ITHACA, N.Y. — Freshman forward
Ryan Walsh (one goal, one assist) and sophomore
Dalton Bancroft (two assists) logged multi-point nights, and junior goaltender
Ian Shane stopped all 10 shots he faced to lead the No. 12-ranked Cornell men's hockey team to a 3-0 victory over Brown before a sold-out crowd of 4,267 at Lynah Rink on Friday night.
Freshman defenseman
Hoyt Stanley and junior forward
Kyle Penney also found the back of the net for the Big Red (16-4-4, 11-4-2 ECAC Hockey) to extend the program's unbeaten streak to 13 games (10-0-3).
Shane's shutout was the 11th of his collegiate career, moving him into a tie with Dave LeNeveu (2001-03) and Mitch Gillam (2014-17) for the fifth-most blankings by a Cornell goaltender.
Brown freshman goaltender Lawton Zacher shoved aside 30 shots for the sixth time so far in his collegiate career for the Bears (8-14-2, 6-9-1 ECAC Hockey).
Cornell had many scoring chances in the opening six minutes, including three shot attempts that clanged off the goal post.
Walsh eventually found twine at the 6:44 mark of the first period to open the scoring, netting his marker from behind the goal line.
Late in the second period, Stanley ripped a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle that rang off the right goal post and into the net. Walsh and Bancroft were credited with assists, giving the linemates two-point nights.
The Big Red, which played stifling defense throughout the contest as it out-shot Brown 33-10, was held off the scoreboard until the final two minutes of the third period when Penney deposited the puck into Brown's empty net to give Cornell an insurance marker. A defensive zone faceoff win by senior forward
Gabriel Seger and a dumping of the puck deep in the defensive zone by junior defenseman
Tim Rego led to the tally.
POSTGAME COMMENTS FROM MIKE SCHAFER '86 AND RYAN WALSH
GAME NOTES
• Friday was the 139th meeting between the Ivy League rivals, which Cornell now owns an 87-44-8 record over Brown. The Big Red is unbeaten in 21 of its last 22 contests against the Bears (18-1-3).
• The shutout was Cornell's second in its last three games against Brown, as the Big Red has outscored the Bears 20-2 during its four-game win streak over its Ancient Eight rival. It was the Big Red's first blanking of Brown on home ice since a 26-save outing by then-freshman Hayden Stewart on Nov. 22, 2014.
• Shane's 10 saves were the fewest in a shutout by a Big Red netminder since Ben Scrivens made nine stops against RPI in the second game of the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals on March 14, 2009. It is tied with Laing Kennedy (Nov. 27, 1961 vs. Penn) for the sixth-fewest shots allowed in a Cornell shutout in the program's modern era (since 1957-58).
FEWEST SAVES IN A SHUTOUT
Cornell Modern Era (Since 1957-58)
• 9, Errol McKibbon — vs. AIC (Dec. 3, 1963)
• 9, Ken Dryden — at Dartmouth (Feb. 11, 1967)
• 9, Brian Cropper — vs. Penn (Jan. 8, 1969)
• 9, Dave McKee — at Vermont (Feb. 7, 2004)
• 9, Ben Scrivens — vs. RPI (March 14, 2009)
• 10, Laing Kennedy — vs. Penn (Nov. 27, 1961)
• 10, Ian Shane — vs. Brown (Feb. 16, 2024)
• In four career games against Brown, Shane has fashioned a 3-1-0 record with a 0.76 goals-against average and a .952 save percentage, allowing three goals across 237:40 minutes of action.
• Cornell has won eight of its last nine against Brown, posting a 37-7 ledger in scoring and an average margin of victory of 3.33 goals. The Big Red has scored at least three goals in its last nine victories over the Bears, averaging 4.33 goals per win.
• The Big Red's unbeaten streak was increased to a Division I-best 13 games, marking the longest streak without a loss in Division I hockey since ECAC Hockey rival Quinnipiac posted a 16-0-1 mark from Oct. 23, 2022 to Jan. 14, 2023. Ironically, Cornell snapped the Bobcats' 17-game unbeaten streak at Lynah Rink on Jan. 20, 2023, behind a 4-0 shutout.
• Cornell's 13-game unbeaten streak is the third-longest stretch without a loss in the
Mike Schafer '86 era, dating back to 1995-96. It is the Big Red's longest stretch without a loss since the 2004-05 season, when it compiled an 18-0-1 record from Jan. 14 to March 26, 2005.
LONGEST UNBEATEN STREAKS
Mike Schafer '86 Era (Since 1995-96)
• 19 games — 18-0-1 — Jan. 14, 2005 - March 26, 2005
• 15 games — 14-0-1 — Feb. 1, 2003 - March 30, 2003
• 13 games — 10-0-3 — Dec. 29, 2023 - Present
• During the unbeaten streak, Shane has posted a 10-0-3 record with a 1.35 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage. Since the calendar flipped to 2024, Shane is 10-0-1 with a 1.25 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage.
• Cornell also increased its unbeaten streak to open 2024 to 11 games, marking the best stretch to open a calendar year since winning the first 21 games in 1970. It is also the fourth time the Big Red has not lost any of its first 11 games to begin a year.
LONGEST UNBEATEN STREAKS TO OPEN CALENDAR YEAR
Program History
• 21 games — 21-0-0 — 1970
• 18 games — 18-0-0 — 1969
• 16 games — 16-0-0 — 1968
• 11 games — 10-0-1 — 2024
• Cornell has allowed two or fewer goals in each of its last 13 games, marking the program's longest since the final eight games of the 2022-23 season and the first five games of this season. The active streak is tied for the third-longest in program history and is the longest within the same season since the Big Red opened the 2019-20 campaign with 14 consecutive games without conceding three goals.
CONSECUTIVE GAMES ALLOWING TWO GOALS OR LESS
Cornell Program History
• 23 games — 1.04 goals per game — Jan. 7, 2005 - Oct. 28, 2005 (over two seasons)
• 14 games — 1.35 goals per game — Nov. 1, 2019 - Jan. 10, 2020
• 13 games — 1.23 goals per game — Jan. 11, 1967 - March 9, 1967
• 13 games — 1.07 goals per game — Dec. 13, 1967 - Feb. 3, 1968
• 13 games — 0.92 goals per game — Feb. 18, 2023 - Nov. 10, 2023 (over two seasons)
• 13 games — 1.38 goals per game — Dec. 29, 2023 - Present
• Shane broke his tie with Brian Hayward (42-27-2 — 1978-82) and Matt Underhill (42-32-9 — 1998-02) for the 11th-most career wins by a Cornell goaltender. He is now two wins shy of tying Jason Elliott (45-32-7 — 1994-98) for the 10th-most victories by a netminder in Big Red program history.
MOST GOALTENDING WINS
Cornell Program History
• 76, Ken Dryden (76-4-1 - 1966-69)
• 65, David McKee (65-24-13 - 2003-06)
• 64, Ben Scrivens (64-36-13 - 2006-10)
• 60, Matthew Galajda (60-15-9 - 2017-20)
• 58, Andy Iles (58-42-17 - 2010-14)
• 50, Brian Cropper (50-5-0 - 1968-71)
• 48, Corrie D'Alessio (48-36-6 - 1987-91)
• 48, Dave Elenbaas (48-11-1 - 1970-73)
• 47, Mitch Gillam (47-28-17 - 2013-17)
• 45, Jason Elliott (45-32-7 - 1994-98)
• 43, Ian Shane (43-18-8 - 2021-Present)
• Walsh's first-period goal proved to be the game-winning goal, which is his fourth of the season. Walsh is Cornell's first player with at least four game-winners in his first year with the program since Michael Regush (four) in 2018-19. It is the 10th instance in Cornell's modern era (since 1957-58) in which a player has scored at least four game-winning goals. Along with Regush, Lance Nethery (1977-78) is the only other freshman to have achieved the feat.
MOST GAME-WINNING GOALS IN FIRST SEASON
Cornell Modern Era (Since 1957-58)
• 5, John Hughes (1967-68)
• 4, Jim Stevens (1961-62)
• 4, Dave Ferguson (1964-65)
• 4, Bob McGuinn (1966-67)
• 4, Kevin Pettit (1968-69)
• 4, Larry Fullan (1969-70)
• 4, Brock Tredway (1977-78)
• 4, Darren Tymchyshyn (1996-97)
• 4, Michael Regush (2018-19)
• 4, Ryan Walsh (2023-24)
• Seger's third-period assist on Penney's empty-net goal gave him 30 points on the season (11 goals, 19
assists) for the second consecutive season, becoming the first Big Red player with successive 30-point seasons since Morgan Barron in 2018-19 (15-19—34 as a sophomore) and 2019-20 (14-18—32 as a junior). Seger is the first Cornell player with at least 30-point seasons in his first two years with the Big Red since Riley Nash in 2007-08 (12-20—32 as a freshman) and 2008-09 (13-21—34 as a sophomore). It is the 12th occurrence since the 1975-76 season (when freshman players were eligible to play) in which a player had 30-point seasons in his first two seasons with the Big Red.
30+ POINTS IN FIRST TWO SEASONS
Cornell Program History (Since 1975-76)
• Lance Nethery (1975-77) — 18-27—45 as a freshman, 32-46—78 points as a sophomore
• Brock Tredway (1977-79) — 28-13—41 as a freshman, 31-29—60 as a sophomore
• Roy Kerling (1977-78, 1979-80) — 29-30—59 as a freshman, 27-25—52 as a sophomore
• John Olds (1978-80) — 13-18—31 as a freshman, 14-28—42 as a sophomore
• Gary Cullen (1981-83) — 18-17—35 as a freshman, 19-31—42 as a sophomore
• Duanne Moeser (1982-84) — 17-17—34 as a freshman, 19-31—50 as a sophomore
• Joe Nieuwendyk (1984-86) — 21-24—45 as a freshman, 26-28—54 as a sophomore
• Trent Andison (1987-89) — 21-17—38 as a freshman, 17-16—33 as a sophomore
• Kyle Knopp (1995-97) — 11-22—33 as a freshman, 13-19—32 as a sophomore
• Riley Nash (2007-09) — 12-20—32 as a freshman, 13-21—34 as a sophomore
• Gabriel Seger (2022-24) — 7-23—30 as a junior, 11-19—30 as a senior
UP NEXT
Cornell will face Yale (10-14-1, 7-10-1 ECAC Hockey) at Lynah Rink on Saturday night with a chance to clinch its 26th Ivy League championship title. Puck drop between the Big Red and Bulldogs is slated for 7 p.m. Game action will be broadcast on ESPN+ and over the airwaves on WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM, whcuradio.com).
Any victory by the Big Red on Saturday would guarantee Cornell wins the Ivy League title outright for the second consecutive season.
Yale is coming off a 5-2 loss to Colgate at the Class of 1965 Arena in Hamilton on Friday night. Elan Bar-Lev-Wise scored a short-handed goal for the Bulldogs, while Rhys Bentham also tallied a goal while on special teams, scoring on a third-period power play. First-year goaltender Jack Stark stopped 25 shots in the setback.
