ITHACA, N.Y. — Junior forward Jonathan Castagna broke a 2-2 tie with 1:19 remaining before the 14th-ranked Cornell men's hockey team added two empty-net goals six seconds apart to defeat Alaska 5-2 on Saturday night at Lynah Rink and complete a weekend sweep of the Nanooks.

Castagna tallied the latter empty-net goal as part of a two-goal night, while classmate Ryan Walsh had two goals and one assist. Junior defenseman Hoyt Stanley also had a multi-point night, assisting on a pair of goals as the Big Red (11-4-0) won its fifth straight game and 10th consecutive home contest.

Senior goaltender Remington Keopple earned the Saturday start for the third consecutive weekend and made 15 saves in the victory to improve to 3-1-0.

Peyton Platter factored on both goals for Alaska (5-13-1) and was joined in the scoring column by Jhett Larson. Calvin Vachon made 19 saves between the pipes in the setback for the Nanooks.

Picking up where it left off Friday, Cornell opened the scoring at 14:09 of the first period with its fourth power-play goal of the weekend as Walsh one-timed a cross-slot pass from freshman defenseman Xavier Veilleux at the left faceoff circle. Stanley earned the secondary assist for his fourth helper of the weekend.

After Platter tied the game nearly five minutes into the second period, Cornell swiftly retook the lead 66 seconds later as sophomore forward Charlie Major, assisted by linemates Walsh and junior forward Luke Devlin, beat Vachon with a wrist shot from the base of the right faceoff circle.

Cornell carried a 2-1 lead into the third period before Alaska tied the game at 2-2 with under nine minutes remaining in regulation as Larson capitalized on a rebound of Michael Citara's shot immediately following an offensive-zone faceoff win by Platter.

Following coincidental minor penalties with 3:27 remaining in the third, Cornell capitalized on Castagna exiting the penalty box at the opportune moment. Freshman forward Caton Ryan delivered a stretch pass from behind the Big Red goal line and Castagna streaked into the offensive zone on a breakaway, backhanding a shot past a sprawling Vachon for the game-winning goal.

"I got out [of the penalty box] and I was kind of floating because the puck was stalled, hoping that it would pop out and it did exactly what I was hoping for," Castagna said. "Everything after that was just kind of like, 'This puck's coming to me, I'm on a breakaway,' and then just put it in the back of the net. I kind of blacked out there."

With Alaska pressing in the offensive zone and an extra attacker on in the final minute, Walsh poked the puck free and scored into the empty net. After Cornell was assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, Alaska kept Vachon on the bench for a 6-on-4 advantage, but Castagna won the faceoff back to junior defenseman George Fegaras. Fegaras' shot at the empty net went wide, but Castagna retrieved the loose puck and buried a short-handed goal just six seconds after Walsh's tally.

POSTGAME COMMENTS FROM CASEY JONES '90 AND JONATHAN CASTAGNA


GAME NOTES
• Cornell improved to 5-0-0 all-time against Alaska, which includes a 4-0-0 mark at Lynah Rink.

• The Big Red improved to 8-0-0 at home, marking the 10th time in program history and first since 2004-05 that Cornell has started a season 8-0-0 at Lynah Rink. Including wins in its final two home games last season, Cornell's 10-game home winning streak is the longest active streak in Division I and is tied for the eighth-longest in program history. It is the Big Red's longest home win streak since posting 11 straight victories between Feb. 9, 2020, and Nov. 20, 2021, in the final games of a 21-game home unbeaten streak (19-0-2).

LONGEST ACTIVE HOME WIN STREAKS
Division I Hockey
• 10 games, Cornell
• 9 games, Quinnipiac
• 9 games, RIT
• 5 games, North Dakota

LONGEST WIN STREAKS AT HOME
Cornell Program History
• 63 games, Jan. 14, 1967 – Jan. 29, 1972
• 18 games, Feb. 23, 2002 – March 15, 2003
• 16 games, Feb. 12, 1972 – Feb. 17, 1973
• 13 games, Dec. 11, 1965 – Dec. 20, 1966
• 13 games, Jan. 19, 1977 – Dec. 30, 1977
• 11 games, Oct. 29, 2004 – Jan. 29, 2005
• 11 games, Feb. 9, 2020 – Nov. 20, 2021
• 10 games, Feb. 27, 1973 – Feb. 15, 1974
• 10 games, Feb. 22, 2025 – Present

• Cornell registered its 11th win in its 15th game of the season, marking the first time the program has posted 11th wins by game number 15 or earlier since 2021-22, when it had an 11-3-1 record. It is the 17th instance in program history that Cornell has reached a double-digit win total at or before the 15th game.

• Cornell improved to 9-0-0 this season when scoring the first goal and is now 10-0-0 when scoring at least three goals.

• The Big Red dominated in the faceoff circle, winning 39 of 62 draws (62.9 percent). Castagna went 17-for-26 (65.4 percent), matching his season high for faceoff wins (17 against Boston University in Red Hot Hockey on Nov. 30), while Walsh was 11-for-17 (64.7 percent).

• Castagna increased his career-long point streak to six games, where he has tallied 11 points (5-6—11). He has also totaled 15 of his 17 points this season (7-8—15) across his last 10 games, which includes him having a point in nine contests.

• With his short-handed empty-net goal, Castagna became the first Cornell player with three short-handed goals in a season since Mike Iggulden '05 had four in 2004-05. He is just the fifth player since 1980-81 to have at least three short-handed goals in a season, joining Randy MacFarlane '85 (three in 1984-85), Doug Derraugh '91 (three in 1990-91), Brad Chartrand '96 (three in 1995-96) and Iggulden.

• Ryan extended his point streak to five games, having 10 points (4-6—10) during the span. It is the longest point streak by a Cornell freshman since former defenseman Ben Robertson opened his collegiate career with points in his first seven games in 2023-24 and is the longest by a Big Red freshman forward since Nick DeSantis (six games) in 2022-23.

• Cornell netted its 15th power-play goal, nearly matching last season's power-play goal total (16). The Big Red has tallied at least one goal while on the man advantage in nine of its last 11 games, converting at a 36.1 percent clip (13-for-36), tied with North Dakota for second nationally over the span and trailing only Minnesota Duluth (42.4 percent – 14-for-33).

TOP POWER PLAYS SINCE NOV. 14
Division I Hockey
• 42.4 percent , Minnesota Duluth (14-for-33)
• 36.1 percent, Cornell (13-for-36)
• 36.1 percent, North Dakota (13-for-36)
• 34.6 percent, Minnesota (9-for-26)
• 33.3 percent, Augustana (13-for-39)

• With his assist on Walsh's first-period power-play goal, Veilleux now has points in six of his last seven games, posting 10 points (3-7—10). Nine of Veilleux's 12 points this season have come while the Big Red have been on the power play (4-5—9).

• The Big Red's three goals in 58 seconds marked the first time it had scored three goals in under a minute since doing so twice in its 10-1 rout of Union on Feb. 4, 2023. In that game, Cornell scored three goals in segments of 23 and 43 seconds.

• The six-second interval between Walsh and Castagna's empty-net 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
• 0:05, March 5, 1960, vs. Colgate (Morgan Holmes – 1:48 & Gerald Borofsky – 1:53) – 1st period
• 0:05, Feb. 14, 2020, vs. Union (Morgan Barron – 19:36 & Jack Malone – 19:41) – 3rd period - both empty-net goals
• 0:06, March 9, 1971, vs. Providence (Jim Higgs – 8:11 & Brian McCutcheon – 8:17) – 2nd period
• 0:06, Jan. 24, 2025, vs. Harvard (Jake Kraft – 1:17; Ryan Walsh – 1:23) – 1st period
• 0:06, Jan. 10, 2026, vs. Alaska (Ryan Walsh – 19:33 & Jonathan Castagna – 19:39) – 3rd period – both empty-net goals

NEXT UP
Cornell continues its program-record eight-game homestand next weekend when the homestretch of ECAC Hockey play begins when it welcomes No. 20 Princeton (11-5-0, 7-3-0 ECAC Hockey) and No. 8 Quinnipiac (16-4-2, 8-2-0 ECAC Hockey) to Lynah Rink.

The Big Red will square off against Princeton on Friday, Jan. 16, before hosting Quinnipiac the following night. Both games are scheduled for 7 p.m. puck drops, with game action streamed live on ESPN+. Next Saturday's contest against Quinnipiac will also air regionally live on SNY.