Cornell Holds On For Tie at Princeton
PRINCETON, N.J. – Sophomore defenseman Mathieu Brisson
scored his first collegiate goal and freshman forward Cole Bardreau
added a power-play strike late in the second period, but Princeton
rallied for a 3-3 tie against the Cornell men’s hockey team
on Saturday at Hobey Baker Rink. The deadlock runs the Big
Red’s unbeaten streak to five straight games.
The Tigers scored three unanswered goals in the third period to
steal a point from the first-place Big Red (10-4-3, 7-1-2 ECAC
Hockey), which ended its six-game stretch away from home with a
3-1-2 mark.
After some back-and-forth play in the early going, Cornell
gradually took the territorially edge in the first period. Junior
forward Vince Mihalek had a semi-breakaway thwarted at the 4:06
mark, then Princeton goalie Mike Condon gloved junior forward Greg
Miller’s shot from the right faceoff dot about two minutes
later. With 5:15 remaining in the frame, quick transitional passes
from Keir Ross and Joakim Ryan sent freshman forward Joel Lowry up
the left wing on a rush. He cut to the inside of his defender and
started bearing down on goal at the 14:45 mark, then feathered a
pass into the slot that got mired in back-checking traffic.
The Big Red’s first power play didn’t yield any
offense, then the Tigers’ first man advantage was cut short
by a penalty to create a four-on-four. It was with both sides short
a skater that Cornell broke through for the game’s first
goal. Mihalek blocked a shot from a Princeton defenseman in the Big
Red zone, then beat his man down the wing to create a two-on-one.
With the lone defender closing quickly, Mihalek saucered a pass to
sophomore forward Dustin Mowrey breaking toward the top of the
crease, and he chipped a shot over Condon with 2:54 left in the
period. It was Mowrey’s second goal and Mihalek’s
second assist of the season.
Princeton (6-10-5, 5-8-2) made a bid to equalize 13 minutes into
the second period on a frenetic series of plays that started when
sophomore goalie Andy Iles getting a blocker to Michael
Sdao’s point shot. The Tigers’ Jack Berger tracked down
the puck in the right circle and was turned away again at close
range, then flicked a backhanded rebound over a wide-open cage.
Cornell answered with Brisson’s goal on the next shift.
Though his name doesn’t appear on the scoresheet, junior
defenseman Braden Birch started the play with a breakout that drew
two Princeton defenders and a delayed penalty call. Lowry sent a
pass up the left wing to Collins on a three-on-two rush, then
Collins found Brisson coming open in the slot. His shot beat Condon
low to the keeper’s blocker side. The assist gives Collins
seven points in his last five games.
Bardreau then extended the Big Red lead to 3-0 just 1:22 before the
second intermission with the Big Red’s first power-play
goal since Dec. 30. Collins and Lowry exchanged a series of passes
before Lowry’s shot from the center point forced Condon to
make a save. Freshman forward John McCarron chipped the puck to
Bardreau, who made a move to his backhand and found the net to give
Cornell the three-goal lead.
As it turned out, all of the goals were necessary.
Eric Carlson got Princeton on the board 3:13 into the third period,
then a failed clearing attempt led to Andrew Calof’s rebound
goal at the 9:38 mark. Kevin Ross then netted the tying tally on
the power play with 7:46 remaining.
Iles then made some pivotal saves in overtime to preserve the tie.
He made a blocker save on Rob Kleebaum’s breakaway with 1:30
left in the extra frame, then denied Calof on a rebound attempt of
a three-on-two rush with 48 seconds remaining. Iles finished 28
saves.
Cornell maintains a one-point lead in the ECAC Hockey standings
over Union, which notched a pair of victories over Harvard and RPI
this weekend – though the Dutchmen have played one more game
than the Big Red. This is the first time since the 2006-07 season
that Cornell did not suffer a loss to Princeton in their
regular-season series.
The Big Red returns home for its first home games in seven weeks
when it welcomes Dartmouth and Harvard to Lynah Rink on Friday,
Jan. 20 and Saturday, Jan. 21, respectively.












