ITHACA, N.Y. – Senior defensemen Travis Mitchell and Sam Malinski combined to score all three goals for the No. 11-ranked Cornell men's hockey team in its 3-1 victory over RPI at Lynah Rink on Friday night.

Malinski extended his point streak to nine games as his goal was bookended by Mitchell's two tallies, which served as his first career
multi-goal game while donning the Carnellian Red.

Cornell held RPI in check throughout the night in the shots column, posting a 26-12 advantage in shots on goal.

Sophomore goaltender Ian Shane made 11 saves in between the pipes for the Big Red (14-7-1, 11-4-0 ECAC).

T.J. Walsh scored the lone marker for RPI (10-16-1, 5-10-0 ECAC), while Brett Miller stopped 24 shots in the setback.

"We had a lot of opportunities tonight. I thought their goaltender played well in net," said Mike Schafer '86, the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Men's Hockey. "Our penalty kill was good. I thought we played a solid game and only gave up 12 shots. Anytime you do that you're going to win a lot of hockey games."

How It Happened

Mitchell opened the scoring in the opening five minutes when he capitalized on the rebound of a shot by fellow blueliner Tim Rego. Miller made the save with his right pad, but the rebound went out to the left faceoff circle where Mitchell sent his shot past the Engineers goaltender.

Walsh tied the game up with a power-play marker not even a minute following Mitchell's tally. Max Smolinski and Austin Heidemann were credited with the assists.

Malinski gave Cornell the lead again just over the halfway point of the opening period, one-timing a pass in the mid slot from fellow senior Max Andreev. Sophomore defenseman Michael Suda also assisted on the goal, as he jammed the puck out of the corner to Andreev.

The second goal of the night for Mitchell came in the second period when he receiving a pass from senior forward Ben Berard. Mitchell wristed a shot, also from the mid slot, over Miller's right shoulder.

Both teams struggled offensively over the final 20 minutes of play, combining for six shots on goal in the frame.

RPI had an opportunity to cut into the Big Red's lead with a power play late in the third period. After calling their timeout, the Engineers pulled their goaltender to make the power play into a 6-on-4 situation. Cornell, however, limited RPI's power play to just one shot attempt, which was a crucial block by Mitchell.

"Our team takes pride in [blocking shots]," Mitchell said. "We're always blocking shots, always trying to help Ian in net. He makes a lot of great saves for us, so we can put our body on the line. At the end of the day, you do it for all the guys on the bench. Anyone would get down to block that shot."

Game Notes

• Friday was the 118th all-time meeting between the two Empire State programs. Cornell improved to 68-39-11 against RPI and has won five of the last six in the series.

• The two-goal margin of victory marked the 12th time in the last 15 meetings between the Big Red and Engineers in which a contest was decided by two goals or less.

• Malinski extended his point streak to nine games, becoming the sixth Cornell player (seventh occurrence) under Mike Schafer '86 to register a nine-game point streak.

• His nine-game point streak is tied for the third-longest by a Big Red player under Schafer, joining Kyle Knopp (9 games in 1996-97), Matt Moulson (9 games in 2003-04), Mike Knoepfli (9 games in 2004-05), and Topher Scott (9 games in 2006-07). Matt Stienburg (11 games last year) and Moulson (10 games in 2005-06) are the lone players with longer streaks.

• The streak for Malinski remains the second-longest active streak by a defenseman in Division I hockey as Boston University's freshman defenseman Lane Hutson recorded four assists in the Terriers' 5-3 win over Maine on Friday. Hutson now has a point in each of his last 10 contests.

Looking Ahead

Cornell continues its three-game homestand at Lynah Rink on Saturday when it welcomes Union for a 7 p.m. puck drop. Game action will be broadcast on ESPN+ and on WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM).