Cornell Punches Ticket to Albany With Sweep of Union

Box Score

SCHENECTADY, NY -- Sophomore goaltender Ben Scrivens posted a career playoff-high 41 saves as the Cornell men's hockey team clinched a berth in the ECAC Hockey semifinals with a 3-2 victory over Union on Saturday at Messa Rink at Achilles Center.

The Big Red, which was on the losing end of a sweep in the quarterfinals a year ago as the fourth seed to fifth-seeded Quinnipiac, turned the tables on Union this season. Union, which had won the tiebreaker over Cornell for the fourth seed, was dropped by Cornell in two straight contests with the Big Red advancing to next weekend's championship weekend in Albany, N.Y.

Cornell came out hot, putting the first five shots of the game on the Union goal, but freshman goalie Corey Milan stopped them all. Union struck first, scoring a power-play goal at the 8:16 mark of the first period. Adam Presizniuk sent a shot on the Cornell goal that was tipped in by Stephane Boileau to put the Dutchmen ahead early.

The Big Red needed just 2:18 of the second period to knot the score at one. Patrick Kennedy took a feed from linemates Colin Greening and Riley Nash and ripped a shot past Milan.

The Big Red went ahead with eight and a half minutes left in the second period, capitalizing on a power-play chance generated by a charging penalty on Union's Michael Benyon. Brendon Nash sent a shot on the goal that was initially stopped by Milan, but Blake Gallagher was there to jam the loose puck into the open goal.

Like the second meeting of the year between the two teams when Union rallied from a 2-1 deficit after two periods, the Dutchmen again knotted the score at two, This time, it was a pass across the ice to the back post from Boileau for Lane Caffaro, who stuffed the puck into the back post to knot the score at two just 3:16 into the third period.

Cornell received a key break when, already on a short power play following a holding the stick call against Union's Boileau, got a 5-on-3 chance following a too many men on the ice call against the Dutchmen. The Big Red capitalized again on the power play, this time with Evan Barlow firing a shot past Milan for the go-ahead tally.

A holding call on Michael Kennedy with 3:24 to play in the third period gave Union a chance to salvage its season with a tying goal, but the penalty killing unit, backstopped by Scrivens, stopped a trio of Union chances to keep the Dutchmen off the board. Even a timeout by Union coach Nate Leaman with 2:12 to play, followed by pulling Milan for a 6-on-4 advantage, could not result in the Dutchmen finding the tying score.

Cornell finished the game 2-for-6 on the power play, adding in six seconds worth at the end of the game, while Union was 1-for-6 with the man advantage. Union goaltender Corey Milan stopped 18 shots in taking the loss.

Cornell will now await its semifinal opponent for Friday's contest, as each of the three other quarterfinal matchups are bound for a deciding third game with the road team winning all four league games on Saturday. The semifinal games will be played at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Friday, March 21, at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y., and will be televised live on Time Warner Sports and the NHL Network with tape-delay on SportsNet New York.