Cornell Drops Contest to UMass
ESTERO, Fla. -- The Cornell men's hockey team's struggles at the
Florida College Classic continued Thursday with an opening-round
loss to Massachusetts, 5-2, at Germain Arena.
Sophomore goalie Andy Iles made 25 saves in the loss, which also
featured the end to another historic shutout streak. After
consecutive shutouts in the Big Red's previous two games, Iles'
shutout streak finally ended at 152 minutes, 36 seconds -- which
ranks ninth in program history.
The Minutemen scored four goals in the third period, including the
final three, to foil a strong start by the 13th-ranked Big Red.
Junior defenseman Nick D'Agostino scored his team-leading eighth
goal on the power play with 2:21 remaining in the first period to
stake Cornell (7-4-1) to a 1-0 lead.
But UMass tied the score in the second, then pulled ahead on a
controversial goal just 32 seconds into the final frame. Joel
Hanley's shot from the left point was redirected into the net by
Michael Pereira, though the Big Red instantly contested that the
tally should be negated since Pereira used his skate to score. But
there is no video review at the tournament, meaning the referees'
initial ruling was also the final one, leaving the sour Big Red
trailing 2-1.
Cornell showed promise by knotting the score at 2 with its second
power-play goal of the contest. Freshman forward and Florida native
Brian Ferlin set up D'Agostino for a one-timer for the top of the
slot. The shot was blocked by a Minutemen defender, but kicked to a
wide-open Greg Miller on the weak side. The junior forward
converted for his third goal of the campaign with 11:16 still
showing on the clock.
The story didn't improve any from there for Cornell, which has now
dropped five consecutive games at the Florida College Classic since
winning the championship in 2008. A penalty on the shift following
Miller's goal left the Big Red shorthanded, ultimately leading to
the winner by Steven Guzzo at the 11:01 mark. Iles stopped a shot
from Colin Shea in the left circle, but had the puck knifed loose
from beneath his pad to Guzzo in the slot for a slam dunk goal.
Conor Sheary gave UMass its first two-goal lead a little more than
four minutes later on another tally that may have benefitted from
video review. Sheary's shot from the right side on a two-on-two
found its way through the legs of Iles. Cornell contended the puck
clanked off the far post, but the goal judge flicked on the red
light and later stuck to his guns in a conference with the
referees. T.J. Syner then wrapped up the scoring with an
empty-netter late.
Cornell will play in Friday's consolation game against Clarkson,
which dropped Thursday's opener to Maine, 6-1.
