NITRA, Slovakia — Facing the reigning champions of the Tipos Extraliga, Slovakia's top professional hockey league, the Cornell men's hockey team concluded its four-game exhibition slate with a 5-2 loss to HK Nitra in a spirited contest at
Nitra Aréna on Friday evening.
Cornell concludes its European trip registering one win and three losses. All three setbacks on the trip came against opponents that play within their country's most prominent hockey league.
Rising senior goaltender
Ian Shane started in goal for Cornell, playing just the first period for the Big Red. Sami Aittokallio, who appeared in two NHL contests with the Colorado Avalanche, one apiece in the 2012-13 and 2013-14 campaigns, played all 60 minutes in goal for Nitra.
During the first period, Cornell had a chance to take the lead on a slap shot by rising sophomore forward
Ryan Walsh from the left side of right faceoff circle but Aittokallio made the stop. After gaining control of the loose rebound and while in transition, Dávid Okoličány's wrist shot from the far half-wall was saved by Shane, but the rebound was capitalized by Sebastián Čederle, depositing the puck into the net at the right post.
In second period action, rising junior forward
Dalton Bancroft had an opportune scoring chance early in the frame when rising sophomore defenseman
Ben Robertson's pass from the blue line deflected off a Nitra defender's skate, ultimately leading to a back-door one-timer. Aittokallio preserved Nitra's lead by making a cross-crease low-blocker save.
Bancroft's scoring chance served as a harbinger of the period's offensive production as the teams combined for five goals. The first goal of the period came on a short-handed goal by the Big Red, tying the game at 1-all. Rising senior forward
Jack O'Leary had his shot on a breakaway stopped by Aittokallio, but rising sophomore forward
Jake Kraft pounced on the rebound to level the score.
Nitra regained the lead shortly thereafter on a one-timed shot by Tomáš Hrnka on the door step of Cornell's crease. Filip Bajtek set up the goal with a pass from behind Cornell's net.
Incoming freshman forward
Charlie Major tied the game with 2:32 left in the second period with a power-play marker. Major wristed a shot from the right faceoff circle that deflected off Aittokallio's glove and slowly crossed the goal line.
Two goals in a 37-second span aided Nitra to a 4-2 lead late in the second period. Milos Bubela gave Nitra its third lead of the game, one-timing a cross-ice pass from the left faceoff circle by 17-year-old Tomáš Poběžal with 1:07 left in the period. With 30 seconds left in the period, a slap shot by Alex Cotton following an offensive zone faceoff win evaded traffic in front of Keopple to increase the host's lead.
Incoming freshman goaltender
Justin Katz took to the crease for Cornell in the third period, stopping every shot he faced.
Following the offensive explosion in the second period, both teams were held at bay in the third. The lone goal of period occurred on a 185-foot shot by Bubela into an empty Cornell net with under a minute and a half remaining.
Right before Nitra's empty-net goal, Cornell had numerous scoring chances during a 6-on-4 opportunity but Aittokallio stood tall to keep his team's lead at two goals.
See below for a full breakdown of the Big Red's previous three European exhibitions:
EXHIBITION NO. 1 (SUNDAY, AUG. 11) • VS. HC SPARTA PRAHA
Cornell opened its string of exhibitions in Europe with a 6-1 setback against HC Sparta Praha before 3,431 last Sunday, Aug. 11, at Sportovní hala Fortuna in Prague, Czechia. HC Sparta Praha provided players from its 'A' team that competes in the Czech Extraliga, its junior team, and HC Stadion Litoměřice, who competes in the Maxa liga, the second-highest level of professional hockey in Czechia
.
Rising junior forward
Dalton Bancroft netted the lone tally for the Big Red in the third period, snapping Sparta Praha's string of five unanswered goals. All three Cornell goaltenders — Shane, Keopple, and Katz — all saw time between the pipes for the Big Red.
EXHIBITION NO. 2 (TUESDAY, AUG. 13) • VS. UNIVERZITNÍ HOKEJ
The Big Red returned to action on Tuesday to play the first of two games in as many days, defeating a collection of the top Czech student-eligible players, 4-1, at Zimní stadion Eden in Prague.
After the Czech university club took a 1-0 lead in the first period, Cornell ultimately scored four unanswered goals to take the victory.
Walsh ignited the string of Big Red goals with a lasered wrist shot from the right faceoff circle that beat the opposing goaltender to his near-side shoulder.
EXHIBITION NO. 3 (WEDNESDAY, AUG. 14) • VS. HC ENERGIE KARLOVY VARY
Cornell's final exhibition in Czechia pitted the Big Red against HC Energie Karlovy Vary, which favored the hosts by a 3-0 score.
Karlovy Vary goaltender,
Petr Hamalčík, registered the shutout between the pipes for the Karlovy Vary, while
David Moravec assisted on the club's first two goals.
Goaltending duties for Cornell were split between Keopple, who started the contest, and Shane.
UP NEXT
The Big Red will return to Vienna, Austria, for one more full day of sightseeing before beginning its return to the United States on Sunday.
Cornell's next time on the ice against an opposing team will come on Saturday, Oct. 19, when it welcomes ECAC Hockey and Ivy League rival Princeton for a preseason scrimmage. Puck drop is scheduled for 5 p.m. Single-game tickets for all 15 preseason and regular-season home games will be available for purchase on Tuesday, Oct. 8, at 10 a.m., pending availability. The mini plan featuring the Harvard and Dartmouth contests will go on sale Monday, Oct. 7, also at 10 a.m.
Fans are also still able to purchase season ticket packages for the upcoming 2024-25 season through the Cornell Athletics Ticketing Office at
BigRedTix.com.
