FAIRFIELD, Conn. — Sacred Heart first-year goaltender Ajeet Gundarah made a season-high 40 saves to aid the host Pioneers (11-8-4) to a 1-1 tie over the No. 18-ranked Cornell men's hockey team (6-4-4) at Martire Family Arena on Friday night.

Senior defenseman Michael Suda netted the lone goal in the shootout to give the Big Red the proverbial extra point.

Fellow senior Ondrej Psenicka scored the lone goal in regulation for the Big Red, who had a 17-save performance from senior Ian Shane between the pipes.

Sacred Heart's John Jaworski was responsible for the Pioneers' lone tally on the night.

"We've got to score goals," said Mike Schafer '86, the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Cornell Men's Ice Hockey. "It was similar to our UMass game [last Friday] that we played tonight. Their goalie played well but we got to score. We created a lot of scoring chances tonight. It is just a matter of capitalizing on our opportunities."

Sacred Heart took the lead 5:46 into the contest on the second shot on goal of the game as Jaworski beat Shane to his high-glove side on a shot from the middle of the right faceoff circle off a backhand pass from behind Cornell's goal by Félix Trudeau.

Psenicka evened the contest with 2:34 left in the first period on a shot from the far half-wall that snuck through traffic, beating a screened Gundarah. Sophomore defenseman George Fegaras was credited with the primary assist after his shot went over the crossbar and caromed to the far half-wall.



An early penalty in the second period gave Cornell a 5-on-3 power-play opportunity for 44 seconds but was unable to convert. Sophomore forward Ryan Walsh had a scoring chance from the left faceoff circle on a one-timer from junior forward Dalton Bancroft with the two-man advantage, but Gundarah made a blocker save while losing control of his stick.

Following the expiration of the first penalty, Cornell could not capitalize on the latter power-play chance as Sacred Heart held the Big Red without a shot attempt.

Neither side found the back of the net in the middle period despite Cornell outshooting Sacred Heart, 13-6, in the period. The Big Red had 20 shot attempts compared to the Pioneers' seven.

Cornell drew a pair of penalties at the 7:48 mark of the third period, leading to a two-minute 5-on-3 opportunity. The Big Red generated seven shots attempts with the advantage with three of the attempts being on target. Walsh had an opportune scoring chance in the mid-slot but was lasered off the right post.

Gundarah made seven of his 40 saves on the night during the five-minute overtime to keep the game tied. Two of his stops came on backhanded shots by sophomore defenseman Ben Robertson within 20 seconds of each other with under a minute to play.

The Big Red concluded the night with a 67-29 advantage in shot attempts, 41-18 edge in shots on goal, and a 32-21 margin on faceoffs. Sacred Heart doubled up Cornell in blocked shots, 8-4.

Both sides were held without a power-play goal as the Big Red went 0-for-5 with the man advantage and Sacred Heart was scoreless on its two chances.

"I think the guys are getting frustrated," Schafer said of his team's power play units. "Ryan has two great scoring chances [at 5-on-3] and we just missed the net. We'll get there, but on the flip side the penalty killing was outstanding. They did a good job on clears, on the forecheck, coming back and holding the lines."

GAME NOTES
• Friday was the fifth all-time meeting between Cornell and Sacred Heart. The series remains tied, 2-2-1, as the Big Red is unbeaten in three of its last four against the Pioneers (2-1-1).

• Cornell increased its unbeaten streak against Atlantic Hockey opponents to 8-0-2, averaging 3.70 goals per game and holding its opponents to just 1.90 goals per contest.

• Shane's 17 saves inched him closer to entering the top 10 all-time in Cornell's program history for saves. He enters Saturday's game 55 saves away from tying Ken Dryden '69 for 10th all-time.

MOST GOALTENDER SAVES
Cornell Program History
1. Andy Iles (2010-14) — 2,988
8. Darren Eliot (1979-83) — 2,143
9. Matt Underhill (1998-02) — 2,052
10. Ken Dryden (1966-69) — 1,987
11. Ian Shane (2021-25) — 1,932 saves

• The 41 shots on goal by Cornell marked the first time the Big Red had 40-plus shots on goal in a game since Feb. 4, 2023, when it had 47 shots on goal in a 5-0 shutout of Brown at Meehan Auditorium in Providence, R.I.

• Cornell is 5-0-3 this season when allowing two or fewer goals. All-time under Schafer, the Big Red is 466-66-79 when conceding two goals or less in a game.

• Since the beginning of the 2019-20 campaign, Cornell is 30-11-7 in non-conference settings and has a 13-2-4 mark over its last 19 non-conference games.

• Cornell has won each of its last three shootouts, the program's longest streak of shootout wins since stringing together wins in its first four shootouts. The program's first four shootout appearances came in Florida College Classic contests against Minnesota Duluth (2005), Clarkson (2007), Colgate (2008), and Maine (2013).

UP NEXT
Cornell will conclude its non-conference portion of the regular season on Saturday when it returns to Martire Family Arena for a 5 p.m. puck drop against the Pioneers. Game action will be broadcast on FloHockey.tv, and air on SNY on a tape delay at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday. The game will also be carried over the airwaves on WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM, cortacatoday.com), featuring Jason Weinstein on play-by-play and Tony Eisenhut '88 providing analysis.