ITHACA, N.Y. — Jake Kraft scored twice and freshman goaltender Alexis Cournoyer stopped all 16 shots he faced to record his first collegiate shutout, lifting the ninth-ranked Cornell men's hockey team to a dominant 4-0 victory over Harvard before a sold-out crowd of 4,267 at Lynah Rink on Saturday night.

The win forces a decisive Game 3 between the third-seeded Big Red (21-9-1) and sixth-seeded Crimson (16-15-2) on Sunday at 4 p.m. at Lynah Rink.

Kraft's linemates — junior forward Ryan Walsh and freshman forward Caton Ryan — each recorded two assists, as did sophomore forward Charlie Major. Cornell dominated territorially, outshooting Harvard 32-16. Crimson goaltender Ben Charette finished with 28 saves in the loss.

Cornell wasted little time establishing control, scoring twice in the opening 8:28. Senior forward Nick DeSantis opened the scoring nearly six minutes in, finishing off an aggressive forecheck with a sharp-angle shot from the bottom of the faceoff circle that found its way through Charette's five-hole. It was the kind of opportunistic strike that would define the Big Red's night.

Kraft extended the lead less than three minutes later on a nearly identical sequence. Ryan stripped the puck on another Cornell forecheck, Walsh fired a sharp-angle shot that Charette stopped and Kraft was there at the edge of the crease to bury the rebound.

The junior forward struck again 5:16 into the second period, this time with more room to operate. Ryan started the play with a breakout pass to Walsh, who found Kraft in stride on a 2-on-1. Kraft one-timed Walsh's feed past Charette to push the lead to three.

Junior defenseman Hoyt Stanley provided the exclamation point with under six minutes remaining in regulation, finishing off a cross-slot feed from Major by lasering a wrist shot past Charette's low glove hand to the far side of the goal for Cornell's first power-play tally of the series, on its first true man-advantage opportunity of the weekend.

POSTGAME COMMENTS FROM CASEY JONES '90, JAKE KRAFT AND ALEXIS COURNOYER


GAME NOTES
• Cornell improved to 86-72-14 all-time against Harvard and is 7-1-1 in its last eight meetings with the Crimson. In postseason play against Harvard at Lynah Rink, the Big Red improved to 10-1-1.

• The victory forced a decisive Game 3, marking the 11th time in program history since 1983 — the first season of the best-of-three quarterfinal format — that Cornell will play a winner-take-all game for a spot in the ECAC Hockey semifinals. It is the ninth time in 22 years the Big Red will play a decisive quarterfinal (lost to Clarkson in 2004; beat RPI in 2009; beat Quinnipiac in 2011; lost to Quinnipiac in 2013; beat Clarkson in 2014; lost to Quinnipiac in 2016; beat Clarkson in 2017; beat Union in 2019; lost to Colgate in 2022).

• Ryan raised his season point total to 29 after a two-point outing (11-18—29), the most by a Cornell freshman since Riley Nash (12-20—32) in 2007-08. He is the second Big Red freshman this century and the fifth first-year player in the last 40 years to reach at least 29 points in his debut 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
• 29, Caton Ryan (11-18—29), 2025-26
• 28, Denis Ladouceur (14-14—28), 1998-99

• Freshman defenseman Xavier Veilleux's assist on Stanley's power-play goal gave him 19 assists on the season, the most by a Cornell freshman defenseman in program history — tying Chris Norton '88 (4-19—23), and matching the totals of Larry Tobin (4-19—23 in 1979-80), Ryan Moynihan (8-19—27 in 1996-97) and Topher Scott (5-19—24 in 2004-05) for seventh in program history. His 19 assists are also the most by any Cornell freshman since Nash's 20 in 2007-08.

MOST ASSIST BY A CORNELL FRESHMAN
Cornell Program History
• 30, Roy Kerling (29-30—59), 1977-78
• 27, Lance Nethery (18-27—45), 1975-76
• 24, Joe Nieuwendyk (21-24—45), 1984-85
• 22, Kyle Knopp (11-22—33), 1995-96
• 21, Doug Derraugh (11-21—32), 1987-88
• 20, Ryan Vesce (7-20—27), 2000-01
• 20, Riley Nash (12-20—32), 2007-08
• 19, Larry Tobin (4-19—23), 1979-80
• 19, Chris Norton (4-19—23), 1984-85
• 19, Ryan Moynihan (8-19—27), 1996-97
• 19, Topher Scott (5-19—24), 2004-05
• 19, Xavier Veilleux (6-19—25), 2025-26

• Cournoyer became the second Cornell goaltender in program history to shut out Harvard in a postseason game, joining Ben Scrivens '10, who made 25 saves in a 3-0 victory at Lynah Rink on March 13, 2010. It was Cornell's first overall shutout since Ian Shane '25 blanked Colgate 3-0 at the Class of 1965 Arena on March 15, 2025, a win that helped secure the Big Red's third consecutive trip to Lake Placid.

• Saturday marked Cornell's first shutout of Harvard since Jan. 26, 2024, when Shane backstopped the Big Red to a 2-0 win in Cambridge. The last time Cornell had held the Crimson scoreless at Lynah Rink was Jan. 18, 2019, when Matthew Galajda made 25 saves in a 2-0 victory.

• Cornell's record this season improved to 14-2-0 when scoring first, 21-2-0 with two or more goals, 17-0-0 with three or more, and 13-0-1 when allowing fewer than two.

UP NEXT
Cornell and Harvard meet in a decisive Game 3 on Sunday, March 15, at Lynah Rink, with a berth in the ECAC Hockey Championship semifinals on the line. Puck drop is set for 4 p.m., with the game streaming live on ESPN+.

The winner will face fourth-seeded Princeton (17-12-3) in the semifinals of the 2026 ECAC Hockey Championship on Friday, March 20, at the 1980 Rink — Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, N.Y.