ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell men's hockey team wraps up its unofficial first half of the season with the first two games of eight straight on the road when it travels to the North Country for games at 7 p.m. Friday against St. Lawrence and 7 p.m. Saturday at Clarkson.

Game Information:

#9 Cornell at St. Lawrence
SITE: Appleton Arena — Canton, N.Y. 
TIME: 7 p.m. Friday, December 3 
BROADCAST: ESPN+
RADIO: WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM)
STATS: SaintsAthletics.com
TICKETS: SaintsAthletics.com
GAME NOTES (PDF): Cornell  |  St. Lawrence

#9 Cornell at #19 Clarkson
SITE: Cheel Arena — Potsdam, N.Y. 
TIME: 7 p.m. Saturday, December 4 
BROADCAST: ESPN+
RADIO: WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM)
STATS: ClarksonAthletics.com
TICKETS: Clarkson Athletics Tickets
GAME NOTES (PDF): Cornell  |  Clarkson

How To Watch:

•  The games will be broadcast on ESPN+ in the U.S. (with an option for international viewers also available through Stretch Internet). 
•  The games can also be heard on WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM) with Jason Weinstein in his 17th season on play-by-play.

Big Red Rewind:

•  Cornell enters the weekend with the best winning percentage in the country (.889), pushing its record to 8-1 after capturing its third consecutive Red Hot Hockey title last Saturday with a 6-4 victory over Boston University at Madison Square Garden.
•  Senior forward Brenden Locke and junior defenseman Sam Malinski had a goal and an assist apiece, and the Big Red had six different goal-scorers in front of freshman Joe Howe's 27 saves to earn the victory.
•  Freshman forward Kyler Kovich opened the scoring, marking the fourth time in Cornell's last five games in New York that one its players scored their first collegiate goal at The World's Most Famous Arena.
•  Junior forward Matt Stienburg assisted on Kovich's goal to extend his scoring streak to eight games, having racked up all 13 of his points over that span. He's the first member of the Big Red to have at least point in eight straight games since defenseman Patrick McCarron '17 from Nov. 5-Dec. 2, 2016. 
•  Thanks to BU's late comeback attempt, Cornell was outshot for the first time this season. Freshman Joe Howe made 27 saves to earn the victory in his return to the lineup after missing the previous weekend. 

Red Hot Hockey Highlights:

By The Numbers:

•  Senior forward Max Andreev (#15, 5-8–12, plus-11) and junior forward Matt Stienburg (#20, 5-8–13, plus-11) share the team lead in scoring and rating. The duo has played on the same line in every game to date, with freshman forward Ondrej Psenicka (#26, 5-1–6, plus-10) joining them for the last several games. Psenicka has four goals over the last five games.
•  Joining the aforementioned line for the team's goal-scoring lead is junior forward Ben Berard (#29, 5-3–8), who closed the Big Red's side of the scoring at MSG. Berard recorded his second collegiate hat trick Nov. 6 at Dartmouth.
•  Junior Sam Malinski (#24, 2-5–7) had the game-winning goal on an unassisted, three-zone run rush against BU, joining sophomore Tim Rego (#12, 2-5–7) for the team's lead in scoring from the blue line.
•  Cornell has deployed 21 different players among its 19 skaters on any given night. Twenty of those 21 players have recorded at least one point.
•  The Big Red has won two games in the same season in which at least 10 goals have been scored for the first time since 1999-2000 (10-4 and 8-3 wins over Clarkson).

No Experience Required:

•  Freshman Joe Howe (#34, 4-1, 2.20, .909, SO) and senior Nate McDonald (#33, 4-0, 1.98 .907) have shared starts in goal this season after the Big Red entered the season with zero varsity collegiate experience within its goaltending corps for the first time since the 1983-84 season.
•  Howe ranks third nationally in goals against average among freshmen goaltenders. By making 20 saves Oct. 30 against Alaska, Howe became the first Cornell freshman goaltender to earn a shutout in his collegiate debut since the aforementioned 1983-84 season, when Don Fawcett '87 blanked Wilfrid Laurier (while Mike Schafer '86 was a sophomore on the blue line).
•  McDonald — the lone incumbent among the Big Red's goaltending trio who backed up All-American Matthew Galajda '21 and All-Ivy League first-teamer Austin McGrath '21 for his first two seasons at Cornell — was named the ECAC Hockey MAC Goaltending Goalie of the Week after his last outings, stopping 44 of 46 shots in Nov. 19-20 victories over Brown and Yale. 
•  McDonald has the unique distinction of becoming the first goaltender in modern program history to make his collegiate debut as a senior, making 21 saves to earn the overtime victory over Alaska on Oct. 29.

A Night To Remember:

•  Last Saturday's 11-3 victory over Rensselaer created a long list of occurrences that had not been achieved by the Big Red in a long time. Among them:
    »    Cornell scored at least 10 goals for the first time since Nov. 20, 1999 (10-4 vs. Clarkson).
    »    Cornell scored 11 goals for the first time since Feb. 21, 1979 (11-3 vs. Harvard).
    »    Andreev's six points were the most for a Big Red player in a single game since Ryan Vesce '04 had seven on Nov. 8, 2003 (7-0 at Princeton).
    »    Andreev's four goals were the most for a Big Red player in a single game since Ryan Hughes '93 on Jan. 29, 1991 (5-4 loss vs. Boston College).
    »    Cornell scored at least 15 goals in a two-game span for the first time since March 8-9, 1996 (both games vs. Colgate, 8-3 and 8-1).
    »    Cornell scored at least 11 goals in a single game against Rensselaer for the second time in 115 all-time meetings (the other was 13-1 on Feb. 16, 1924).

The League Within The League:

•  With a Nov. 20 win over Yale, Cornell not only moved into solo possession of first place in ECAC Hockey, it also moved the Big Red atop the Ivy League standings. Cornell is 27-4-4 in its last 34 Ivy League contests, and — despite the early end to the 2019-20 season — it had already laid claim to its third straight and 20th overall Ivy League title. Harvard has since moved into a tie for first in both leagues with a Nov. 23 win vs. Brown.

Deep Up The Middle:

•  The Big Red rebounded from a rough opening weekend on draws, having won 58.6% of faceoffs over its seven November games. That pulls Cornell up to fourth in the country with a 55.6% success rate on the season.
•  That number exceeds what Cornell posted in 2019-20, when it was tied for 13th in the nation and third among ECAC Hockey programs at 52.5%.

Flair For The Dramatic:

•  No one on the Big Red's roster had won a collegiate game in overtime before Oct. 29-30, but they were all been a part of two such victories in a span of just around 24 hours. 
•  With the caveat that college hockey's modified overtime rules encourage more scoring, Cornell's sweep of Alaska last weekend marks the program's first consecutive extra-session victories since March 10-11, 2006 — a pair of double-overtime wins over Clarkson to earn a sweep in an ECAC Hockey Championship quarterfinal series.

Paring Down The Pairwise:

•  If not for the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cornell was a shoo-in to earn a berth to the NCAA tournament for a fourth consecutive season in 2019-20. That feat has only happened once in program history — a stretch from 1967 to 1970 that was book-ended by a pair of national championships.
•  The numbers bear out Cornell's standing as one of the nation's elite programs. The Big Red's season-ending average Pairwise Ratings Index scores over its last three seasons is 5.7. For comparison, that numbers ranks: 
    »    second in the country (trailing just Minnesota State, 3.7)
    »    first among ECAC Hockey programs (Clarkson 8.0, Quinnipiac 18.3, etc.)
    »    first among Ivy League programs (Harvard 22.7, Yale 36.0, etc.)

The First Ivy League Coach to 400 Wins:

•  Already the winningest coach in program history and in Ivy League history, Mike Schafer '86 ranks fifth among active coaches with 489 victories at the Division I level. He also leads all active coaches of Cornell's 37 varsity teams in career victories.

About St. Lawrence:

•  The defending ECAC Hockey champions have slipped to 3-6-4 and are on a three-game losing streak — though the defeats have come at the hands of top-10 teams. The Saints' last ECAC Hockey game was an 8-0 loss Nov. 20 at Quinnipiac, then they were swept at home last weekend by Western Michigan, 8-2 and 5-1.  
•  St. Lawrence entered last weekend ranked 12th nationally on the penalty kill, but it was torched for six goals by high-powered Western Michigan in just 12 power-play chances. The Saints still have ECAC Hockey's best PK in league games at 90%.
•  On the other side of the coin, SLU's power play has struggled this season with just a 3.9% success rate overall and an 0-for-19 mark in ECAC Hockey games.
•  Both of the team's power-play goals to date have come from senior forward Kaden Pickering (#18, 4-2–6), who also leads the team in total goals, shots on goal (40) and is in a four-way tie for the team scoring lead. 
•  Though the Saints have frequently shuffled their lines, Pickering is often on the opposite wing of one of those other leading scorers — freshman Chris Pappas (#26, 2-4–6).
•  Senior Emil Zetterquist (#1, 3-5-4, 3.02, .893) has started 12 of 13 games in goal. He was the lone goaltender on the preseason All-ECAC Hockey selection after posting a 2.35 goals against average and .928 save percentage in 2020-21.
•  Brent Brekke — who was an assistant coach under Schafer at Cornell from 1999-2008 — is in his third season as the head coach at St. Lawrence.

The Series With St. Lawrence

•  In a series that began during the 1926-27 campaign, Cornell holds a 66-45-8 all-time lead against St. Lawrence. 
•  The Big Red enters Friday on an eight-game winning streak and an 14-4-1 record over the last 19 in the series.
•  Cornell's two victories against St. Lawrence during the 2019-20 season came via five-goal margins, including a 6-1 decision in its visit to Canton — though that game was contested at SUNY Canton while renovations were in progress at Appleton Arena. Forward Brenden Locke led the offensive charge with a goal and two assists.
•  Forward Max Andreev then had a goal and two assists in the rematch, which proved to be a 5-0 final and a third straight shutout for Matthew Galajda '21.

About Clarkson:

•  The Golden Knights have rejoined the USCHO poll at #19 after a 1-1 tie and 3-0 victory last weekend at Wisconsin, officially entering this weekend on a six-game unbeaten streak (though that includes a shootout loss Nov. 19 at Quinnipiac).
•  Sophomore goaltender Ethan Haider (#47, 8-4-3, 1.85, .928, 2 SO) is the reigning ECAC Hockey MAC Goaltending Goalie of the Week after stopping 64 of 65 shots against the Badgers. He's a fifth-round draft pick of the Nashville Predators.
•  Graduate student forward Zach Tsekos (#17, 8-5–13; 3 PPG) leads the team in goals and is tied for the team lead in scoring with sophomore forward Alex Campbell (#11, 7-6–13; team-high 4 PPG).
•  Like Tsekos, graduate student Lukas Kaelble (#2, 3-9–12) is a transfer, having played the previous four seasons at Lake Superior. He leads the team's defensemen in scoring, often paired with senior Michael Underwood (#5, 0-2–2).
•  Only three freshmen have seen the ice for Clarkson, including forward Ayrton Martino (#15, 2-8–10) — named ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week on Monday.
•  Casey Jones '90 is in his 11th season as the head coach at Clarkson after serving as the associate head coach at Cornell from 2008-11.

The Series With Clarkson:

•  The Big Red owns a 68-56-19 record against the Golden Knights after sweeping the two games during the 2019-20 season.
•  In Cornell's last visit to Potsdam, it skated away with a 4-2 victory on Nov. 15 in Potsdam. The teams split just three power plays for the entire night, and current junior defenseman Travis Mitchell opened the scoring with his first collegiate goal.
•  The rematch proved to be among the most memorable moments of a storied season, with Cornell scoring five unanswered goals for a 5-1 victory that capped the regular season. Ben Berard punctuated the night by completing a hat trick with 9.4 seconds left.
•  That game left the Big Red cruising into the postseason on a nine-game winning streak and atop both major national polls — but it also proved to be the team's final game before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic that washed out the postseason.
•  Cornell is 13-7-6 against Clarkson since Casey Jones '90 became head coach.

Don't Forget ...

•  Despite the early end to the 2019-20 season, Cornell had already laid claim to its third straight and 20th overall Ivy League title. Entering this weekend's games against Brown and Yale, the Big Red is 25-4-4 in its last 32 Ivy League contests.

The Twin Tradition:

•  Juniors Ben and Zach Tupker give the Big Red its fourth pair of twins in Mike Schafer's 27-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 four players on the roster who have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft, with the program laying claim to at least one selection in six of the last seven 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.
•  Another St. Andrew's College product, freshman forward Justin Ertel, was also selected in the third round of the draft. The Dallas Stars selected the budding power forward with the 79th overall pick last summer.
•  Junior forward Jack Malone was taken by the Vancouver Canucks in the sixth round in 2019, and freshman defenseman Hank Kempf was taken in the seventh round last summer by the New York Rangers.

Rare Territory:

•  Freshman goaltender Joe Howe is doing something that no Cornell men's hockey player has ever done before — wearing #34. It is the 36th number to be worn by a member of the Big Red, and currently only the second to be worn by just one player (fellow goaltender Eddie Skazyk '96 is the only to have worn #39).
•  Junior forward Jack Malone is the first Cornell men's hockey player to wear #13 in more than 50 years. 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.

Looking Ahead:

•  Cornell takes a four-week break for final exams and the holidays before reconvening for its final four non-conference games of the season — all coming within a nine-day road trip.
•  The Big Red opens the trip Jan. 1-2 with the program's first-ever games at Arizona State before switching climates for two games Jan. 7-8 at North Dakota.