ITHACA, N.Y. — Cornell men's hockey junior goaltender
Ian Shane has been selected as ECAC Hockey's MAC Goaltending Goaltender of the Month for the fourth time this season, the conference office announced Tuesday morning.
Previously named the conference's top goaltender in October, November, and January, Shane backstopped the Big Red to a 5-1-2 record in February while compiling a conference-leading 1.47 goals-against average and posted the third-best save percentage of any ECAC Hockey netminder (.929), only behind Princeton's Arthur Smith (.942) and Yale's Jack Stark (.935).
Over his first six games of the month, Shane allowed a combined six goals and made 100 saves while aiding Cornell to increase its unbeaten streak to 14 games (10-0-4).
In a 3-0 shutout of Brown on Feb. 16, Shane posted his 11th career shutout to match Dave LeNeveu and Mitch Gillam for the fifth-most shutouts by a Cornell goaltender in program history. Shane is just two shutouts shy of tying Cornell Athletics and Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Ken Dryden '69 for fourth on the Big Red's all-time shutouts list.
After Cornell's unbeaten streak was snapped at 14 games with a 4-3 overtime loss to Clarkson on Feb. 23, Shane stopped a season-high 36 shots as Cornell scored two extra-attacker goals in the final 1:31 to lead the Big Red to a shootout victory over St. Lawrence at Appleton Arena on Feb. 24.
Across his 78 career appearances between the pipes for Cornell, Shane has amassed a 44-20-10 record with a 1.70 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage. Shane's career goals-against average currently stands as the fourth-best figure in NCAA Division I hockey history, trailing former Big Red netminder David LeNeveu (1.29), former Michigan State standout Ryan Miller (1.54), and Cornell Athletics and Hockey Hall of Famer Ken Dryden (1.59).
Shane and the No. 13-ranked Cornell men's hockey team will return to action on March 15 when it hosts a best-of-three quarterfinal round series at Lynah Rink against the second-lowest seeded team remaining after this weekend's opening round games to commence the 2024 ECAC Men's Hockey Championship. All games of the quarterfinal series will air live on ESPN+ and over the airwaves on WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM, whcuradio.com). Puck drop times for Friday and Saturday are scheduled for 7 p.m., while the winner-take-all contest on Sunday would be played at 4 p.m.