Team Notes: Cornell's Second Half Begins with St. Lawrence and Clarkson

Photo by DSPics.com

The following article appeared January 27 on the Cornell Web site.

ITHACA, N.Y. -- After stepping out of league play last weekend for a series split against North Dakota, the Cornell men’s hockey team opens up the stretch run of the ECAC Hockey slate this weekend with a visit from St. Lawrence and Clarkson. The two-game series opens up a stretch that will see Cornell face every team from ECAC Hockey in the final five weeks of the season. The Big Red opens the weekend against St. Lawrence in a 7 p.m. contest at Lynah Rink, before battling Clarkson on Saturday, also in a 7 p.m. matchup. Both games can be heard in the Ithaca area on WHCU 870 AM with Jason Weinstein providing the call, while live streaming video of both contests is available through the Cornell Redcast subscription service.

ABOUT THE BIG RED
After going the first 15 games of the season without scoring fewer than two goals, the Cornell men’s hockey team has now scored one goal in each of the last three games, going 1-1-1 over that span. On Friday, it was a Mike Devin goal on a two-on-one break with Patrick Kennedy that lifted the Big Red to a 1-0 victory over North Dakota, while the following night, Blake Gallagher’s unassisted wrister from the top of the faceoff circle with 10 seconds left prevented Cornell from being shut out for the first time this season in a 3-1 loss. Ben Scrivens was outstanding in goal both nights, picking up 28 saves on Friday for his second shutout of the year and 14th of his career, and stopping another 23 shots on Saturday while taking the loss. Cornell’s penalty killing unit was outstanding as well, holding the Fighting Sioux scoreless in eight attempts, though the Big Red power play unit went 0-for-12 on the weekend. For the year, Gallagher regained the team scoring lead with his goal on Saturday, posting 12 goals and nine assists for 21 points in 18 games. Colin Greening is also averaging better than a point per game with 20 points on seven goals and 13 assists. Joe Devin (4-11--15), Riley Nash (5-9--14) and Brendon Nash (2-8--10) are also in double figures in scoring on the season. Scrivens has played every minute of the season in goal, posting a 1.93 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage with a pair of shutouts. Cornell’s penalty-killing unit has successfully ended 81-of-91 opponents’ power play chances (89.0 percent), while the power play unit has converted on 18-of-86 chances, a 20.9 percent success rate.

ABOUT ST. LAWRENCE
The Saints enter the weekend with momentum, going 3-0-1 in their last four games and 5-1-2 during the month of January. In the last four games, the only blemish on the St. Lawrence record was a 1-1 tie against Cornell on Jan. 16 at Appleton Arena in Canton, N.Y. Last weekend, the Saints claimed four points in a 5-2 win over Brown and a 4-2 victory over Yale to move into a three-way tie for second place in ECAC Hockey, joining Cornell and Yale one point behind league-leading Union. Senior Travis Vermeulen leads the Saints offensively with 11 goals and 13 assists for 24 points in 25 games, including the game-tying goal against Cornell on Jan. 16. St. Lawrence features a balanced offense with 11 players scoring in double digits on the season. In goal, Kain Tisi appears to have claimed the top job, posting a 1.99 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage. St. Lawrence has converted on 25-of-100 power play chances this season (25.0 percent) while killing off penalties at a 75.9 percent rate (104-of-137).

Complete article can be accessed via the Cornell Web site by clicking here.