PRINCETON, N.J. — Three-point nights from sophomore forwards Jake Kraft and Ryan Walsh paced the Cornell men's hockey team (7-5-4, 4-3-2 ECAC Hockey) to its 6-2 victory over Princeton (6-9-1, 3-7-1 ECAC Hockey) before a standing room only crowd at Hobey Baker Memorial Rink on Friday night.

Kraft and Walsh were two of six Big Red players to notch multi-point efforts in the victory, each recording a goal and chipped in two assists. Junior forward Dalton Bancroft was the lone player with a multi-goal outing, scoring two of the Big Red's goals. Sophomore forward Jonathan Castagna had a goal and an assist, and defensemen Michael Suda and Ben Robertson each tallied a pair of helpers.

Kraft's three-point night established a single-game high for points, besting a pair of two-point outings, the most recent one coming in a 5-3 win over then-No. 6-ranked North Dakota on Nov. 2. Walsh posted his second three-point game of the season, the other also coming in the Nov. 2 victory.
 
Junior goaltender Remington Keopple made his first start of the season and stopped a career-high 23 shots between the pipes for the Big Red to earn his second career victory (Nov. 19, 2022, vs. Brown).
 
Princeton defensemen Kai Greaves and Brendan Wang each netted their first collegiate goals into the setback for the Tigers, who have now lost its last five games. Sophomore netminder Arthur Smith made 25 saves on the night.
 
Greaves opened the scoring five-plus minutes into the contest after coasting from the Tigers' defensive zone into the attacking zone on a pass from Noah de la Durantaye on a controlled breakout. The shot by the freshman defenseman was lasered from the top of the slot, beating Keopple to his high glove side.

Cornell responded with five unanswered goals, sparked by Walsh's tying tally 1:39 after Greaves' opening goal. Walsh took a chipped puck from Kraft in front of Cornell's bench, split a pair of Princeton defenders to create a quick breakaway and beat Smith to his high glove side.



The Big Red ultimately took the lead for good when Kovich deposited a loose rebound near the left post after a shot from the middle of the point by Suda was blocked by a Princeton defender.



Bancroft netted the first of his two goals on the night three-plus minutes into the second period, pouncing on a loose puck at the edge of Princeton's goal crease. Sophomore defenseman Hoyt Stanley initiated the scoring chance as his shot trickled through traffic in the mid-slot.



Kraft extended Cornell's lead to 4-1 in the final five minutes of the second period as Kraft redirected Robertson's shot from the middle of the point in the low slot.



Castagna upped the Big Red lead to 5-1 early in the third period when he wristed a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle during a 2-on-1 scoring chance.



Following a lengthy review during a media timeout, Cornell was assessed a major penalty for face masking. In the final minute of the five-minute man advantage, Princeton was able to trim Cornell's lead with a power-play goal off the stick of Wang from the left point.

Late in the third, 14 seconds following a Princeton penalty, Bancroft notched his second goal of the night, benefiting from a ricochet off a Princeton defender's stick.



GAME NOTES
• Friday was the 164th all-time meeting between Cornell and Princeton, as the Big Red increased its lead over the Tigers to 102-54-8. The 102 victories are the most against a singular opponent, 10 more than Cornell's 92 wins over Yale (92-63-10).

• Since being shut out, 1-0, at Lynah Rink on Feb. 9, 2013, Cornell is now 21-4-0 against the Tigers and has an average margin of victory of +2.12. During the span, Cornell has averaged 3.92 goals scored and conceded 1.80 goals against.

• With the victory, Cornell improved to 11-2-0 over its last 14 games played at Hobey Baker Memorial Rink. During this span, Cornell has scored 3.54 goals per game and allowed just 1.54 goals against.

• Following its six-goal output, Cornell has scored at least three goals in 11 of the last 12 and 21 of the previous 25 games against Princeton.

• Cornell's four-goal victory marked the Big Red's third consecutive win over Princeton by at least four goals. It is the first time that the Big Red has won at least three straight games against Princeton by four-plus goals since a four-game stretch between Jan. 29, 1975, and Feb. 28, 1976.

MOST CONSECUTIVE WINS OVER PRINCETON BY 4+ GOALS
Cornell Program History
• 5 games — March 5, 1968 (W, 6-1); Jan. 4, 1969 (W, 6-2); March 1, 1969 (W, 5-1); Jan. 28, 1970 (W, 7-1); March 7, 1970 (W, 11-5)
• 4 games — Jan. 29, 1975 (W, 8-3); Feb. 22, 1975 (W, 9-5); Jan. 28, 1976 (W, 7-2); Feb. 28, 1976 (W, 8-2)
• 3 games — Jan. 19, 2024 (W, 6-2); Nov. 23, 2024 (W, 5-0); Jan. 17, 2025 (W, 6-2)

• Cornell's six goals are the most scored by the Big Red this season and is its highest scoring output since defeating Dartmouth, 6-3, in last year's ECAC Hockey semifinals in Lake Placid, N.Y., on March 22, 2024.

• Bancroft was credited with the game-winning goal, his fourth game-winner of the season. He is the first Cornell player with four game-winning goals within the first 16 games of a season since defenseman Nick D'Agostino had five game-winning goals during the 2011-12 season. It is the first time a Big Red forward had registered four-plus game-winning goals by the 16th game of a season since Doug Marrett '74 had four game-winners during the 1972-73 season.

MOST GAME-WINNING GOALS BY 16TH GAME
Cornell Program History
1. Edmund 'Stubby' Magner (1910-11) — 6 GWG
2. Nick D'Agostino (2011-12) — 5 GWG
T3. Dave Ferguson (1964-65) — 4 GWG
T3. Dave Ferguson (1965-66) — 4 GWG
T3. Larry Fullan (1970-71) — 4 GWG
T3. Doug Marrett (1972-73) — 4 GWG
T3. Dalton Bancroft (2024-25) — 4 GWG

• Cornell improved to 6-0-3 on the year when allowing two goals or fewer. Under Mike Schafer '86, the Big Red has a record of 467-66-79 when conceding two or fewer goals in a game.

• Since the 2019-20 season, the Big Red is now 73-0-3 when leading after two periods of play. All-time under Schafer, Cornell is 419-22-29 when up after 40 minutes of play.

• With his first-period assist on Kovich's goal, Psenicka increased his point streak against Princeton to three games, scoring a goal and adding two assists during the span.

• Suda recorded his second multi-point game of his collegiate career, joining a two-assist outing against Quinnipiac on Jan. 20, 2023.

• Senior defenseman Jimmy Rayhill made his collegiate debut on Friday night, logging one shot on goal, a blocked shot, and lost the only faceoff he took.

UP NEXT
Cornell will head to Hamden, Conn., for a battle against No. 16-ranked and ECAC Hockey-leading Quinnipiac (14-7-1, 9-3-0 ECAC Hockey). Puck drop between the Big Red and Bobcats is scheduled for 7 p.m. Game action will be broadcast on ESPN+ and regionally in New England on NESN. Jason Weinstein will also have the call over the airwaves on WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM, cortacatoday.com).

Quinnipiac is coming off a 6-3 victory to Colgate on Friday at M&T Bank Arena, extending the Bobcats' win streak to four games and improving to 8-1-0 since tying with Cornell, 3-3, at the Frozen Apple in New York City on Nov. 30.

Saturday's meeting with Quinnipiac will be the 54th meeting between the ECAC Hockey rivals. Cornell owns the series lead, 27-21-5, and is unbeaten in 12 of the last 17 contests (10-5-2).

The Big Red will face a ranked Quinnipiac team on Saturday for the 10th consecutive time. Of the last 31 games between the programs, 26 have featured Quinnipiac being ranked at the time of the contest. Cornell is 11-15-3 all-time against a ranked Bobcats squad.