ITHACA, N.Y. — Cornell men's hockey freshman goaltender Alexis Cournoyer has been named a semifinalist for the 2026 Mike Richter Award, the Hockey Commissioners Association announced Friday afternoon (Feb. 13).

Cournoyer, a native of Trois-Rivières, Québec, is one of 10 semifinalists for the award, which has been presented annually since 2014 to the top goaltender in men's Division I hockey. The semifinalists were selected from a watch list of 29 goaltenders released on Jan. 14 by a panel of voters comprising coaches, administrators, scouts and media.

Five of the six NCAA Division I conferences are represented among the semifinalists. Hockey East leads with three nominees, while the Big Ten, CCHA and ECAC Hockey each have multiple selections. The NCHC has one netminder named. Joining Cournoyer from ECAC Hockey is Dartmouth junior Emmett Croteau.

Three finalists will be selected and announced in early March, setting up the announcement of this year's Mike Richter Award winner during the weekend of the Men's Frozen Four in Las Vegas in April.

The recognition makes Cournoyer Cornell's third goaltender to reach the semifinal stage of the Mike Richter Award and the first since Ian Shane '25 during the 2023-24 campaign. Matthew Galajda is the lone Big Red netminder named a semifinalist multiple times, finishing as a two-time finalist for the award in 2018 and 2020.

Cournoyer has been stellar through his first 19 collegiate games, posting a 14-5-0 record with a 1.91 goals-against average and .922 save percentage. Among Division I goaltenders who have played at least 33 percent of their team's minutes, he ranks fifth nationally in goals-against average.

The freshman's 1.91 goals-against average through his first 19 career games ranks fourth among Cornell goaltenders since 2005-06, trailing Mitch Gillam (1.53, 2013-15), Galajda (1.61, 2017-18) and Shane (1.76, 2021–22). His goals-against average also ranks third among qualifying in the category, trailing North Dakota's Jan Špunar (1.76) and Providence's Jack Parsons (1.89).

Among Cornell goaltenders in the modern era (since 1957-58), Cournoyer joins an elite group of seven to record at least 14 wins in their first 19 career appearances: Ken Dryden '69 (18), Brian Cropper '71 (16), Dave LeNeveu and Galajda (15 each), and Dave Elenbaas '72 and Brian Hayward '82 (14 each).

The ninth-ranked Big Red (17-6-0, 12-4-0 ECAC Hockey) enters the weekend tied for second place in the conference and return to the ice tonight when it faces RPI (7-21-0, 4-12-0 ECAC Hockey) to begin a four-game road trip. Puck drop from Houston Field House is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET, with game action streaming live on ESPN+.

MIKE RICHTER AWARD SEMIFINALISTS
Trey Augustine (Michigan State)
Emmett Croteau (Dartmouth)
Alexis Cournoyer (Cornell)
Michael Hrabal (UMass)
Jack Ivankovic (Michigan)
Josh Kotai (Augustana)
Tyler Muszelik (UConn)
Jan Špunar (North Dakota)
Alex Tracy (Minnesota State)
Lawton Zacher (Northeastern)