Cornell Erupts For 5-3 Win Over Quinnipiac

Photo by DSPics.com

Box score

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell scored three first-period goals, then held on as Quinnipiac rallied to tie the game, before scoring twice in the third period to take a 5-3 victory over the Bobcats in an ECAC Hockey game at Lynah Rink on Saturday night. Freshman defenseman Mike Devin scored a pair of goals and sophomore forward Colin Greening added three assists as the Big Red picked up its first victory of the season.

Cornell jumped out early, scoring three goals in the first seven and a half minutes to send Quinnipiac goalie Peter Vetri to the bench in favor of freshman backup Pat McGann. The Bobcats closed the gap with a goal in the first period, then tacked on two more in the second, before the Big Red put Quinnipiac away with two goals in the third.

Just 2:15 into the game, sophomore Justin Krueger got the Big Red on the board, firing a shot from the point that found its way past Vetri. Just four minutes later, and it was Devin connecting on the first of his two goals on the night, this time scoring on the power play after Michael Kennedy and Topher Scott worked the puck to the freshman on the point.

A minute and a half later, and it was fellow freshman defenseman Jordan Berk ended Vetri's night with his power-play tally, with Greening and Evan Barlow collecting assists on the play. Following a Quinnipiac timeout, McGann replaced Vetri, and the Bobcats began to come to life.

Quinnipiac got on the board with a power play goal at the 11:41 mark of the first period, capping off some excellent passes across the Cornell zone. Brandon Wong worked the puck to Dan Travis in front of the goal, who one-timed a pass to David Marshall on the right of sophomore goalie Ben Scrivens. Marshall flipped a shot over the leg of Scrivens.

The score remained 3-1 until the second period, when a rash of penalties on the Big Red provided an opening for the Bobcats to climb back into the game. Jordan Berk was sent to the showers early after a hitting-from-behind major and a game misconduct nearly midway through the second period, and the Big Red was charged with another penalty just 30 seconds later, this time a hitting from behind minor on Raymond Sawada. With the Bobcats on an extended 5-on-3, they took just 19 seconds to capitalize as Ben Nelson flipped home a loose puck in front of the Cornell goal.

With the Big Red still killing off the major penalty on Berk, the Bobcats struck again. Cornell got caught in a line change, and Quinnipiac's Mike Atkinson charged in on Scrivens, with Cornell's Evan Barlow in pursuit. Barlow dove and knocked the puck away from Atkinson and into the corner, and as Atkinson fell to the ice, referee Alex Dell whistled for a penalty shot. On the penalty shot, Atkinson slid the puck low under the right side of Scrivens, and the puck just trickled across the goal line with inches to spare.

Cornell killed off the remaining time on the major without major incident, and headed into the locker room tied at three. Whatever adjustments were made in the locker room in the second intermission apparently worked, as it took just 13 seconds into the third period for Cornell to take the lead for good. Greening dug the puck out of the corner and fed a perfect pass to Barlow, who ripped a shot past McGann. The Big Red added an insurance goal with just over nine minutes to play as Mike Devin ripped home a shot from the point.

Scrivens stopped 22 shots for the win as Cornell improves to 1-2-0 overall and 1-1-0 in ECAC Hockey play. Vetri made three saves before being pulled, and McGann made 14 stops in the loss for the Bobcats, who are now 2-3-1 on the year and 0-1-1 in league play.

Cornell now takes to the road for a five-game road trip, opening up in New Haven, Conn., on Friday night against Yale. Opening faceoff against the Bulldogs is 7 p.m. at Ingalls Rink.