CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Freshman forward Gio DiGiulian scored for the third consecutive game and junior forward Jonathan Castagna scored twice, including a late short-handed breakaway goal, to lead the No. 17-ranked Cornell men's hockey team to a 3-1 victory over Harvard in the ECAC Hockey opener for both teams Friday night at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center.

Freshman goaltender Alexis Cournoyer carried his impressive performance from last Saturday into a 30-save outing to improve to 2-0-0 on the year for Cornell (2-1-0, 1-0-0 ECAC Hockey).

"I thought it was a great hockey game, up and down the ice," said Casey Jones '90, the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Cornell Men's Ice Hockey. "I thought we came to play and set the tone early. Our penalty kill took a huge step forward, and [Alexis] was good in net. A lot of positives, but it's still early in the season — it wasn't as clean a game as we could play, so there's a lot of opportunity for us to grow."

Freshman forward Aidan Lane opened the scoring for Harvard (1-1-1, 0-1-0 ECAC Hockey) after the Crimson forced a giveaway in the neutral zone. The takeaway resulted in Harvard's all-freshman line of Richard Gallant, Heikki Ruohonen, and Lane playing tic-tac-toe, causing Cournoyer to bite too early and allowing Lane to open the scoring seven-plus minutes into the contest.

Cournoyer settled into a groove after allowing the game's first goal, stopping all 17 shots he faced in the second period and the final 29 shots he saw overall.

"I think that's been the most impressive thing about him — he's got composure," Jones said. "There's just a calmness to him. He's showing that now in two back-to-back road games where we feel confident. The guys on the bench can sense the confidence in him. It's nice to see as a freshman, that's for sure."

After Harvard registered the first eight shot attempts of the second period, five of which were on goal in the opening 3:23, Castagna netted his first goal of the night, converting a give-and-go with junior defenseman Hoyt Stanley. Sophomore forward Charlie Major also factored on the tally.



DiGiulian gave Cornell its first lead of the night 1:21 into the third period, depositing a loose rebound of a shot taken by his classmate Caton Ryan. Sophomore defenseman Luke Ashton initiated the scoring chance for the Big Red after poking the puck off Lane's stick.



With under three minutes remaining in regulation, freshman forward Aiden Long blocked a shot, leading to Castagna's short-handed breakaway chance. The junior forward beat Harvard goaltender Ben Charette to his blocker side to ice the game.



POSTGAME INTERVIEW WITH FRESHMAN GOALTENDER ALEXIS COURNOYER


GAME NOTES
• Cornell increased its series lead over Harvard to 84-71-14 and extended its unbeaten streak against the Crimson to six games (5-0-1). The streak is tied for the fourth-longest in the rivalry's history and marks the Big Red's longest span without a loss to Harvard since a six-game win streak from Nov. 22, 2002, to Nov. 5, 2004.

LONGEST UNBEATEN STREAKS. VS. HARVARD
Cornell 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
• 6 games (5-0-1) — Jan. 26, 2024 – Present

• Cornell improved to 9-3-4 in its last 16 games at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center, dating back to 2009-10.

• DiGiulian's third-period goal extended his season-opening goal streak to three games, making him the only Division I freshman to score in his first three career games this season. The South Burlington, Vt., native became just the second Cornell freshman to accomplish the feat, joining Trent Andison (1987-88).

• The three-game goal-scoring streak by DiGiulian is tied for the longest active streak by a freshman in Division I hockey with Augustana's Leonid Bulgakov, Lindenwood's Louis-Phillippe Fontaine, and LIU's Dylan Kinch.

LONGEST ACTIVE GOAL-SCORING STREAKS
Division I Freshmen
• 3 games, Leonid Bulgakov (Augustana)
• 3 games, Gio DiGiulian (Cornell)
• 3 games, Louis-Phillippe Fontaine (Lindenwood)
• 3 games, Dylan Kinch (LIU)

• DiGiulian became the 42nd player in program history to score in the team's first three games of a season and the first since Joel Lowry in 2013-14.

• DiGiulian is the ninth first-year eligible player to score in Cornell's first three games of a season, joining Dave Barlow and Morgan Holmes (1958-59), Jerry Kostandoff (1961-62), Mike Doran and Harry Orr (1964-65), Bill Lewis (1967-68), Brian McCutcheon (1968-69), and Andison.

PLAYERS TO SCORE IN FIRST THREE GAMES OF FIRST SEASON WITH CORNELL
Cornell Program History
• 1958-59 — Dave Barlow (So., 3 games, 3 goals)
• 1958-59 — Morgan Holmes (So., 3 games, 4 goals)
• 1961-62 — Jerry Kostandoff (So., 3 games, 5 goals)
• 1964-65 — Mike Doran (So., 3 games, 3 goals)
• 1964-65 — Harry Orr (So., 3 games, 4 goals)
• 1967-68 — Bill Lewis (So., 3 games, 4 goals)
• 1968-69 — Brian McCutcheon (So., 3 games, 3 goals)
• 1987-88 — Trent Andison (Fr., 3 games, 4 goals)
• 2025-26 — Gio DiGiulian (Fr., 3 games, 3 goals)

• Since the 1975-76 season, when freshmen were first eligible to play for the Big Red, DiGiulian is the seventh freshman to record at least three goals through Cornell's first three games. Andison leads with four goals, while Kent Manderville (1989-90), David Kozier (1998-99), Byron Bitz (2003-04), Joakim Ryan (2011-12), and Anthony Angello (2015-16) also achieved the milestone.

MOST GOALS BY CORNELL FRESHMAN THROUGH FIRST THREE GAMES OF SEASON
Since 1975-76 (First Year Freshmen Eligible to Play)
• 4 goals, Trent Andison (1987-88)
• 3 goals, Kent Manderville (1989-90)
• 3 goals, David Kozier (1998-99)
• 3 goals, Byron Bitz (2003-04)
• 3 goals, Joakim Ryan (2011-12)
• 3 goals, Anthony Angello (2015-16)
• 3 goals, Gio DiGiulian (2025-26)

• Castagna recorded Cornell's first short-handed goal against Harvard since forward Madison Dias '15 did so during his junior season on Jan. 17, 2014, also at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center.

NEXT UP
Cornell concludes its season-opening four-game road trip on Saturday, Nov. 8, when it visits Dartmouth (3-0-0, 1-0-0 ECAC Hockey) at Thompson Arena in Hanover, N.H. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m., with game action streamed live on ESPN+.

The Big Green enter Saturday's contest coming off a 4-1 victory over Colgate on Friday night. Hayden Stovroff posted a goal and two assists, while CJ Foley added a goal and an assist to lead Dartmouth to its third straight win to open the season.

"Tonight we could have managed the game a little bit better with our pucks between the blue lines," Jones said, looking ahead to Dartmouth. "Dartmouth's the same type of team where they can pounce on you with transition and get numbers up the ice. It's one of the harder trips of the year, so we've got to take care of ourselves and get ready for a big game tomorrow."