Cornell Battles to Tie
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ITHACA, N.Y. -- With just one day of practice under their belts,
one could excuse the Cornell men's hockey team if it came out rusty
in the first exhibition game of the season on Saturday night
against the U.S. Under-18 National Team at Lynah Rink. While the
Big Red did show some signs of initial jitters, they did well
enough to pick up a 3-3 tie against the top junior players in the
United States.
The two sides skated to a scoreless first period before Team USA
got on the board at the 11:45 mark of the second period as David
Valek put a shot past Cornell goaltender Ben Scrivens after taking
a pass from Kevin Lynch. It took the Big Red just under two minutes
to respond as Riley Nash ripped a power play goal past Adam Murray
after taking a feed from Brendon Nash, with Blake Gallagher also
receiving an assist on the play.
The score would remain deadlocked at one at the end of the second
period before the two teams opened up for two goals each in the
third. Team USA went ahead on a strike from Jeremy Morin, a native
of nearby Auburn, N.Y., on the power play, beating freshman
netminder Mike Garman. Again, the Big Red responded shortly
afterwards, as Tyler Roeszler took a pass from Evan Barlow and
ripped a shot high to Murray's right side at the 7:36 mark of the
third period.
Cornell went ahead on a shorthanded goal from Tyler Mugford,
scoring just 11 seconds after a penalty was whistled on senior
Jared Seminoff. Team USA responded on the power play, with Chris
Brown tipping a Morin shot past Garman at the 16:12 mark of the
third period.
Murray picked up 29 saves in earning the tie for Team USA, while
Scrivens and Garman split time in goal for the Big Red. Scrivens
made 10 saves in the first 31:45, while Garman made three stops in
the final 33:15.
Cornell will now have a full week of practice before taking to the
ice for another exhibition game, this time taking on Western
Ontario at 7 p.m. on Friday at Lynah Rink.
