Cornell Rallies to Tie Colorado College
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Senior forward Sean Collins had
a goal and an assist, and the Cornell men’s hockey team
rallied from a two-goal deficit before holding on for a 3-3 tie on
Saturday night against #6/8 Colorado College at World Arena.
Sophomore goalie Andy Iles made 21 saves, including a game-saver at
the final buzzer of overtime to help the Big Red wrap up an
impressive undefeated weekend at the highest-ranked opponent it
will see in the regular season. Cornell won the teams’ first
meeting on Friday, 3-1.
#13/14 Cornell (9-4-2) rallied from a two-goal deficit to storm
ahead in the third period on a strike from junior forward Greg
Miller, but then Colorado College (12-7-1) answered with an
extra-attacker goal with 29.1 seconds remaining in the third period
to force overtime and ultimately send the game to a deadlock. Jaden
Schwartz scored the goal as part of his two-goal, one-assist effort
in a return to the lineup after a six-game absence to serve as Team
Canada’s captain at the IIHF World Junior Championship.
Miller’s goal capped a stretch of three straight goals for
Cornell with 8:06 remaining in the third period. An outlet pass
from senior defenseman Sean Whitney found sophomore Kirill Gotovets
– normally a defenseman, but playing forward on this night
– at the red line. Gotovets one-touched a pass back to Miller
as he sprinted out of the Cornell zone to create a two-on-two rush.
Miller beat his defender wide to the right, then ripped a shot over
Tigers goalie Joe Howe’s blocker to put the Big Red in front
for the first time on the evening. It was Miller’s 50th
career point and gives him the team lead in points with 16.
Freshman forward Joel Lowry and Collins scored the other Cornell
goals to erase CC’s 2-0 lead. The home-standing Tigers struck
first on their first power play opportunity of the game. Gabe
Guentzel worked the puck down to Jaden Schwartz at the bottom of
the left circle. The sophomore forward then threaded a pass through
a maze of the sticks in the slot to his older brother, Rylan, at
the top of the slot. He snapped a shot over Iles’ glove to
give CC its first lead of the weekend.
While the Big Red only had four shots on goal in the first period
– the first not coming until John Esposito’s offering
at the 8:33 mark – the visitors nearly knotted the score
before the first intermission. Working on the power play, Collins
set up Cole Bardreau breaking down the slot for a point-blank
chance with 1:20 remaining, but Howe snagged the attempt with his
catching glove.
Cornell then killed off a penalty to start the second period only
to find itself shorthanded again a matter of moments later.
CC’s high-powered power play didn’t falter, producing
another goal to push its lead to 2-0. Rylan Schwartz worked the
puck to the left side for a shot from Scott Winkler that Iles
saved, but Jaden Schwartz crashed the net on the weak side and
slammed in the rebound.
The Big Red refused to fold, though, answering 3 minutes, 44
seconds later with freshman forward Joel Lowry’s third goal
of the campaign at the 6:33 mark. An active stick from Sean Collin
foiled a CC breakout and sent the puck back to Lowry behind the
defense at the bottom of the right circle. He attacked the net only
to have his shot stopped by Tigers goalie Joe Howe, but the puck
deflected in off the skate of a CC defender.
Collins then scored the Big Red’s equalizing goal. Senior
captain Keir Ross kept the puck in at the right point, finding
freshman forward John McCarron along the wall. McCarron found
Collins spinning open down the slot and delivered a perfect pass,
which Collins turned into shot that sailed past Howe’s
blocker at the 14:47 mark. It was his fifth goal of the season and
second of the road trip. McCarron, fresh off his first collegiate
goal Friday, had two assists on the evening.
Cornell wrapped up the non-league portion of its schedule with a
3-3-1 record, returning to ECAC Hockey play in first place with a
6-1-1 league mark for 13 points. The Big Red concludes a stretch of
six straight games away from home at Quinnipiac (Friday, Jan. 13)
and Princeton (Saturday, Jan. 14) before returning to Lynah Rink
for Ivy League showdowns with Dartmouth (Friday, Jan. 20) and
Harvard (Saturday, Jan. 21).












