ITHACA, N.Y. — For the 39th time in program history, the Cornell men's hockey team is headed to the semifinals of the ECAC Hockey Championship.

A two-point night by senior Jack Malone, and goals by sophomore Ondrej Psenicka and senior Max Andreev, aided the No. 12-ranked Cornell men's hockey team to a 3-1 victory over No. 6-seeded Clarkson before 3,935 at Lynah Rink on Saturday night, sweeping the best-of-three quarterfinal round.

The No. 3-seeded Big Red, with its quarterfinal victory, will travel to Lake Placid next weekend to play in the ECAC semifinals for the first time since the 2018-19 season.

"We've been through so much over the last four years with this group of guys," said Mike Schafer '86, the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Men's Ice Hockey. "I thought about it a lot over the last couple of weeks. These guys were a group of freshmen sitting on the verge of having this kind of experience and everything blew up. I'm happy for these group of guys — the seniors especially — to overcome the adversity and get to Lake Placid."

Sophomore goaltender Ian Shane made 22 saves to guide Cornell to its 13th 20-win season under head coach Schafer.

Saturday's win solidified Cornell's first time reaching the 20-win plateau since 2019-20, when the Big Red finished with a 23-2-4 overall record before the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Clarkson's Tommy Pasanen scored with 21 seconds left to thwart Cornell of its fifth shutout of the season. Ethan Haider made 19 saves for the Golden Knights, who finished the campaign with a 16-17-4 record.

How It Happened

Neither team found the back of the net in the opening 20 minutes of action. Both Clarkson and Cornell had a power-play opportunity but could not capitalize. Clarkson ended up outshooting Cornell, 8-5, in the first period.

A penalty-laden second period led to a good portion of the frame being played on special teams. A combined eight penalties were called with Cornell having with five power-play opportunities.

Andreev capitalized on one of the Big Red's power plays with a goal at the 8:30 mark of the middle stanza to put the Big Red ahead. Junior forward Gabriel Seger and freshman Dalton Bancroft set up the game's first tally.

Cornell's defense stood strong against Clarkson's attack as the Golden Knights continually attempted to draw the game even.

Psenicka increased the Big Red's lead with less than seven minutes to go in regulation when the sophomore pounced on a loose puck near Haider's crease. Malone and freshman forward Winter Wallace were credited with the helpers.

The Big Red tacked on an insurance marker when Malone redirected a pass in mid-air at the right post from junior forward Kyle Penney. Senior defenseman Travis Mitchell also had an assist on the marker.

Clarkson found the back of the net late when Pasanen's shot from the point rang off the right post and into the goal. Trey Taylor and Erik Bargholtz added helpers on the goal.

Game Notes

• Cornell and Clarkson met for the 149th time on Saturday, and the 35th time in the ECAC Hockey Championship. The Big Red improved to 72-58-19 all-time over the Golden Knights, while also increasing its mark in playoff action to 23-11-1.

• With its two-goal win, Cornell is now 68-28-4 (.700) in games decided by two goals or less in the ECAC Hockey Championship. The Big Red is also 58-21-3 (.726) all-time in the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals.

• Mike Schafer '86 broke his tie with former Cornell women's polo coach Dave Eldredge for the third-most wins by a coach in one sport while on East Hill. Schafer's 519 wins trail former softball head coach Dick Blood (623) and former baseball head coach Ted Thoren (541).

• Cornell is now a perfect 18-0-0 on the year when leading heading into the second intermission. Over the last five seasons, Cornell is 89-2-3 when having the advantage after two periods of play.

• Clarkson outshot Cornell, 23-22, marking the fourth instance in which the Big Red were outshot. Cornell is 2-2 in those situations this year, and 26-8-7 over the last five seasons.

• Andreev's second-period tally was the 22nd time Cornell opened the scoring this season. With the win, the Big Red is 18-3-1 when scoring first. Dating back to 2017-18, Cornell is 92-15-7 when drawing first blood.

• Seger recorded an assist on Andreev's goal, giving the junior nine points (one goal, eight assists) over his last seven games.

• Malone's empty-net goal was the first time Cornell scored at Lynah Rink with an opposing goaltender on the bench in exactly one year to the day. Kyle Penney scored an empty-netter in the opening game of last year's quarterfinal round against Colgate.

Looking Ahead

Cornell will face No. 2-seeded, and No. 6-ranked, Harvard in Lake Placid at the 1980 Rink - Herb Brooks Arena on Friday, March 17. Game times have yet to be announced.

Game action will be broadcast on ESPN+, as well as on WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM) with Jason Weinstein and Tony Eisenhut '88 on the call.