Team Notes: Alabama-Huntsville Visits Lynah for Two-Game Set
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell men’s hockey team will try to
gain a little momentum heading into the end of the fall semester
when the Big Red plays host to Alabama-Huntsville in a pair of
nonconference contests this weekend at Lynah Rink. Cornell is
coming off a 4-3 come-from-behind victory against Colgate on Nov.
27 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., in a non-league tilt,
a victory that gave Cornell head coach Mike Schafer the 300th
victory of his tenure behind the bench. Both games can be seen with
live video through the Cornell Redcast subscription service, with
live stats also available. Jason Weinstein also provides the radio
broadcast to listeners in the Ithaca area on WHCU 870 AM.
ABOUT THE BIG RED
Down 3-1 after two periods, the Big Red stormed back for a 4-3
victory against Colgate in its last time out on Nov. 27, snapping a
three-game losing skid and giving head coach Mike Schafer his 300th
career victory in the process. Nick D’Agostino led the way
with a goal and an assist, while Greg Miller and Joe Devin both
added a pair of helpers on the night. Sean Collins, Tyler Roeszler
and John Esposito each added a goal, with Andy Iles making 16 saves
in goal for the victory, his second of the season. For the year,
D’Agostino is leading the Big Red in scoring with seven
points on three goals and four assists in eight games, while Greg
Miller is right behind with a goal and five helpers. Five different
players are tied for third with five points apiece. Iles has seen a
majority of time in goal, having recorded a .908 save percentage
and a 2.49 goals-against average. Mike Garman, who has also gotten
four starts this season, has a .889 save percentage and a 3.23
goals-against average. The Big Red has worked its power play and
penalty killing percentages up, currently ranking 35th in the
nation in power-play success rate at 16.3 percent (7-of-43). When
killing off penalties, Cornell has an 86.7 percent success rate
(39-of-45), good for 14th nationally.
ABOUT ALABAMA-HUNTSVILLE
In its first season as the only Division I program without a
conference home, the Chargers have played a bit of a barnstorming
schedule to date, having played just four home games in their first
14 contests of the season heading into this weekend’s series
with Cornell. Alabama-Huntsville has a 2-11-1 mark entering the
weekend behind first-year head coach Chris Luongo, and is coming
off a third-place finish at the Rensselaer Holiday Tournament last
weekend in Troy, N.Y., falling to Bowling Green before beating
Connecticut, 6-2, in the consolation game. Keenan Desmet leads the
Chargers offensively with four goals and seven assists for 11
points, while Matt Baxter has 10 points on three goals and seven
assists. A trio of freshmen have shared the goaltending duties this
season for the Chargers, with Clarke Saunders getting the majority
of minutes and posting a .881 save percentage and a 4.02
goals-against average with a pair of wins. C.J. Groh has gotten
five starts and played just over a third of the time this season,
recording a .890 save percentage and a 3.99 goals-against average.
John Griggs has seen limited time in between the pipes, posting a
.882 save percentage and a .384 goals-against average. The Chargers
have struggled in killing penalties this season, ranking 51st
nationally with a 76.6 percent success rate (59-of-77), but has
found a high point in its power-play unit, which has converted on
16-of-72 chances this season (22.2 percent, 13th nationally).
THE SERIES WITH ALABAMA-HUNTSVILLE
This weekend’s meetings will mark the third and fourth games
ever played between Cornell and Alabama-Huntsville, with the Big
Red claiming victory in both of the first two contests.
Alabama-Huntsville will be making its second trip ever to Lynah
Rink, with the Chargers having played a pair of games in 2001-02.
That season, Cornell claimed a 6-1 victory on Nov. 2 before scoring
a 5-2 win the following night in the Big Red’s season opening
series. Cornell has never played at Alabama-Huntsville.
300: NOT JUST A MOVIE
Cornell’s victory over Colgate on Nov. 27 at the Prudential
Center in Newark, N.J., gave head coach Mike Schafer the 300th
victory of his coaching career. Schafer becomes the 46th coach in
NCAA Division I history with 300 career wins, and is just the 14th
active coach to reach that mark. He ranks third in ECAC Hockey in
career victories among active coaches, trailing Joe Marsh of St.
Lawrence (457) and Rand Pecknold of Quinnipiac (308), with
Dartmouth’s Bob Gaudet (286) and Colgate’s Don Vaughan
(286) both closing in on 300 victories themselves.
ANOTHER MILESTONE NEARS
The Big Red’s 4-3 win against Colgate at the Prudential
Center on Nov. 27 marked the 989th all-time victory in the history
of the Cornell program. Cornell ranks 17th all-time in wins by
current NCAA Division I programs, trailing Dartmouth by 17. Cornell
needs 11 more wins to become the 17th program to record 1000
all-time victories. The Big Red also ranks fifth in ECAC Hockey in
victories, trailing Clarkson (1,308), Harvard (1,293), Yale (1,124)
and Dartmouth (1,006).
OUT IN FRONT
Cornell is 2-1 this season when scoring the game’s first
goal, but has lost five of the six games that it has given up the
opening tally of the contest. Cornell has also gone 2-1 this
seasonwhen leading after one period.
A BALANCED ATTACK
While Cornell’s offense has accounted for 26 goals through
nine games, the Big Red has benefitted from a wide balance in
scoring among the 70 points recorded on the year. In fact, only two
players – Nick D’Agostino and Greg Miller – have
a pair of multi-point games this season. Six other players –
Locke Jillson, Dustin Mowrey, Jordan Kary, Joe Devin, Kirill
Gotovets and Dan Nicholls – have picked up one multi-point
contest this season.
OFFENSE FROM DEFENSE
Senior defenseman Mike Devin enters the weekend with the team lead
in career scoring, having tallied 43 points in her career midway
through his senior season. Fellow seniors Joe Devin and Patrick
Kennedy are both one point behind in career points.
CAREER YEARS
With the Big Red just about a third of the way through the 2010-11
season, five different players have either tied or broken their
single-season highs for points already this season. Senior Dan
Nicholls has equaled his career high of four points, set as a
freshman, while junior Jordan Kary has doubled his career point
output, tallying four points this season after entering the year
with just two career points. Sophomores Greg Miller and Braden
Birch both surpassed their totals from last season already in
2010-11. Miller has six points this year after finishing his
freshman campaign with five, while Birch has four points on the
season after tallying two a year ago. Another sophomore, Vince
Mihalek has one point on the season after not seeing any game
action a year ago.
TAKE YOUR PICK
Entering the season, head coach Mike Schafer felt very confident in
his goaltending options with junior Mike Garman and freshman Andy
Iles, and with both netminders having played three league games,
the numbers back up the quality Schafer has in both players. With
the duo having split the six ECAC Hockey contests to this point,
their numbers are nearly identical; both players have allowed six
goals, with Iles holding a slight edge in number of saves. Iles has
a 2.00 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage, while
Garman has a 2.02 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage.
Iles and Garman rank fourth and fifth, respectively, in save
percentage, while ranking sixth and seventh, respectively, in
goals-against average in league games.
PUT IT IN NEUTRAL
When Cornell and Colgate met at the Prudential Center in Newark,
N.J., on Nov. 27, it marked the 22nd time that the two programs
have played at a neutral site among the 138 contests played between
the two schools. In those 22 games, the two teams are split evenly,
with Cornell holding a 10-10-2 record in those games. Prior to the
game at the home of the New Jersey Devils in November, the last
neutral site game between the two programs came on March 22, 2008,
in the consolation game of the ECAC Hockey tournament, a game won
by Cornell, 4-2.
YET ANOTHER MILESTONE
Cornell needs another 11 victories at Lynah Rink to post the 500th
win at the storied venue. Cornell is guaranteed nine more home
games this season, needing to win all nine and to host a weekend
playoff series and win that series in order to reach the 500th
victory this season.
RISK/REWARD
Cornell has had some success playing with the extra attacker this
season when trailing late in games. While the Big Red has allowed
four empty-net goals – one in each of the first three games
of the year and one against Yale on Nov. 19 – Cornell has
also scored three times with the extra attacker. The Big Red also
scored a delayed penalty goal on Nov. 20 against Brown
ANOTHER LONG AWAITED DEBUT
A pair of sophomores this season have made their collegiate debuts
after being scratched for every game last season. Vince Mihalek
made his debut on Oct. 30 against RIT, collecting an assist in that
contest. Meanwhile, defenseman Jarred Seymour made his first career
appearance on Nov. 13 against Princeton after Nick D’Agostino
and Mathieu Brisson were sidelined. Every skater on the Cornell
roster has appeared in at least one game in his career, and every
player but sophomores Chris Moulson and Omar Kanji have played this
season.
NOT THE RIGHT KIND OF STREAK
Cornell has posted a pair of three-game losing skids this season,
something that hasn’t happened since the 2006-07 season. That
year, Cornell dropped three straight from Dec. 30 through Jan. 12,
before closing out the season with four straight defeats.
WORKED WELL LAST TIME
Cornell opened the 2010-11 season with three straight defeats,
something that hasn’t happened since the 1979-80 season.
While Cornell finished that season with a 16-15 record, the Big Red
peaked at the right time, winning the ECAC championship and
advancing to the Frozen Four for the first time since
1973.
BALANCED ATTACK
When Cornell got its first win of the season on Nov. 6 at Clarkson,
it came by way of a balanced offensive attack. A total of 13
different skaters collected at least one point on the night, with
four players – Jordan Kary, Kirill Gotovets, Locke Jillson
and Dan Nicholls – collecting a pair of points.
SHORT-HANDED
John Esposito’s goal against New Hampshire on Oct. 29 marked
the first short-handed goal for a Cornell player in a span of 59
games since Riley Nash scored short-handed against St. Cloud State
on Dec. 27, 2008, in Estero, Fla.
THE FIRST ONE’S OUT OF THE WAY
Freshman Andy Iles picked up his first win of his career on Nov. 6
at Clarkson, picking up 35 saves in the victory. Iles is now 1-2 on
the year and has seen action in four of the Big Red’s six
games this season. Mike Garman, meanwhile, scored his first victory
of his career when he stopped 23 of the 24 shots he faced on Nov.
12 against Quinnipiac at Lynah Rink.
NOT BLANKED OFTEN
Cornell’s shutout loss at St. Lawrence on Nov. 5 marked the
first time that the Big Red had been shut out since falling to Yale
in the 2009 ECAC Hockey championship game in Albany, N.Y., by a 5-0
margin. Cornell went both NCAA tournament games that season, all of
last season and the first two games of 2010-11 without being
blanked, a span of 38 games.
WELCOME TO THE CLUB
All six members of the freshman class made their collegiate debut
during the season’s opening weekend on Oct. 29-30 against New
Hampshire and RIT. Dustin Mowrey, Rodger Craig, Kirill Gotovets and
Andy Iles saw time in both games, while Mathieu Brisson and Armand
de Swardt both played in one game apiece, with Brisson appearing in
the RIT game and de Swardt playing against New Hampshire.
THAT DOESN’T HAPPEN HERE
When New Hampshire scored seven times against the Big Red in the
season opener on Oct. 29, it marked the first time that an opponent
scored seven goals at Lynah Rink since Providence did so on Jan. 5,
1999, in a 7-3 Friar victory. It’s been even longer since
Cornell gave up seven in a season opener - in fact, it’s
never happened since Lynah Rink has been open. The last time the
Big Red gave up seven goals in a season opener came in the 1947-48
season when Cornell lost, 9-0, to Army.
ALLOWING A DOZEN
Traditionally one of the nation’s top defensive teams,
Cornell allowed 12 goals in the first weekend of the season on Oct.
29-30 against New Hampshire and RIT. The Big Red hadn’t given
up 12 goals in a weekend since Feb. 6-7, 1999, at Yale and
Princeton. That weekend, Cornell dropped the opener, 11-0, at
Ingalls Rink in New Haven, Conn., before rebounding the following
night with a 4-1 victory at Princeton. The last time Cornell gave
up at least 12 goals in back-to-back losses came in Brian
McCutcheon’s final games as head coach, losing at Clarkson on
March 6-7, 1995, by 6-2 and 7-2 scores.
0-2 OPENERS
The last time Cornell began a season 0-2 was the 2007-08 season,
when the Big Red dropped contests to RIT and Princeton to begin the
year. The Big Red rebounded in the third game to record a 5-3 win
against Quinnipiac to avoid going 0-3 to begin the season. Cornell
concluded that season with a 19-14-3 record and a third-place
finish in the ECAC Hockey tournament. The Big Red last began a
season 0-3 in 1979-80, falling twice to Notre Dame and at Brown
before picking up a victory in game number four at Yale. In spite
of the start, Cornell wound up winning the ECAC Hockey championship
that season and finished fourth at the NCAA tournament.
THREE RIVERS RECAP
Cornell answered a lot of questions about its offensive abilities
with a five-goal first period in its exhibiton opener against
Quebec at Trois-Rivieres on Oct. 21. Joe Devin and Tyler Roeszler
both had a pair of goals in the first period, with Roezler tallying
three points in all on the evening. Freshman Armand de Swardt had a
goal and an assist, while Braden Birch and Greg Miller both had a
pair of helpers. Mike Garman got the start in goal, posting 23
saves for the victory.
USA! USA! USA!
Cornell’s offensive outburst continued in the second
exhibition of the season, defeating the U.S. U18 National Team,
6-0, on Oct. 23. Joe Devin had a pair of goals and a pair of
assists for a four-point night to lead the way for the Big Red.
Junior Sean Collins had a goal and two assists, while John Esposito
and Keir Ross both had a pair of assists. Kirill Gotovets had a
goal and an assist, with Rodger Craig and Tyler Roeszler both
adding a goal. Andy Iles posted 30 saves in his unofficial Cornell
debut to record the shutout.
A SOUTHWEST FLAVOR
Cornell’s roster in 2010-11 features a trio of players from
the state of Texas, in juniors Locke Jillson and Keir Ross and
freshman Armand de Swardt, with all three calling the Dallas area
home. Cornell has now had four players from the Lone Star State, as
the trio joins David McKee in hailing from Texas.
INTERNATIONAL EXPOSURE
Freshman Kirill Gotovets got a taste of the big time in May when he
was selected to represent his native Belarus in the 2010 IIHF World
Championships – not an age group World Championships (though
he did play for Belarus at the U20 World Championship as well)
– but playing against some of the best players the world has
to offer. He played in three of Belarus’ eight games at the
World Championships, recording two shots and two minutes in
penalties, helping his nation to a 10th-place finish. Gotovets has
been in the United States for the last two years while attending
school at Shattuck-St. Mary’s in Minnesota.
BROTHERLY LOVE
A pair of Cornell players have older brothers who are currently on
rosters of NHL clubs, with four players having older brothers
playing professional hockey at some level. Junior Sean
Whitney’s older brother, Ryan, plays for the Anaheim Ducks,
while sophomore Chris Moulson’s brother, Matt, plays with the
New York Islanders. Another player, sophomore John Esposito, has an
older brother, Angelo, who plays for the Chicago Wolves of the
American Hockey League (Atlanta affiliate), with senior Patrick
Kennedy’s older brother, Michael, playing in the ECHL for the
Florida Everblades.
IS THERE A DRAFT IN HERE?
Cornell has four players on the roster for 2010-11 who have been
selected by NHL clubs. Junior Sean Collins (Columbus), sophomores
Braden Birch (Chicago) and Nick D’Agostino (Pittsburgh) and
freshman Kirill Gotovets (Tampa Bay) are each the property of NHL
clubs after having been drafted prior to beginning their careers at
Cornell.
AMERICAN INFLUENCE
The Big Red roster in 2010-11 has nine players who call the United
States home, up from seven last season and tied for second-most on
a Mike Schafer-coached Big Red team. Cornell had 10 Americans on
the roster in 1997-98, Schafer’s third season, and had nine
in 1999-2000, 2006-07 and 2008-09.
HOMETOWN HERO
With programs in major cities like in Boston and Minneapolis,
it’s commonplace for a hometown player to suit up for the
local college team, but that’s not something as common in a
city like Ithaca. So when freshman goaltender Andy Iles made his
official collegiate debut on Oct. 29 against New Hampshire, he
became the first Ithaca native to play for Cornell since Mike
Tallman, who suited up for 37 games in three seasons from 1986-87
to 1988-89.
UP NEXT
After a break for exams and the upcoming holiday season, the Big
Red returns to action with the annual Florida College Classic in
Estero, Fla. The Big Red opens that tournament against St. Cloud
State on Dec. 29 before facing either Maine or Miami in the second
day of action. Cornell is next at home on Jan. 14-15 when it takes
on Rensselaer and Union.
