HAMILTON, N.Y. — Two-point nights from senior forwards Kyler Kovich (two assists) and Kyle Penney (one goal and one assist), along with freshman Charlie Major (two assists), led the No. 6-seeded Cornell men's hockey team (15-10-6) to a 4-1 victory against No. 3-seeded Colgate (18-14-3) at the Class of 1965 Arena on Friday night in the first game of a best-of-three quarterfinal series of the 2025 ECAC Hockey Championship.

Joining Penney in scoring were senior forwards Jack O'Leary and Sullivan Mack and sophomore forward Jonathan Castagna. Senior goaltender Ian Shane stopped 21 of the 22 shots he faced between the pipes for the Big Red.

Alex DiPaolo scored Colgate's only goal of the night, netting a late power-play goal in the second period. Andrew Takacs made 24 saves in the loss for the Raiders.

After both teams combined for five shots on goal in the first 11 minutes of the game, Cornell drew first blood after Shane stopped a Colgate shot. The rebound went to the far corner, allowing Penney to chip the puck up to freshman forward Charlie Major in the Big Red's defensive zone. Major then carried it into the offensive zone during a 3-on-2 scoring chance. After skating to the left faceoff circle, Major passed to Penney at the top of the slot, who blasted a snapshot past Takacs.

With under nine minutes remaining in the second period, Cornell doubled its lead as O'Leary seized a loose rebound at the right post after Takacs saved a shot from the right faceoff circle by sophomore defenseman Hoyt Stanley.



Colgate halved the Big Red lead just 14 seconds into its first power play when DiPaolo redirected a shot from the left point by Reid Irwin with under two minutes remaining in the frame.

The Big Red regained its two-goal lead with 12:01 remaining in the third period when Cornell scored its second goal from a loose rebound at the right post, with Castagna sending the puck past Takacs.



During a late power play, Mack scored into an empty net for Colgate, securing the Big Red's victory after he took advantage of a give-and-go with Kovich.



GAME NOTES
• Friday marked the 171st meeting between Cornell and Colgate as the Big Red increased its lead in the series to 91-63-17.

• Cornell now boasts a 6-2-1 record inside the Class of 1965 Arena and is 12-3-2 over its last 18 games played in Hamilton.

• With Friday's win, Cornell improved to 10-3 all-time against Colgate in the ECAC Hockey Championship.

• Cornell improved to 61-21-3 (.735) all-time in the quarterfinals of the ECAC Hockey Championship and has won its last five games in the round. The five-game win streak within the quarterfinals is the program's longest win streak within the playoff round since collecting five straight wins between the 2009 and 2011 seasons.

LONGEST WIN STREAKS IN ECAC QUARTERFINALS
Cornell Program History
• 12 games, March 8, 1966 – March 8, 1977
• 6 games, March 6, 1979 – March 7, 1986
• 5 games, March 2, 1990 – March 7, 1992
• 5 games, March 14, 2009 – March 11, 2011
• 5 games, March 10, 2023 - Present

• With his assist on Penney's first-period goal, Major upped his point streak to three games, his longest stretch of games with a point this season. He previously had points in consecutive games on three previous occasions. Major has also posted assists in back-to-back games for the third time this season. It is his first time notching assists in consecutive games since Feb. 14 (at Brown) and Feb. 15 (at Yale).

• Having notched the secondary assist on Penney's first-period goal, senior defenseman Michael Suda has recorded assists in his last three games, marking the longest point and assist streak of his collegiate career.

• Stanley's secondary assist on O'Leary's second-period goal upped his point streak to three games, matching his longest span of games with a point in his collegiate career. Stanley had points in three straight games between Jan. 13-20, 2024, all coming from assists.

• Penney recorded his second multi-point game of the season, his first since scoring twice at Dartmouth on Nov. 15. The assist on Castagna's third-period goal was Penney's first in 19 games (March 30, 2024, vs. Denver).

• Mack's power-play goal into an empty net was the seventh time in Cornell program history it scored an empty-net goal while on a power play. It was the first since Tyler Roeszler on Feb. 4, 2011, against Clarkson.

POWER-PLAY GOALS INTO AN EMPTY NET
Cornell Program History
• Feb. 21, 1972, vs. Harvard (Larry Fullan)
• Jan. 3, 1975, vs. Boston College (Steve Bajinski)
• March 7, 1981, vs. Yale (Jeff Baikie)
• Nov. 1, 1997, vs. Northeastern (Vinnie Auger)
• March 13, 2010, vs. Harvard (Colin Greening)
• Feb. 4, 2011, vs. Clarkson (Tyler Roeszler)
• March 14, 2025, at Colgate (Sullivan Mack)

• Kovich's two-assist game was his first multi-point game of his collegiate career.

• After making 21 saves, Shane increased his career total to 2,198, trailing David McKee by 10 stops for seventh all-time in Cornell program history. Shane is also 27 saves away from tying Brian Hayward for sixth and 30 saves shy of matching Corrie D'Alessio for fifth place.

GOALTENDERS WITH 2,000 SAVES
Cornell Program History
1. Andy Iles (2010-14) – 2,988 saves
2. Ben Scrivens (2006-10) – 2,872 saves
3. Jason Elliott (1994-98) – 2,462 saves
4. Mitch Gillam (2013-17) – 2,403 saves
5. Corrie D'Alessio (1987-91) – 2,228 saves
6. Brian Hayward (1978-82) – 2,225 saves
7. David McKee (2003-06) – 2,208 saves
8. Ian Shane (2021-Present) – 2,198 saves
9. Darren Eliot (1979-83) – 2,143 saves
10. Matt Underhill (1998-02) – 2,052 saves

UP NEXT
Cornell and Colgate will return to the ice at the Class of 1965 Arena on Saturday night as the Big Red seeks to clinch its spot in next weekend's championship weekend in Lake Placid, N.Y., for a third consecutive season.

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