POTSDAM, N.Y. — The Cornell men's hockey team concludes its unofficial first half of the season tonight with a clash against fellow ECAC Hockey contender Clarkson at Cheel Arena in Potsdam.

Game Information:

#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)
TICKETS: Clarkson Athletic Tickets
STATS: ClarksonAthletics.com
CORNELL GAME NOTES (PDF):  Full Midweek  |  Saturday Supplement

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.

Friday Night Redux:

•  Junior forward Matt Stienburg factored into all of Cornell's scoring in a 4-1 victory last night at St. Lawrence, assisting the first goal before rattling off a hat trick over an 18-minute span of the third period. It was the Big Red's third hat trick in just the first 10 games of the season.
•  For the full recap of Friday's game, click here.
•  With his second four-point effort in just the last five games, Stienburg also extended his scoring streak to nine straight games — the longest for the Big Red since Topher Scott '08 had points in nine straight from Nov. 4 to Dec. 2, 2006.
•  Junior forward Ben Berard tied the game at 1 with his sixth goal of the season, which was a team high until Stienburg's outburst in the third period. Berard's strike was a catalyst in getting the Big Red in gear after neither team found much traction through a scoreless first period.
•  "We got back to pursuing pucks and being above (St. Lawrence forwards) and getting our sticks down, just a little (bit) more hungry and more sense of urgency," said Mike Schafer '86, the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Men's Hockey at Cornell. "Hockey's not a very complicated game – I think if you don't bring urgency and you don't bring competitiveness, there's just a fine line with (finding) that edge. A lot of guys tried to find that tonight, and we had enough guys that found it and we were able to get the win."
•  Junior defenseman Travis Mitchell racked up a career-high three assists.
•  Senior goaltender Nate McDonald, making his first start since being named the ECAC Hockey MAC Goaltending Goalie of the Week on Nov. 22, stopped 19 of 20 shots to earn the victory and improve to a perfect 5-0 on the season.
•  Cornell ran its winning streak to seven straight games and — coupled with Harvard's 
2-0 loss to Brown on Friday — pulled into solo possession of first place in the ECAC Hockey standings.

Friday's Highlights:

About Clarkson:

•  The Golden Knights enter tonight on a seven-game unbeaten streak (though that includes a shootout loos Nov. 19 at Quinnipiac) after a 2-1 victory over visiting Colgate last night. Senior defenseman Brian Hurley opened the scoring in the first period and sophomore forward Alex Campbell provided the winner late in the second in front of 30 saves from sophomore goaltender Ethan Haider.
•  Clarkson rejoined the USCHO poll at #19 this week after a 1-1 tie and 3-0 victory last weekend at Wisconsin.
•  Haider (#47, 9-4-3, 1.80, .931, 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.
•  With his goal last night, Campbell (#11, 8-6–14; team-high 4 PPG) has moved into sole possession for leading scorer on the team. He's now also tied for the team lead in goals with graduate student forward Zach Tsekos (#17, 8-5–13; 3 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, 2-9–11) — 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.

PDF Game Notes:

•  For the Saturday supplement package, click here.
•  For full game notes prepared in advance of the weekend's games, click here.