HAMDEN, Conn. — Junior forward Jonathan Castagna and freshman Aiden Long each registered four-point nights as the 11th-ranked Cornell men's hockey team posted a resounding 6-1 victory over No. 5 Quinnipiac before a sold-out crowd at M&T Bank Arena on Friday night.

"I thought it was as complete a game as we've played," said Casey Jones '90, the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Cornell Men's Ice Hockey. "Great bounce back after last weekend, where we didn't think we were very connected and dialed in on our identity. I thought we put our best foot forward tonight."

Long and Castagna, along with their linemate, freshman Caton Ryan, combined for 10 of the 18 points posted by the Big Red. Jones credited the trio as a driving force, but emphasized it was far from a one-line effort.

"It was one of those nights where the three of them were on," he said. "They can make plays and they were playing with pace. But we had no passengers tonight — we were really connected in units of five on the ice. I thought we sustained it for 60 minutes, which was great."

Sophomore forward Charlie Major scored twice while freshman forward Reegan Hiscock chipped in two assists for Cornell (18-7-1, 13-5-1 ECAC Hockey), which secured an opening-round bye for next month's ECAC Hockey Championship and will host a best-of-three quarterfinal series at Lynah Rink on March 13-15.

The Big Red struck first, benefiting from Ethan Wyttenbach, the nation's leading scorer, losing control of the puck on the goal line in Quinnipiac's offensive zone, resulting in Cornell having a 3-on-1 odd-man rush. After receiving a pass from Ryan, Castagna dropped the puck back to Long, who showed great patience to wait for Silverstein to over commit before pushing the puck into the yawning net 6:47 into the contest.

"You get that bounce and all of a sudden it's off and running confidence-wise," Jones said. "Sometimes we didn't reap the benefits of our good starts, so it was really nice."

The Big Red doubled its lead in the final minute of the first period when sophomore defenseman Luke Ashton displayed his stick skills, evading a Quinnipiac defender to gain separation before his wrist shot squeaked through Silverstein's near side.

Quinnipiac cut the deficit in half early in the second period as Ben Riche netted his first collegiate goal, one-timing a pass from Brady Schultz in the mid-slot past freshman goaltender Alexis Cournoyer. But the one-goal lead quickly ballooned into a three-goal Cornell advantage in the second as Castagna and Major scored twice in a span of 1:34. Two more goals in quick succession in the third period — Ryan and Major scoring 56 seconds apart — gave the Big Red a 6-1 cushion and put the game out of reach.

One of the bigger storylines of the night was the Big Red's ability to neutralize Wyttenbach, who was held without a point for the first time since Jan. 3 vs. Dartmouth, snapping a 12-game point streak, and just the fourth time in 32 games. Cournoyer's second-period stop on a Wyttenbach breakaway proved to be a pivotal moment.

"I just thought it was a collective effort," Jones said of holding Wyttenbach scoreless. "Our 'D' really broke pucks out well tonight. They managed the game and didn't give a whole lot of second-chance opportunities. That was a big, timely save from Cournoyer. Sometimes it just was one of those nights where we didn't give them a whole lot."

Cournoyer finished with 24 saves on 25 shots to post his 15th win of the season, with Dylan Silverstein making 24 saves in the setback for the Bobcats (24-6-3, 15-3-1 ECAC Hockey), who saw their 19-game home unbeaten streak come to an end.

Jones acknowledged he didn't see a performance of this magnitude coming against the nation's fifth-ranked team.

"I'd be lying if I said yes," he said with a laugh. "They hadn't lost at home yet, so we knew it was going to be a tough game coming in. They were scoring at a high rate and we were collectively dialed in to make sure we were playing the right way to give ourselves a chance. It just went our way tonight."

GAME NOTES
• Cornell, which improved to 29-22-6 all-time against Quinnipiac, tied the program record for most goals in a road game against Quinnipiac. The Big Red previously scored six goals in a 6-0 shutout at the Northford Ice Pavilion on Jan. 13, 2006.

• The five-goal victory was Cornell's largest against Quinnipiac since a 9-1 win at Lynah Rink on March 9, 2018, in the quarterfinals of the ECAC Hockey Championship.

• Cornell became the first team to hold Quinnipiac to one goal or fewer on the Bobcats' home ice since Northeastern posted a 5-1 victory on Jan. 4, 2025. The five-goal margin of victory was the largest by an opponent at M&T Bank Arena since Yale also defeated Quinnipiac by a 6-1 score on Feb. 18, 2011.

• With their four-point nights, Long and Castagna became the first Big Red tandem to have at least four points in the same game since Ben Berard '23 (1-3—4) and Nick DeSantis (0-4—4) in a 6-4 win at RPI on Jan. 7, 2023.

• Castagna (14-17—31) became the first Cornell player with at least 30 points within the team's first 26 games since Gabriel Seger '24 (11-22—33) during the 2023-24 campaign. He is also Cornell's seventh player (eighth occurrence) this century with 30 points within the Big Red's first 26 games of a season.

MOST POINTS WITHIN FIRST 26 GAMES OF SEASON
Cornell Program History – Since 2000-01
• 37, Ryan Vesce (15-22—37), 2002-03
• 33, Stephen Bâby (8-25—33), 2002-03
• 33, Gabriel Seger (11-22—33), 2023-24
• 32, Matt Moulson (14-17—32), 2005-06
• 32, Blake Gallagher (17-15—32), 2009-10
• 31, Matt Moulson (16-15—31), 2003-04
• 31, Morgan Barron (13-18—31), 2019-20
• 31, Jonathan Castagna (14-17—31), 2025-26

• Long (9-11—20) increased his season total to 20 points, making him Cornell's third freshman with at least 20 points, joining defenseman Xavier Veilleux (5-18—23) and Caton Ryan (9-15—24). The trio are the second set of first-year teammates with at least 20 points in a season, joining Castagna (11-14—25), Ryan Walsh (12-10—22) and former defenseman Ben Robertson (5-18—23) during the 2023-24 season.

• Friday marked Cornell's first game without penalties on either side since a 3-2 win at Princeton on Jan. 4, 2019. It was the third Division I game this season without infractions, joining Miami and Lindenwood (Oct. 25, 2025) and Vermont and Boston University (Dec. 6, 2025).

UP NEXT
Cornell will conclude its four-game road trip on Saturday, Feb. 21, when it travels to Princeton (14-11-2, 10-8-1 ECAC Hockey). Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+. Princeton is coming off a 1-1 tie with Colgate on Friday night, with Tyler Rubin scoring halfway through the third period to tie the contest.

"This was a good overall collective effort that we can bank right now — but we don't want to savor it too much," Jones stated. "It's a big game tomorrow with the way the standings are going and it would be important for us to get right back mentally. This trip is hard."