ITHACA, N.Y. — Junior forward Nick DeSantis scored twice for the Cornell men's hockey team (8-5-5, 5-3-3) as it defeated bitter ECAC Hockey and Ivy League rival Harvard (6-10-2), 4-2, before a sold-out crowd at Lynah Rink on Friday night.
 
Sophomore forwards Jake Kraft and Ryan Walsh potted the first two goals for the Big Red, scoring six seconds apart within the first 1:23 of the game to take an early 2-0 lead.

Senior goaltender Ian Shane made 14 saves between the pipes for Cornell, who improved to 6-1-1 at Lynah Rink this season.
 
Harvard's lone tally of the game came from first-year forward Mick Thompson on an odd-man rush with his linemate Joe Miller. Sophomore goaltender Aku Koskenvuo made 20 saves in the setback for the Crimson.

"A really strong start in the first period," said Mike Schafer '86, the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Cornell Men's Ice Hockey, following his 550th career head coaching win. "In the second, we had a little dip at one point and had to kill some penalties. I'm really happy with our penalty kill. They did a great job tonight, and I thought Ian was outstanding. He made two or three spectacular saves."

Cornell opened the scoring 1:17 into the contest as Kraft capitalized on the rebound an initial shot, poking the puck past Koskenvuo at the right post. Walsh forced a defensive zone turnover by Harvard first-year defenseman Lucas St. Louis at the far half wall, ultimately leading to Kraft's tally.



On the ensuing faceoff, Walsh won the draw to his right, allowing sophomore defenseman George Fegaras to chip the puck into the offensive zone at the center line. Junior forward Dalton Bancroft picked the puck up at the blue line, setting up a pass from the far half wall to Walsh in the mid-slot for a one-timer that beat Koskenvuo, giving the Big Red a two-goal advantage 1:23 into the contest.



In the second period, DeSantis increased Cornell's lead to 3-0, lasering a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle on an odd-man rush five seconds after the expiration of a Crimson penalty.



Harvard cut into the Big Red's lead late in the second period as Miller curled a pass around senior defenseman Tim Rego, who was prone on the ice, during a 2-on-1 odd-man rush, resulting in Thompson one-timing the puck into the net.

Five minutes into the third period, Cornell regained its three-goal lead as DeSantis backhanded his rebound into the net three seconds after the Big Red's third power play on the night.



A late penalty in the third period led Harvard to pull its goaltender to create a 6-on-4 opportunity with four minutes remaining in the contest. The Big Red held the Crimson without a shot attempt during the power play and only yielded one shot on goal across Harvard's three power-play opportunities.
 
POSTGAME INTERVIEWS WITH NICK DESANTIS AND MIKE SCHAFER '86


GAME NOTES
• Friday was the 168th meeting between the Ivy League rivals, as Cornell improved its record over Harvard to 83-71-14 while upping its unbeaten streak against the Crimson to five games (4-0-1).

• The six-second interval between Kraft and Walsh's goals is tied for the third-quickest time between goals in program history, trailing a pair of five-goal splits that occurred on March 5, 1960, vs. Colgate, and Feb. 14, 2020, vs. Union.
 
QUICKEST TWO GOALS SCORED
Cornell Program History
T1. 0:05, March 5, 1960, vs. Colgate (Morgan Holmes – 1:48 & Gerald Borofsky – 1:53) – 1st period
T1. 0:05, Feb. 14, 2020, vs. Union (Morgan Barron – 19:36 & Jack Malone – 19:41) – 3rd period - both empty-net goals
T3. 0:06, March 9, 1971, vs. Providence (Jim Higgs – 8:11 & Brian McCutcheon – 8:17) – 2nd period
T3. 0:06, Jan. 24, 2025, vs. Harvard (Jake Kraft 1:17; Ryan Walsh – 1:23) – 1st period

• Cornell's two goals in the opening 1:23 is the fifth-fastest set of goals to begin a game in program history, trailing Pete Tufford's two goals in the first 36 seconds against Guelph (Nov. 23, 1968), Trent Andison and Bruce Frauley scoring in the first 1:11 against Colgate (March 2, 1991), Dalton Bancroft and Ondrej Psenicka teaming up to score in the opening 1:14 of the Big Red's Frozen Apple contest with UConn (Nov. 26, 2022), and Murray Stephen scoring twice in the first 1:20 against Waterloo (Nov. 21, 1964).

FASTEST TWO GOALS TO BEGIN GAME
Cornell Program History
1. 0:36, Nov. 23, 1968, vs. Guelph (Pete Tufford - twice)
2. 1:11, March 2, 1991, at Colgate (Trent Andison & Bruce Frauley)
3. 1:14, Nov. 26, 2022, vs. UConn (Dalton Bancroft & Ondrej Psenicka)
4. 1:20, Nov. 21, 1964, vs. Waterloo (Murray Stephen - twice)
5. 1:23, Jan. 25, 2025, vs. Harvard (Jake Kraft & Ryan Walsh)

• The six-second span between goals bested the previous record for the fastest two goals scored by Cornell against the Crimson, which came in nine seconds on Feb. 21, 1979, also at Lynah Rink (Brian Marrett - 12:32 in 1st period; Doug Berk - 12:41 in 1st period). The two goals in the opening 1:23 were the fastest pair of goals to begin a game against Harvard in program history, besting Doug Derraugh and Ross Lemon's goals in the opening 2:02 of a contest at Lynah Rink on March 3, 1990.

• Walsh's game-winning goal at the 1:23 mark of the first period was the sixth-earliest game-winning goal scored in the Mike Schafer '86 era, trailing game-winners tallied by Dalton Bancroft (0:32, vs. UConn, Nov. 26, 2022), Michael Kennedy (0:37, at RPI, Jan. 17, 2009), Taylor Davenport (0:42, vs. Union, Dec. 2, 2006), Sullivan Mack (0:46, at Princeton, Feb. 26, 2022), and Brenden Locke (1:21, vs. Union, March 16, 2019).

QUICKEST GAME-WINNING GOALS SCORED
Mike Schafer '86 Era (Since 1995-96)
1. 0:32, Dalton Bancroft, vs. UConn (Nov. 26, 2022)
2. 0:37, Michael Kennedy, at RPI, Jan. 17, 2009
3. 0:42, Taylor Davenport, vs. Union, Dec. 2, 2006
4. 0:46, Sullivan Mack, at Princeton, Feb. 26, 2022
5. 1:21, Brenden Locke, vs. Union, March 16, 2019
6. 1:23, Ryan Walsh, vs. Harvard, Jan. 25, 2025

• Cornell's five-game unbeaten streak against Harvard (4-0-1) is its longest unbeaten streak against the Crimson since going 3-0-2 across a five-game stretch between Feb. 16, 2013, and Jan. 23, 2015. It is tied for the sixth-longest unbeaten streak against the Crimson in program history, trailing a 13-game win streak (Dec. 20, 1966 – March 3, 1971), and unbeaten streaks of 10 games (9-0-1 – Nov. 11, 1995 – Nov. 13, 1998), nine games (Feb. 11, 1976 – Feb. 21, 1979), and a pair of six-game spans (5-0-1 - Feb. 4, 2000 – March 16, 2001; 6-0-0 – Nov. 22, 2002 – Nov. 5, 2004).

LONGEST UNBEATEN STREAKS VS. HARVARD
Program History
• 13 games (13-0-0) – Dec. 20, 1966 – March 3, 1971
• 10 games (9-0-1) – Nov. 11, 1995 – Nov. 13, 1998
• 9 games (8-0-1) – Feb. 11, 1976 – Feb. 21, 1979
• 6 games (5-0-1) – Feb. 4, 2000 – March 16, 2001
• 6 games (6-0-0) – Nov. 22, 2002 – Nov. 5, 2004
• 5 games (5-0-0) – Nov. 7, 2009 – Jan. 29, 2011
• 5 games (3-0-2) – Feb. 16, 2013 – Jan. 23, 2015
• 5 games (4-0-1) – Jan. 26, 2024 – Present
 
• Cornell's three-goal victory marked the third consecutive win against Harvard at Lynah Rink, the Big Red's first time winning three successive games against the Crimson since posting a four-game win streak between Nov. 21, 2008, and March 13, 2010. It is the fifth-longest home win streak against Harvard in program history, trailing a nine-game streak (Feb. 17, 1965 – Feb. 17, 1973), a six-game stretch (Feb. 11, 1976 – Feb. 28, 1981), and a pair of four-game spans (Feb. 1, 2002 – Nov. 5, 2004; Nov. 21, 2008 – March 13, 2010).

LONGEST HOME WIN STREAKS VS. HARVARD
Program History
• 9 games – Feb. 17, 1965 – Feb. 17, 1973
• 6 games – Feb. 11, 1976 – Feb. 28, 1981
• 4 games – Feb. 1, 2002 – Nov. 5, 2004
• 4 games – Nov. 21, 2008 – March 13, 2010
• 3 games – March 15, 2024 – Present

• Senior captain Kyle Penney returned to the lineup after missing the last nine games, registering one shot on goal in two attempts.

UP NEXT
Cornell will return to the ice at Lynah Rink on Saturday, Jan. 25, where it will battle Dartmouth (10-7-2, 7-4-1 ECAC Hockey), who currently assume fourth place in the ECAC Hockey standings.

The Big Green is coming off a 3-2 loss to Colgate at the Class of 1965 Arena in Hamilton. Luke Haymes and CJ Foley tallied the goals for Dartmouth.

Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. and game action will be broadcast on ESPN+ and over the airwaves on WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM, cortacatoday.com).

Entering Saturday's game, Cornell is unbeaten in eight of its last nine games against Dartmouth (5-1-3) and is 4-0-2 over its last six games against the Big Green at Lynah Rink.

Contests between the programs have been close, with nine of the last 10, 10 of the previous 12, and 23 of the prior 34 contests have been decided by one goal or less.