, Cornell's power play is 15-for-51 (29.4%) against Union. While the Dutchmen's power play is 13-for-55 (23.6%) against Cornell over the same span, the Big Red was a perfect 18-for-18 on the penalty kill against the Dutchmen in five games last year.

Rare Territory:

•  Freshman forward Jack Malone is doing something that no Cornell men's hockey player has done in more than 50 years — wear #13. The perceived unluckiest of numbers has only been donned by five previous members of the Big Red, all in the first nine years of the program's resurrection in 1957. The last to wear 13 was James Wallace during the 1965-66 season. The number must not be too unlucky, though. Malone scored in his first collegiate game; a goal that was also the team's first of the season.

Two Crowns Down:

•  Cornell won the program's 23rd Ivy League championship last year, marking the Big Red's second straight Ivy crown and its 19th outright title. Cornell is 20-3-3 in its last 26 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.

First Ivy League Coach To 400:

•  Already the winningest coach in program history and in Ivy League history, Mike Schafer '86 ranks fifth among active coaches with 469 victories at the Division I level. He also leads all actives coaches of Cornell's 37 varsity teams in career victories.

Up Next:

•  Cornell wraps up the non-league portion of its schedule when it returns home for the first time in eight weeks, welcoming Northern Michigan for a two-game series Jan. 17-18 at Lynah Rink.