Cornell Welcomes Heralded Freshman Class
_Photos/Cornell/Cornell_Bench_Shot_NCAA.gif?max_width=360)
The following article appeared in the August 24 issue of the Cornell Daily Sun.
When fans file into Lynah Rink this season the familiar names of Nash, Scrivens, Greening and Gallagher will no longer be embroidered on the back of the home whites. Head coach Mike Schafer ’86 announced over the summer that six incoming freshmen will be suiting up for the Red this season, as it attempts to improve upon its early exit from last year’s NCAA tournament after losing to New Hampshire in the first round.
This year’s incoming class is highlighted by goaltender Andy Iles, an Ithaca native whom many fans will remember for his spectacular performance leading the U.S. Under-18 Team to a 3-2 victory over the Red in a preseason exhibition last season. Iles recorded a 20-6-1 record in net for the U-18 team including three shutouts and a 2.16 goals-against average. The Ithaca native attended The Salisbury School after graduating from Ithaca High School, where he was named Goaltender of the Year by the U.S. Hockey Report after the 2008-09 season. Iles will likely begin the season on the bench, with junior Mike Garman expected to begin the season as the starting goalie.
The lone NHL draftee in this year’s incoming class will be defenseman Kirill Gotovets, who will enter the Cornell record books as the first Belarusian to suit up in the red and white. Gotovets was a seventh-round selection of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2009 NHL draft, and joins junior defenseman Sean Whitney and sophomore defensemen Nick D’Agostino and Braden Birch as the only members of the 2010-11 squad who have been drafted by an NHL club. Gotovets will have the unenviable task of filling the void left by former Red defensemen Brendon Nash ’10 and Justin Krueger ’10.
Complete article can be accessed via the Daily Sun Web site by clicking here.
