Cornell Extends Home Shutout Streak to Five Games

Photo by Dave Burbank

Final	1	2	3	OT	Final
Clarkson (8-6-4, 2-4-2 ECACH)	0	0	0	0	0
Cornell (7-3-1-, 6-1-1 ECACH)	0	0	0	0	0

Scoring Summary

Clarkson	Cornell
G: N/A A: N/A Sh: Louke Oakley - 4 Sv: Paul Karpowich - 32	G: N/A A: N/A Sh: 3 Players (#5, #16, #20 - 4) Sv: Andy Iles - 23

TEAM STATISTICS	Clarkson	Cornell
Power Plays	0 for 4	0 for 3
Shorthanded Goals	0	0
Penalties (min)	4 (8)	5 (10)
Shots on Goal	23	32
Face Offs Won	30	29

full stats

ITHACA, N.Y. -- The men's hockey team continued its historic run of shutouts within the confines of Lynah Rink on Saturday with a scoreless tie, marking the fifth consecutive home game in which the Big Red has not surrendered a goal -- a program first.

Sophomore goalie Andy Iles made 23 saves for the shutout. His five shutouts on the season are halfway to the program record of 10, set during the 2004-05 season by David McKee -- who was a sophomore at the time.

"When you have good goaltending, it allows you to be more aggressive in the neutral zone," Cornell head coach Mike Schafer said. "We only gave up 10 shots through two periods."

The last time the Big Red yielded a goal on home ice was Oct. 29 against Mercyhurst, covering a span of 312 minutes, 11 seconds. The streak will extend into January, as Cornell takes a three-week break for finals and the holidays before playing six straight at neutral sites or on the road. The next game at Lynah Rink is Jan. 20 against Dartmouth.

The Big Red didn't surrender many quality chances Saturday, but the game wasn't without intrigue. Both teams showed potency on the counter-attack, but neither could convert their chances. A combined seven power plays in the game went for naught.

Clarkson senior goalie Paul Karpowich made 32 saves at the other end of the rink, also recording his fifth shutout of the season. The last time either program played to a scoreless deadlock was against each other on Jan. 31, 2009 at Cheel Arena. Karpowich was a freshman that season, making 27 saves opposite Cornell's Ben Scrivens.

"It's fun," Iles said. "We're both competitors, and it's really nice when you have a game with two goalies who are playing so well. I've never played for a team before that's made so many good defensive plays."

As a result, 17th-ranked Cornell maintains its standing atop the ECAC Hockey standings with a 7-3-1 overall record and a 6-1-1 mark within the league. That results in 13 points in ECAC Hockey, which is one more than second-place Colgate.

The Big Red is back in action Dec. 29-30 at the Florida College Classic in Estero, Fla. Cornell kicks off play against Hockey East's Massachusetts, then will take on either Maine or Clarkson the following day.