Team Notes: Cornell's Season Begins with Foes from Last Season's End
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Last season’s NCAA East Regional at the
Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y., featured second-seeded Cornell
along with Denver, New Hampshire and Rochester Institute of
Technology. Two of those three opponents for the Big Red will be in
Ithaca this weekend as Cornell officially begins the 2010-11
season. Friday’s matchup features a rematch of last
year’s regional semifinal that saw New Hampshire take a 6-2
victory from the Big Red, while Cornell takes on regional champion
RIT on Saturday.
ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell enters the 2010-11 season as the reigning ECAC Hockey
tournament champion, capturing the title last March against Union
in the final league tournament played in Albany, N.Y. Cornell lost
a trio of career 100-point scorers and a pair of All-Americans, but
roared out of the gate with a pair of impressive exhibition
victories against Quebec at Trois-Rivieres and the U.S. U18
National Team last weekend. Senior co-captains Joe Devin and
Patrick Kennedy return as the team’s top two leading scorers,
while Cornell returns five defensemen from last year’s
blueline regular rotation. In goal, junior Mike Garman and freshman
Andy Iles form a powerful 1-2 punch as Cornell seeks to replace Ben
Scrivens, statistically one of the best goalkeepers in NCAA
history. Observers around the country have the Big Red ranked 15th
in the country in this week’s USA Today/USA Hockey
Poll.
ABOUT NEW HAMPSHIRE
New Hampshire, ranked 10th in this week’s USA Today/USA
Hockey Poll, enters the weekend with a 1-1-2 record on the season,
having tied both of its last two games against Michigan on Oct. 16
and at Northeastern on Oct. 22. The Wildcats are a high-scoring
bunch, posting 14 goals through four games, but have also conceded
that same number. Senior Phil DeSimone has a team-best five points
on the season, while classmate Paul Thompson has a team-best four
goals and junior Blake Kessel has a team-high four assists. In all,
nine players have scored at least one goal in a balanced offensive
attack. Junior Matt DiGirolamo has played every minute in goal for
the Wildcats so far this season, recording a 3.13 goals-against
average and a .912 save percentage. UNH has converted on 4-of-20
power play chances this season (20.0 percent) while killing off
14-of-18 opponents’ power plays (77.8 percent).
THE SERIES WITH NEW HAMPSHIRE
The Big Red and Wildcats have split the all-time series, 12-12-0,
with both teams taking one meeting last season. Cornell won the
opener, 5-2, at the Whittemore Center in Durham, N.H., on Jan. 3,
before the Wildcats took the meeting in the NCAA tournament, 6-2,
in Albany, N.Y. Tonight’s meeting will be the ninth all-time
between the two schools at Lynah Rink, with Cornell holding a 5-3
lead in the series of games played at Lynah Rink. New Hampshire is
making its first trip to Lynah Rink since Nov. 30, 1983, and skated
home with a 5-0 victory. Cornell’s last win against New
Hampshire at Lynah Rink came on Nov. 27, 1981, a 6-1 Big Red
victory.
ABOUT ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
After experiencing a dream run to the Frozen Four last season, the
Tigers have found things much more difficult in the early stages of
2010-11. RIT enters the weekend with a 0-4-1 record, and will face
Robert Morris on Friday night before making the trip to Ithaca on
Saturday. The Tigers have struggled offensively, tallying just 11
goals in five games, while conceding 23 over that span, including
seven to ECAC Hockey foe Union in its last contest on Saturday.
Junior Tyler brenner and senior Andrew Favot lead the team
offensively with six points apiece, with Brenner posting five of
the team’s 11 goals and Favot recording five assists.
RIT’s goaltending situation is tenuous, with three goalies
making two appearances each in net. Jan Rapponen has the best
numbers of the three, recording a 3.01 goals-against average and a
.906 save percentage. Josh Watson has a .855 save percentage and a
5.43 goals-against average, while Shane Madolora has a 4.24
goals-against average to go along with a .824 save percentage,
though Madolora recorded the team’s tie this season. RIT has
converted on 5-of-21 power-play chances (23.8 percent) while
struggling on the penalty kill, allowing seven goals in 28
opponents’ chances (75.0 percent).
THE SERIES WITH ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Cornell and RIT have met three times previously in men’s
hockey since the Tigers made the jump to Division I, with the Big
Red holding a 2-1 edge in the series. Cornell won the first two
meetings, a 3-1 contest on Jan. 7, 2006, at Lynah Rink and a 5-3
win on Oct. 28, 2006, at Lynah Rink.The two teams last met on Oct.
27, 2007, at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y., with RIT
claiming a 4-1 in what was the Big Red’s 2007-08 season
opener.
LET’S GET IT STARTED
Cornell has an all-time record of 55-32-6 in season openers and
will try to claim its third straight win in its season debut. Last
season, Cornell claimed a 3-2 victory against Niagara behind an
overtime game-winning goal from Joe Devin. In 2008-09, the Big Red
scored a 1-0 victory against Princeton to kick off that campaign.
Cornell’s last loss in a season opener came in 2007 when the
Big Red fell to RIT at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y., 4-1.
Under current head coach Mike Schafer, the Big Red is 10-4-1 in
season openers.
OFF AND RUNNING
Senior co-captain Joe Devin has made a habit of scoring early in
the season, as he has scored a goal in two of the three season
opening games during his Cornell career. As a freshman in 2007-08,
Devin scored the Big Red’s only goal in a 4-1 loss to
Rochester Institute of Technology at the Blue Cross Arena in
Rochester, N.Y. Then, last season, Devin provided the late-game
heroics as he scored the overtime game-winner to defeat Niagara,
3-2, at Lynah Rink.
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.
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 makes his
official collegiate debut, possibly in the season opener against
New Hampshire, he will become 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.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Cornell head coach Mike Schafer is quickly moving up the ranks of
the coaching fraternity in his win totals. Now in his 16th season,
Schafer has 297 career victories, ranking him third in ECAC Hockey,
but with the shortest tenure of the two ahead of him in the
rankings. Schafer trails only Quinnipiac’s Rand Pecknold by
four, with St. Lawrence’s Joe Marsh well ahead with 455
career wins.
UP NEXT
The Big Red takes to the road for the first time this season when
it opens up ECAC Hockey play in New York’s North Country. The
Big Red will battle St. Lawrence on Friday, Nov. 5, before taking
on Clarkson the following night. The two road games will be two of
the three times that the Big Red will play away from Lynah Rink
before the end of the semester.
