Men's Hockey Returns Home to Face Yale, Brown in First Home Weekend Series

Mike Schafer '86
The Jay R. Bloom ‘77 Head Coach of Cornell Men’s Ice Hockey

THE PUCK DROP
• Coming off its six-game road trip to open the 2022-23 regular season, the Cornell men's hockey team returns to Lynah Rink for its first pair of home games when it welcomes Ivy League rivals Yale and Brown this weekend.

LYNAH FAITHFUL
• Playing at Lynah Rink in front of the Lynah Faithful has favored Cornell since Mike Schafer '86 took over as head coach prior to the 1995-96 season.

• Under Schafer, Cornell has a 261-102-48 record at Lynah Rink, good for a .693 win percentage. According to data from CollegeHockeyNews.com's database, the Big Red has the sixth-best home win percentage over the last 28-plus seasons.

• Only Michigan (.754), North Dakota (.726), Quinnipiac (.720), Boston College (.713), and Denver (.703) have higher win percentages on home ice than the Big Red.

• Over the last five-plus years, Cornell has been one of the more hostile places to play college hockey, as Cornell is 47-12-6 (.769), dating back to the 2017-18 season. Only Minnesota State (.887 — 89-10-3) and Denver (.770 — 64-16-9) have higher win percentages. Cornell is 22-4-5 at Lynah Rink over its last 31 games, dating back to the 2018-19 season.

WELCOME HOME!
• After playing its first six regular-season games on the road, Cornell will play its first two home games of the season this weekend.

• It is the fifth time in program history that the Big Red have played at least six games before having its home opener. The other four instances occurred in the 1912-13, 1939-40, 1959-60 and 2016-17 seasons.

• Both the 1912-13 and 1939-40 seasons featured seven road games played before its lone home game of their respective seasons on Beebe Lake, located next to the Cornell Botanic Gardens. The 1959-60 season had a program-record nine games away from Lynah Rink before its home opener on Jan. 16, 1960. Like this year, the 2016-17 season had six road games before its Nov. 18 home opener against Quinnipiac.

KILLING (PENALTY) TIME
• Cornell enters this weekend in the top 10 for top penalty killing units at the Division I level. After last weekend's games, the Big Red has the 10th-best penalty kill unit nationally, successfully killing 23 of its opponent's 27 power plays (85.2 percent).

• Of the teams currently ranking in the top-10 in penalty killing units, Cornell is currently scheduled to play Harvard (Dec. 2 at Lynah Rink and Jan. 28 at Bright-Landry Hockey Center) and UConn (Nov. 26 at Madison Square Garden).

• The four power-play goals allowed is tied with Ohio State, Michigan Tech, and Minnesota State for the third-fewest by a Division I program this season. Harvard (one goal) and Dartmouth (three goals) have allowed fewer goals when down a man.

PUTTING THE BODY ON THE LINE
• Cornell defensemen Travis Mitchell and Hank Kempf both rank in the top 10 in ECAC Hockey for blocked shots per game.

• Mitchell has blocked 13 shots over Cornell's first six games, good for fourth among ECAC players with an average of 2.17 blocks per game. Kempf is tied for fifth with his average of two blocked shots per game.

• The Big Red are just one of three ECAC Hockey programs to have multiple players in the top 10 in blocked shots, joined by Brown and Princeton.

ECAC ACTIVE LEADERS
• After spending his first three seasons at Union — a fellow ECAC school — junior Gabriel Seger has the fourth-most faceoff wins by an active player in the conference (583). Quinnipiac's Skyler Brind'Amour has the most with 1,002. Senior forward Max Andreev has won 513 draws, ranking as the sixth-most faceoffs won by an active ECAC player.

• The tandem of Seger and Andreev give Cornell a pair of players with at least 500 career faceoff wins, making the Big Red one of two teams in ECAC Hockey to accomplish the feat. Only Quinnipiac (Brind'Amour — 1,002 — and Desi Burgart — 731) is the other program.

• Along with being in the top 10 for most faceoffs won, Andreev is tied with Dartmouth's Tanner Palocsik for the fourth-most assists by an active ECAC player (39). Quinnipiac's Ethan de Jong has the conference's lead with 66 helpers.

• Fellow senior forward Ben Berard is tied with Clarkson's Alex Campbell for the eight-most goals scored by an active ECAC player with 22 career tallies. de Jong also has the active goals lead with 46 goals in 151 games. Berard also has the most hat tricks by an ECAC player with two.

• Cornell defensemen Travis Mitchell and Sam Malinski, along with Andreev, rank in the top 10 in highest plus-minus figures among active ECAC players.

• Andreev and Malinski are tied with Clarkon's Mathieu Gosselin for the fourth-highest plus-minus rating (plus-34).

• Malinski has the second-highest plus-minus rating by a defenseman, trailing Quinnipiac's Zach Metsa, who has an ECAC Hockey-leading plus-65 rating. Mitchell is tied with Harvard blueliner Henry Thrun for the third-highest rating by a defenseman.

• Of the forwards currently listed in the top 10, Andreev and Gosselin are tied for the third-highest rating by a forward. Only Quinnipiac's Ethan de Jong (plus-50) and Michael Lombardi (plus-48) having higher career plus-minus ratings.

ECAC PRESEASON POLL
• ECAC Hockey announced Sept. 21 during its annual Media Day call that the Cornell hockey team was slated to finish fourth.

• Quinnipiac was dubbed the preseason favorite after receiving eight first-place votes, finishing with 118 points. Harvard received the remaining four first-place votes, logging a 109-point total. Clarkson was the only other program to have a point total over the century mark (105).

• Cornell followed Clarkson with its 90 points, while Colgate finished in fifth with 77 points. RPI (70), St. Lawrence (57), and Union (45), Dartmouth (43), Yale (32), Brown (26), and Princeton (20) rounded out the poll.

LEADERSHIP GROUP ANNOUNCED
• Senior defensemen Sam Malinski and Travis Mitchell were named co-captains, while fifth-year forward Max Andreev and senior forward Matt Stienburg were tabbed co-alternate captains on Sept. 29.

• All four players are assuming leadership roles for the first time with the Cornell hockey program.

ABOUT YALE
• Yale enters the weekend with a 1-5-0 record on the year. All six games have been ECAC contests.

• The Bulldogs have been shutout in each of its last four games and have not scored over its last 249:28 of game action. It is the third time in Yale's history that they have been shutout in at least three consecutive games (1908-09 and 1920-21 — three-game streaks).

• Nathan Reid has been strong between the pipes for the Bulldogs this season, registering a .924 save percentage, which ranks third in ECAC Hockey.

• Briggs Gammill, Connor Sullivan, and David Chen all have a Yale-leading two points so far on the year. Gammill and Sullivan have a goal and an assist, while Chen has two helpers on the year.

THE SERIES
• Friday will be the 160th all-time meeting between the pair of Ancient Eight rivals. Cornell leads the series, 89-62-8, and is unbeaten in 15 of its last 20 against Yale (12-5-3).

• Cornell has dominated Yale as of late, winning the last four games in the series and outscoring the Bulldogs by a 16-2 margin. The Big Red has shutout the Bulldogs in the last three meetings, dating back to the 2019-20 season.

• The Big Red is 7-2-1 in its last 10 against Yale at Lynah Rink and has won its last four over the Bulldogs at home.

• Friday will mark the third time in Cornell history that it is playing Yale in its home opener. The other instances came in 1959-60 (1/16/60) and 2002-03 (11/8/02).

THE LAST TIME AGAINST YALE
RECAP | BOX SCORE

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (JAN. 31, 2022) – The Cornell men's hockey team wrapped up a grueling stretch of eight straight games away from home with a 3-0 victory over Yale on Saturday at Ingalls Rink. Freshman goaltender Ian Shane continued the torrid start to his collegiate career with 18 saves for his first shutout.
 
Junior forward Jack Malone paced the offense with a goal and an assist, while junior forward Ben Tupker and sophomore forward Kyle Penney provided first-period goals for Cornell (12-3-1, 7-1-1 ECAC Hockey). The Big Red wrapped up its two-month trek away from Lynah Rink with a 5-2-1 record over that span, and it ran its unbeaten streak within ECAC Hockey play to eight straight games.

ABOUT BROWN
• Brown enters the weekend with a 1-4-1 overall record, which is identical to its ECAC Hockey mark.

• The Bears are currently on a four-game winless streak (0-3-1), which features a shootout victory over Dartmouth on Nov. 5.

• Cole Quisenberry has four points (two goals, two assists) to pace Brown's offense. James Crossman (two goals) is the only other Bear with multiple goals on the year.

• Mathieu Caron has been the Bears' go-to goaltender this year, having played all 362:11 that Brown has played. Caron has a 2.48 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage.

THE SERIES
• Saturday will be the 135th all-time meeting between Cornell and Brown. The Big Red own the series lead, 82-44-8, including a 44-15-4 mark at Lynah Rink against its Ivy League foe.

• Cornell had its 17-game unbeaten streak snapped last year with the Big Red's 2-1 loss to Brown at Meehan Auditorium.

• Over the previous 36 meetings against Brown, Cornell has dominated the series by posting a 27-6-3 record over the Bears.

• It will be third time the two teams are playing on Nov. 19, and will be the second time in as many years. Cornell lost the first meeting on the date to Brown, 4-2, in 1994, before posting a 3-2 overtime victory last year at Lynah Rink.

THE LAST TIME AGAINST BROWN
RECAP | BOX SCORE

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (FEB. 1, 2022) — Freshman forward Ondrej Psenicka scored his ninth goal of the season to give the Cornell men's hockey team some late hope in Tuesday's matinee against Brown, but the Bears staved off a late flurry around their goal mouth to hang on for a 2-1 victory at Meehan Auditorium.

ANDREEV LOGS THREE POINTS, LEADS BIG RED TO WIN OVER ST. LAWRENCE

RECAP I BOX SCORE
CANTON, N.Y. (NOV. 11, 2022) – Senior Max Andreev scored two power-play goals, and the Cornell men's hockey team netted the game's final four goals, aiding the Big Red to a 5-1 victory over St. Lawrence in a physical ECAC Hockey contest at Appleton Arena on Friday night.

Joining Andreev in the scoring column was freshman Nick DeSantis, sophomore Kyler Kovich, and senior Sam Malinski.

DeSantis' marker was the first of his collegiate career.

Sophomore goaltender Ian Shane made 21 saves to guide Cornell (2-3-0, 2-1-0 ECAC) to its second conference victory of the season.

SPECIAL TEAMS LEADS CLARKSON TO WIN OVER BIG RED

RECAP I BOX SCORE 

POTSDAM, N.Y. (NOV. 12, 2022) – Ayrton Martino had his two goals bookended by a pair of Clarkson power-play goals, leading the host Golden Knights to a 4-1 victory over the Cornell men's hockey team in a spirited and physical ECAC Hockey game at Cheel Arena on Saturday night.

Zach Tupker scored the lone goal for the Big Red (2-4-0, 2-2-0 ECAC) and Remington Keopple stopped all six shots he faced in relief of Ian Shane, who started the game and made seven saves.

2022-23 Roster

If you’ve never been to a Big Red hockey game at Cornell’s James Lynah Rink, there are quite a few things you’ve never experienced. You’ve never camped out in line just to get season tickets and ensure your spot as one of the raucous and devoted "Lynah Faithful." But most importantly, if you’ve never been to Lynah, you’ve never really experienced all the best that college hockey has to offer.

Lynah Rink, which turned 65 years old in 2022, is the home of Big Red hockey. The rink, which was dedicated April 6, 1957, was named in honor of the late James Lynah (class of 1905), director of athletics at Cornell from 1935-43.

• Cornell will entertain Sacred Heart on Tuesday, Nov. 22 in the Big Red's first non-conference home game of the season. Puck drop between the Pioneers and Big Red is slated for 7 p.m. Game action will be broadcast on ESPN+.

• The meeting with Sacred Heart will be Cornell's first since Jan. 6, 2007. Sacred Heart leads the series, 2-1, with all three previous meeting occurring at Lynah Rink. Cornell's lone victory in the series came on Oct. 30, 2004, as future NHLer Matt Moulson scored twice and was one of five Big Red player to register multi-point nights in a 7-1 victory.

• It will be Cornell's first game against an opponent from Atlantic Hockey since defeating Canisius, 6-2, on Dec. 30, 2017 at Lynah Rink. Cornell will also host AIC, another Atlantic Hockey opponent, later this year (Dec. 29-30).