ITHACA, N.Y. — Five unanswered goals over the final two periods aided the No. 13-ranked Cornell men's hockey team to a 7-2 victory over Clarkson before 4,092 in a spirited affair between ECAC Hockey rivals at Lynah Rink on Saturday night.
Six Cornell players registered multi-point nights as the Big Red extended its unbeaten streak to 10 games (7-0-3). All seven of Cornell's goals came from different players.
Freshman Luke Devlin, sophomore Dalton Bancroft, and juniors Jack O'Leary and Sullivan Mack each registered one goal and one assist, and freshman Jonathan Castagna and senior Gabriel Seger logged two-assist performances.
Seger's two-assist performance places him with 99 career points heading into next weekend's contests.
Between the pipes, junior goaltender Ian Shane made 20 saves in the victory for the Big Red (13-4-4, 8-4-2 ECAC).
Ayrton Martino and Noah Beck assisted on first-period power-play goals scored by Mathieu Gosselin and Anthony Romano in the setback for the Golden Knights (13-12-1, 7-6-1 ECAC).
Freshman Emmett Croteau and graduate student Austin Roden split goaltending duties for Clarkson. Croteau, who made just his fourth collegiate start, made 11 saves while allowing the first five Cornell goals. Roden stopped eight shots in relief.
O'Leary opened the scoring with a marker on a delayed Clarkson penalty, depositing a rebound of a shot taken by Mack from the mid-slot. On the ensuing power play, Bancroft one-timed a pass from Seger at the bottom of the left faceoff circle to put the Big Red up by two.
Clarkson retaliated with two power-play markers over 3:28 to even the contest. Romano scored the Golden Knights' first goal on a 5-on-3 power play before Gosselin potted his tally during a five-minute power play after junior forward Ondrej Psenicka was assessed a five-minute major for contact to the head and a game misconduct.
Cornell netted three of its five unanswered goals in the second period, which gave Cornell some breathing room heading into the final regulation period.
Walsh ignited the Big Red's three-goal period by scoring on a breakaway following a line change, beating Croteau to his glove hand. Bancroft initiated the scoring chance as he blocked a shot attempt taken by Romano.
Penney and Kraft tacked on markers 2:06 apart to increase the Big Red's lead to 5-2. The latter goal forced Clarkson's bench boss and former Cornell star, Casey Jones, to change the goaltender, selecting Roden off the bench.
Mack increased Cornell's lead to 6-2 in the third period, recording the Big Red's first short-handed goal of the season. O'Leary sparked the goal with his aggressive forecheck, ultimately causing Clarkson to turn over the puck in its defensive zone.
It was Cornell's first goal on an opposing goaltender while short-handed since Mitch Vanderlaan against Dartmouth on Nov. 4, 2016.
Devlin furthered the Big Red lead in the third, deflecting a crossing pass from Castagna at the bottom of the left faceoff circle.
The remaining 3:33 of the contest proved to be chippy as 84 of the 88 penalty minutes in the period came during the stretch.
POSTGAME COMMENTS FROM MIKE SCHAFER '86 AND SULLIVAN MACK
GAME NOTES
• Saturday was the 150th all-time meeting between the Empire State rivals as Cornell increased its lead over Clarkson to 73-58-19. The Big Red has won its last three games against the Golden Knights, marking its first three-game win streak over Clarkson since stringing four consecutive wins together between March 16, 2014 and Dec. 5, 2015.
• Each of the Big Red's last three wins over Clarkson have come at Lynah Rink, as the Big Red has won six of the previous seven meetings against Clarkson in Ithaca. Under
Mike Schafer '86, Cornell is 21-5-2 (.750) in home regular-season games against the Golden Knights.
• Cornell's seven goals were the most against Clarkson since Feb. 11, 2000, when the Big Red beat the Golden Knights, 8-3, at Cheel Arena in Potsdam. It was Cornell's highest scoring output on home ice against Clarkson since posting a 10-4 victory on Nov. 20, 1999.
• The win also increased Cornell's unbeaten streak to 10 games, marking the program's longest stretch without a loss since compiling 11 straight wins over the final nine games of the 2019-20 season and the first two games of 2021-22. It is the eighth unbeaten streak of at least 10 games, and the seventh to occur solely in a single season, in the
Mike Schafer '86 era, dating back to 1995-96.
LONGEST OVERALL UNBEATEN STREAKS
Under Mike Schafer '86 (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
• 11 games (10-0-1) — Dec. 2, 2017 - Feb. 2, 2018
• 11 games (11-0-0) — Feb. 1, 2020 - Oct. 30, 2021 (split over two seasons)
• 10 games (9-0-1) — Jan. 20, 1996 - Feb. 24, 1996
• 10 games (9-0-1) — Nov. 29, 2008 - Jan. 17, 2009
• 10 games (10-0-0) — Nov. 1, 2019 - Dec. 6, 2019
• 10 games (7-0-3) — Dec. 29, 2023 - Present
• During the Big Red's unbeaten streak, Shane has a 7-0-3 record with a 1.37 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage. Since the calendar flipped to 2024, Shane is 7-0-1 with a 1.29 goals-against average and has stopped 149 of the 161 shots he has faced (.925 save percentage).
• Shane became the 13th Cornell goaltender to register 40 career wins, improving his career mark to 40-18-8 with the victory. His .667 career win percentage ranks ninth among Big Red netminders with at least 40 decisions.
MOST WINS AS A GOALTENDER
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)
• 42, Brian Hayward (42-27-2 - 1978-82)
• 42, Matt Underhill (42-32-9 - 1998-02)
• 40, Ian Shane (40-18-8 - 2021-Present)
• With his first-period assist, freshman
Ben Robertson increased his season point total to 17, marking the most points by a freshman defenseman since Joakim Ryan (7-10—17) in 2011-12. Robertson also entered a three-way tie with Steve Inglehart (3-14—17 in 1982-83) and Ryan for the fifth-most points by a first-year blueliner in Cornell program history.
MOST POINTS BY A FRESHMAN DEFENSEMAN
Cornell Program History (Since 1975-76)
• Chris Norton (4-19—23) — 1984-85
• Mark McRae (5-16—21) — 1999-00
• Bruce Frauley (1-18—19) — 1987-88
• Nick D'Agostino (4-14—18) — 2009-10
• Steve Inglehart (3-14—17) — 1982-83
• Joakim Ryan (7-10—17) — 2011-12
• Ben Robertson (3-14—17) — 2023-24
• Robertson's first-period assist on Bancroft's power-play goal upped his assist total to 14, marking the most assists by a freshman defenseman since Nick D'Agostino also had 14 in 2009-10. The helper also placed Robertson into a three-way tie with Steve Inglehart (1982-83) and D'Agostino for the fourth-most assists by a first-year blueliner.
MOST ASSISTS BY A FRESHMAN DEFENSEMAN
Cornell Program History (Since 1975-76)
• 19, Chris Norton (1984-85)
• 18, Bruce Frauley (1987-88)
• 16, Mark McRae (1999-00)
• 14, Steve Inglehart (1982-83)
• 14, Nick D'Agostino (2009-10)
• 14, Ben Robertson (2023-24)
UP NEXT
Cornell will return to action next weekend when it makes its annual trip to the Capital Region to square off against RPI and Union. The two-game weekend series begins in Troy on Friday, Feb. 9, when Cornell squares off against RPI at Houston Field House before heading to Schenectady to face Union the following night. Both contests are scheduled for 7 p.m. puck drops, with game action broadcast on ESPN+ and over the airwaves on WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM, whcuradio.com).
