Cornell Ties Harvard to Extend Nation’s Best Unbeaten Streak
| Scoring Summary | |
|---|---|
| 1st - 09:02 | Lowry, Joel (Cornell) |
| 1st - 18:15 | PP - Everson, Marshall (Harvard) |
| 2nd - 10:34 | PP - Ryan, Joakim (Cornell) |
| 3rd - 12:17 | Killorn, Alex (Harvard) |
| Harvard | Cornell |
|---|---|
|
G:
2 Players (#19, #21 - 1)
A: 4 Players (#8, #9, #21, #63 - 1) Sh: Alex Killorn - 8 Sv: Steve Michalek - 17 |
G:
2 Players (#5, #28 - 1)
A: 4 Players (#4, #6, #16, #27 - 1) Sh: Erik Axell - 4 Sv: Andy Iles - 31 |
| TEAM STATISTICS | Harvard | Cornell |
|---|---|---|
| Power Plays | 1 for 5 | 1 for 3 |
| Shorthanded Goals | 0 | 0 |
| Penalties (min) | 3 (6) | 5 (10) |
| Shots on Goal | 33 | 19 |
| Face Offs Won | 39 | 39 |
ITHACA, N.Y. – Freshmen defenseman Joakim Ryan scored a
power-play goal and added an assist on Joel Lowry’s
first-period strike, and sophomore goalie Andy Iles made 31 saves
to spur the men’s hockey team to a 2-2 tie against rival
Harvard in front of the perennially spirited sold-out crowd
Saturday night at Lynah Rink.
Cornell (11-4-4, 8-1-3 ECAC Hockey) never trailed for the third
consecutive game, extending its unbeaten streak to a national-best
seven games (4-0-3) and its league unbeaten streak to 10
(8-0-2).
“You look around the league, and it’s really hard to
get points right now,” head coach Mike Schafer said.
“So to get three points out of the weekend, it’s huge
for us a team to keep stepping forward.”
Lowry kicked off the evening’s scoring 9 minutes, 2 seconds
into a physical first period that saw big hits thrown from both
sides. Defensemen Ryan and senior captain Keir Ross worked the puck
up the left side to Lowry, who wristed a shot from the top of the
left circle that sailed over the glove of Crimson goalie Steve
Michalek.
Harvard (4-6-8, 3-4-6) climbed back into the game on the strength
of its potent power play, which entered the night with a 34.7
percent success rate – tops among Division I’s 58
teams. The Crimson took to the man advantage late with 2:06
remaining in the first period, then ended just 21 seconds later on
Marshall Everson’s goal. He tipped a point shot from junior
defenseman Danny Biega out of mid-air, leaving Iles virtually no
hope of making a save. It was the eighth time in the
Crimson’s last nine games that it has scored on its first
power-play chance.
But as potent as Harvard’s power play is, the Big Red stood
tall to it in the second period with Iles making 10 saves on three
successful kills. The first two came in quick succession –
with the Crimson whistled for too many players on the ice following
the completion of the second.
That led to Ryan’s fifth goal of the season, giving the Big
Red a 2-1 lead at the 10:34 mark. Junior forward Greg Miller had a
shot blocked from the left side, but he collected the puck and
quickly sent a pass to the center point that Ryan blasted past
Michalek’s glove hand and off the post before it splashed the
net. Junior defenseman Nick D’Agostino also assisted on the
play, his second of the weekend. D’Agostino, Miller and
freshman forward Brian Ferlin are now all tied for the team lead in
points (17).
About three minutes later, a turnover in the neutral zone led
Harvard away with Alex Killorn pushing the puck ahead to Colin
Blackwell for a clear-cut breakaway. Blackwell made a move to his
backhand, but Iles stretched out his right pad to make the save and
bring the Lynah Faithful to its feet.
But the Crimson would eventually equalize in the second half of the
third period. Blackwell’s wraparound attempt was deflected
into the air by a Big Red defender, but the puck bounced right to
Killorn in the slot. He was able to chip a shot over Iles to tie
the game at 2.
Harvard threatened again late in the third period, but Iles got a
piece of Killorn’s shot from the left circle with 1:23
remaining in regulation, then squeezed off a shot from Patrick
McNally off the ensuing faceoff. But overtime yielded little in the
way of ominous chances either way, and the score stayed
knotted.
With the result, Cornell extended its lead in the league standings
to two points over Union, which lost 3-2 on Saturday at Brown. The
Big Red has also played one fewer game than the Dutchmen. The
deadlock also leaves Cornell with a substantial lead in the Ivy
League standings, where the Big Red is 5-1-2 (12 points) with just
visits from Yale and Brown remaining. Princeton is in second place
with five points and can’t catch Cornell, but there are
several other schools with games in hand. The Big Red’s last
Ivy League title was in 2005.
The season doesn’t slow down any next week for the Big Red,
which will play its annual pair of games against Central New York
rival Colgate. The 18th-ranked Raiders will visit Lynah Rink at
7:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 27 for a nationally televised contest on
CBS Sports Network. The teams then square off in a matchup at 7
p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 28 at Colgate’s Starr Rink.
