ITHACA, N.Y. — Senior goaltender Remington Keopple made 20 saves, including a crucial blocker save with under a minute to go, to backstop the 11th-ranked Cornell men's hockey team to its 2-1 victory over Clarkson on Senior Night before a sold-out crowd at Lynah Rink on Saturday night.

Freshman forward Caton Ryan broke a scoreless tie with his 11th goal of the season on a second-period power play before junior defenseman Hoyt Stanley's third-period tally proved to be the game-winner, lifting Cornell (20-8-1, 15-6-1 ECAC Hockey) to its 20th win of the season — the program's best regular-season record since 2019-20.

Stanley's goal, however, came at a cost — the defenseman was assessed a five-minute major for hitting from behind and a game misconduct with 4:31 remaining, forcing the Big Red to survive a frantic push by Clarkson (15-16-3, 9-10-3 ECAC Hockey) and setting the stage for Keopple's decisive late stop.

Cornell and Clarkson were held scoreless after the opening 20 minutes of play, largely due to the Big Red blocking nine first-period shots. Six of those nine blocks came while the Golden Knights were on their three power plays.

Junior forwards Jake Kraft – who was playing in his 100th career collegiate game – and Jonathan Castagna and sophomore defenseman Michael Fisher blocked two shots apiece in the period. Fisher and Castagna recorded both of their blocked shots while on the penalty kill.

Fisher appeared to have scored his first goal as a member of the Big Red five-plus minutes into the second period, but Clarkson successfully challenged the play for offsides and the goal was overturned.

The Big Red officially took the lead when Ryan took a drop-pass breakout from junior defenseman George Fegaras on the power play, wristing a shot from the top of the slot as he entered the offensive zone, beating Clarkson's Shane Soderwall to his high glove hand at the 10:04 mark of the second period.

"I just made a bit of an adjustment during the intermission," Ryan said. "I thought I'd throw a sneaky shot and was fortunate enough to go in."

Cornell doubled its lead early in the third period as Stanley saw an opening on the left side of the ice following an offensive-zone faceoff win by junior forward Ryan Walsh, and Stanley's shot on the edge of the goal crease trickled past Soderwall.

Tristan Sarsland initiated Clarkson's lone goal of the night by dropping the puck back to Talon Sigurdson in the defensive zone, then sprinted up ice to receive a stretch pass at the blue line, splitting a pair of Big Red defenders before beating Keopple on a quick breakaway just past the midway point of the third period.

Cornell was tested late in the contest as Stanley was assessed a five-minute major for hitting from behind and a game misconduct with 4:31 remaining in regulation.

"You can't put yourself in front of the team," said Casey Jones '90, the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Cornell Men's Hockey. "Our penalty kill was huge at the end to get that done."

The Golden Knights threw three shots on goal against Keopple during their 3:52 of power-play time in the final five minutes, which included his crucial blocker save on a deflected shot from the point by Matthew Mayich with under a minute to go.

"It was a shot on the ice and I heard it hit a stick," Keopple said. "I don't know if I caught it in the corner of my eye, but it's just reflexes — I stuck my blocker out and got it somehow. I think that was a little bit of luck."

Clarkson's power play would end prematurely as Sarsland was called for interference with 39.8 seconds to go after he brought Castagna down to the ice, ultimately preventing what could have ended as a short-handed empty-net goal.

During the remaining 39.8 seconds, which included Clarkson playing with an extra attacker for the final 32 seconds, the Big Red allowed two shot attempts – one that was saved by Keopple and another that was blocked by sophomore defenseman Luke Ashton.

"Good teams always find a way," Ryan said. "I think that was one of those games. Great job done tonight."

POSTGAME COMMENTS FROM CASEY JONES '90, REMINGTON KEOPPLE AND CATON RYAN


GAME NOTES
• Cornell improved its lead in the all-time series against Clarkson to 75-61-20 and has won four of the last five at Lynah Rink.

• The Big Red finished regular-season play with a 20-8-1 record, its 15th time having at least 20 regular-season wins and first since 2019-20 (23-2-4). The 15 wins in ECAC Hockey play were its most since 2022-23, when it also went 15-6-1, and marked its 17th time with 15-plus conference wins in a season.

MOST REGULAR-SEASON WINS
Cornell Program History
• 24-0-0, 1969-70
• 24-4-1, 2002-03
• 23-1-0, 1967-68
• 23-1-0, 1968-69
• 23-4-2, 2017-18
• 23-2-4, 2019-20
• 22-1-1, 1966-67
• 22-4-3, 2004-05
• 21-3-0, 1970-71
• 21-6-2, 2001-02
• 20-4-0, 1965-66
• 20-4-0, 1971-72
• 20-3-1, 1972-73
• 20-5-1, 1978-79
• 20-8-1, 2025-26
 
• With his second-period goal, Ryan is one of eight freshmen players over the last 20 years to net 11 goals in their first collegiate season.

MOST GOALS SCORED BY A CORNELL FRESHMAN
Last 20 Years (Since 2006-07)
• 12, Michael Regush (2018-19)
• 12, Ondrej Psenicka (2021-22)
• 12, Ryan Walsh (2023-24)
• 12, Riley Nash (2007-08)
• 11, Colin Greening (2006-07)
• 11, Anthony Angello (2015-16)
• 11, Jonathan Castagna (2023-24)
• 11, Caton Ryan (2025-26)

• Ryan now has 27 points on the season (11-16—27), which serves as the most by a Cornell freshman since Riley Nash (12-20—32) during the 2007-08 season. He is the third Big Red freshman this century and eighth first-year player in the last 40 years to register at least 27 points in his first collegiate season.

MOST POINTS BY A CORNELL FRESHMAN
Last 40 Years (Since 1986-87)
• 38, Trent Andison (21-17—38), 1987-88
• 33, Ryan Vesce (11-22—33), 1995-96
• 32, Doug Derraugh (11-21—32), 1987-88
• 32, Riley Nash (12-20—32), 2007-08
• 28, Denis Ladouceur (14-14—28), 1998-99
• 27, Ryan Moynihan (8-19—27), 1996-97
• 27, Ryan Vesce (7-20—27), 2000-01
• 27, Caton Ryan (11-16—27), 2025-26

• Fegaras notched a point in his fourth consecutive game, besting a pair of three-game point streaks, with the most recent one coming between Nov. 8-15 earlier this season.

• Clarkson's third-period power-play goal snapped Keopple's career-long shutout streak at 111 minutes, 28 seconds.

HOBEY BAKER MEMORIAL AWARD VOTING
Cornell fans are encouraged to continue to support junior forwards Ryan Walsh and Jonathan Castagna, both of whom have been nominated for the 2026 Hobey Baker Memorial Award. Fan voting for college hockey's top player runs through midnight on Sunday, March 8.

Fans can vote online at hobeybaker.com/vote or text their vote to 844-623-9688 (text "26089" for Walsh or "26090" for Castagna). Fans may vote for one player per day.

The Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner will be announced on Friday, April 10, in Las Vegas during the NCAA Frozen Four.

UP NEXT
Cornell will wait to see who its opponent will be in a best-of-three quarterfinal series following the completion of next weekend's four opening-round games to begin the 2026 ECAC Hockey Championship. As the No. 3 seed, the Big Red will play the second-highest remaining seed.

The best-of-three quarterfinal series will have guaranteed games on Friday, March 13 and Saturday, March 14, and a game on Sunday, March 15, if necessary. Puck drop for Friday and Saturday's games will be 7 p.m., while Sunday's game (if needed) will be at 4 p.m. Ticket sales will begin Monday, March 9, at 9 a.m. EDT.