Team Notes: Cornell to Face Dartmouth in Semifinals

Photo by David Silverman

ITHACA, N.Y. -- A crazy ECAC Hockey tournament reaches its final weekend, and, after being in 11th place in the league table back in November, the Big Red are among the four teams still standing. Cornell will try to advance to the ECAC Hockey championship when it faces Dartmouth in the second of two semifinal contests on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. Friday night's contest can be seen nationwide on CBS College Sports with Matt Shepard, Dave Starman and Shireen Saski calling the action, while fans in the Ithaca area can hear Jason Weinstein's call of the game on WHCU 870 AM. Live streaming audio of the game will be available through the Cornell Redcast subscription service, though no streaming video is available for the league semifinals or championship game this weekend.

ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell survived the first game three to go to overtime during the Mike Schafer era as the Big Red defeated Quinnipiac in a best-of-three series at Lynah Rink last weekend. Cornell claimed the first and third games of the series, with the Bobcats winning the second to force the decisive game three. Senior Joe Devin nearly single-handedly lifted the Big Red into the semifinals, scoring four of the Big Red's five goals on the weekend, including both goals in Friday's 2-1 win and the overtime game-winner in Sunday's 3-2 thriller. Mike Garman picked up both of the victories, stopping 36 shots on Friday and making another 37 saves in Sunday's game three win. On the year, Greg Miller leads the team with 28 points on four goals and 24 assists, while Devin is second with a team-best 17 goals and 10 assists for 27 points. Joining them in picking up 20 points or more is seniorTyler Roeszler, who has 12 goals and 12 assists for 24 points. In goal, the Big Red has used a tandem of Garman and Andy Iles, with both netminders posting nearly identical numbers. Iles has a 2.26 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage with an 8-6-2 record, while Garman has a 2.35 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage to go along with a 7-8-1 mark. Cornell's power play is ranked 35th in the nation, converting on 16.9 percent of its chances (22-of-130), while the penalty-killing unit is seventh in the country, killing off 124-of-145 opponents' power play opportunities (85.5 percent).

ABOUT DARTMOUTH
Like Cornell, Dartmouth had to survive a three-game series to advance to Atlantic City, with the Big Green defeating Harvard in games two and three to survive and advance. Harvard took the opener, 3-2, before Dartmouth stayed alive with a 2-1 overtime win in game two, with Andrew Owsiak scoring just his second goal of the year to keep the Big Green in the tournament. On Sunday in the decisive game three, Dartmouth claimed a 4-3 victory, rallying from a 2-1 deficit early in the third period with three straight goals to advance. For the season, Dartmouth has benefitted from a balanced offensive attack, with five different players recording at least 20 points on the year. Scott Fleming leads the way with 30 points on 13 goals and 17 assists, while Doug Jones has a team-best 21 assists to go with eight goals for 29 points. Adam Estoclet has proven to be Dartmouth's top sniper, tallying 15 goals with 12 assists for 27 points on the season. In goal, James Mello has been outstanding, posting a 2.19 goals-against average and a .928 save percentage with a pair of shutouts. Dartmouth's special teams units are among the middle of the pack in the league, converting on 19.5 percent of its power play opportunities (24-of-124, 19th nationally), while killing off 83.6 percent of its opponents' chances with the man advantage (102-of-122, 18th nationally).

THE SERIES WITH DARTMOUTH
Cornell leads the season series against the Big Green after winning the matchup in Ithaca in the regular-season home finale, 3-2 in overtime onTyler Roeszler's game-winner. The two teams tied, 2-2, in their first meeting of the seaosn on Jan. 28 in Hanvoer, N.H. In the all-time series against the Big Green, Cornell leads by a 73-43-3 margin, dating back to 1909. Cornell has won seven of the last 11 matchups with the Big Green, and Cornell head coach Mike Schafer is 17-16-2 against Dartmouth.

FAMILIAR FOE, UNFAMILIAR SETTING
While Cornell and Dartmouth have met 119 times in men's hockey, the two programs have played just five games in the postseason entering this weekend's league semifinal contest. Most recently, the Big Red defeated Dartmouth in a best-of-three series at Lynah Rink during the 2007-08 season, two games to one. The other two meetings both came during the 1979-80 season, when Cornell defeated Dartmouth, 5-1, on March 15, 1980, at Boston Garden in the ECAC Championship, before falling to the Big Green, 8-4, a week later in the consolation game of the NCAA tournament in Providence, R.I. Another tie-in to those two games in the spring of 1980 is that the goaltender for Dartmouth was current Big Green head coach Bob Gaudet. That season also marks the last time that Dartmouth qualified for the NCAA tournament, something a Cornell victory on Friday would prevent again this season.

FIRST 1,000 DOWN
Cornell's 2-1 win over Quinnipiac in game one of the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals marked the 1,000th victory all-time for the Cornell men's hockey program. Cornell became the 17th program to reach that milestone, and began work on the second 1,000 victories with the 3-2 overtime win in game three on March 13.

A FIRST IN GAME THREE
When Cornell defeated Quinnipiac in overtime in game three of the ECAC Hockey quarterfinal series on March 13, it marked the first time during the 16-year tenure of head coach Mike Schafer that the Big Red played an overtime game three in the playoffs. Cornell has played in four game threes at Lynah Rink, going 3-1 in those, but each of the previous three were decided in regulation.

BREAKING IN A NEW TRADITION
With ECAC Hockey beginning a three-year stint in holding the league's championship weekend at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall, the Big Red will be helping to usher in the new location for the second straight time. ECAC Hockey has had four venues for its championship over its 50-year history, playing at Boston Garden, the Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid and the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y., before beginning its stay in Atlantic City. The first championship in Boston in 1962 featured champion St. Lawrence along with Clarkson, Harvard and Colby, while the inaugural season at Lake Placid in 1993 featured champion Clarkson, Brown, Harvard and Rensselaer. In 2003, the scene shifted to the Times Union Center, with Cornell winning the championship with Harvard, Dartmouth and Brown also involved in the title weekend. This time around, Cornell is joined by Dartmouth, Colgate and Yale in creating league history in Atlantic City.

LOCKDOWN AT LYNAH
For as good as the Big Red has been at Lynah Rink overall, where Cornell has a .716 winning percentage, the Big Red has been even better during post-season play. Cornell holds a 48-10 all-time record in playoff games at Lynah Rink for a .828 winning percentage. Under current head coach Mike Schafer, Cornell boasts a 25-7 mark in postseason games for a .781 winning percentage. Since ECAC Hockey went to multi-game series for the playoffs in 1985, the Big Red has only lost three series at home. In 1988, Cornell split the first two games before losing in the third “mini-game” against Clarkson, while the 2004 playoffs saw Cornell take game one against the Golden Knights before Clarkson rallied to take games two and three. In 2007, Quinnipiac became the only team to sweep Cornell at home in the playoffs.

WORKING OVERTIME
With game three against Quinnipiac on March 13 finishing in overtime, Cornell matched its single-season mark for overtime games with 12, originally set during the 1985-86 season, the senior season for current head coach Mike Schafer. That year, Cornell had nine games during the regular season that went into overtime, then added another three during the postseason.

NO GOOSE-EGGS
With just two guaranteed games left in the season, the Big Red has at least two chances to continue the program's streak of recording at least one shutout in a season. Cornell has had at least one blanking of an opponent during each of the last 15 seasons. The last time Cornell went a full schedule without posting a shutout came during the 1994-95 season under former coach Brian McCutcheon, as Cornell finished that year 11-15-4. The following year marked the first season for current head coach Mike Schafer, and his clubs have never gone a full year without recording a shutout.

MILLING ABOUT
With sophomore Greg Miller leading the Big Red in scoring leading into the league championship weekend, he is trying to become the third sophomore to lead the club in scoring over the past four seasons. Two years ago, it was then-sophomore Riley Nash pacing the sqaud, with Colin Greening doing so the year before that. 

TWO-HEADED GOALIE
Should freshman Andy Iles pick up a win during the league championship weekend in Atlantic City, it would mark the first time in 30 years that the Big Red had two goaltenders record a post-season win in the same season. That feat has happened three times in program history, but not since 1980-81, when Brian Hayward won a pair of games and Darren Eliot won one. The other times that it has happened were in 1976-77 (Steve Napier - 1, John Vandermark - 1) and 1975-76 (Vandermark - 1, Dave Chrastina - 1). This season, Mike Garman has added his name to the post-season victory list, winning games one and three against Quinnipiac in the ECAC Hockey quarterfinal series.

EXTRA PLAY FOR ILES
Based on recent trends, any game that freshman goaltender Andy Iles plays in is bound to go beyond regulation. In four of the last five games that Iles has started, the contest has gone to overtime, and each of those times, the game has ended with a winner. Iles started the streak with a 4-3 overtime win against St. Lawrence on Feb. 5, then got a 3-2 overtime victory on Feb. 12 at Rensselaer. The following week, Iles was in net for a 3-2 overtime win against Dartmouth. Changing things up, Iles got a Friday start for the second time this season on Feb. 25 at Brown, but that only resulted in a different overtime result, as the Big Red fell to the Bears, 3-2. Iles has been in goal for seven of the 12 overtime games for the Big Red this season.

ANOTHER MILESTONE AWAITS
Cornell's two wins in the league quarterfinal series against Quinnipiac moved the Big Red's all-time record at Lynah Rink to 497-181-52, with Cornell ready to claim the 500th all-time victory at the storied venue early during the 2011-12 season.

HOME SWEET HOME?
Home hasn't been particularly kind to the Big Red this season, as Cornell has posted just a 9-8-1 record at Lynah Rink this year. Still, Cornell's series win last weekend gave the Big Red its seventh straight season above .500 at home.

A FLAIR FOR THE DRAMATIC
Cornell senior Joe Devin has a team-best six game-winning goals this season, and three of those have been overtime game-winners for the Big Red. Devin potted his first on Jan. 8 at Quinnipiac before tallying the game-winner on Feb. 12 at Rensselaer. Most recently, Devin scored the overtime winner on March 13 against Quinnipiac to lift Cornell into the league championship weekend for the fourth year in a row. For his career, Devin has four overtime game-winning goals, including one scored on Oct. 30, 2009, against Niagara at Lynah Rink.

LEADING THE WAY
With Cornell's 57 goals in league play nearly 30 goals behind Yale's league-leading total and ranking seventh overall, it was a bit surprising to see Joe Devin leading the league with 13 goals in league play. Devin finished conference play one goal ahead of Yale's Brian O'Neill.

IN THE RANKINGS
Cornell has a 3-6-1 record this season when playing an opponent ranked either in the USA Today/USA Hockey poll or in the USCHO.com poll. Two of Cornell's wins over ranked foes have come against Rensselaer, which was ranked in the top 10 of both polls at the time of facing the Big Red, while the third was a victory against Dartmouth at Lynah Rink. 

ALL-TIME TOP 50
The 2011 season marks the 50th year of ECAC Hockey, and to celebrate, the league is naming the 50 greatest players to ever compete in the league. The honorees are being named in groups of five every two weeks leading up to the league championship weekend on March 18-19 in Atlantic City, N.J. The league announced its eighth installment on Feb. 16, with former great Doug Ferguson among that group of five. His selection brings the total number of Cornell players to six, the most of any current or past program. The other selections for the Big Red who have been announced to this point are Ken Dryden, Joe Nieuwendyk, Lance Nethery, Douglas Murray and Brian Cornell. The league will announce its 10th and final installment on March 16.

LONG TIME COMING
When Cornell allowed three power-play goals to Harvard on Feb. 18 at Lynah Rink, it marked the first time in 70 games that the Big Red had conceded that many goals a man down. It was nearly two years to the day that the same Crimson had done that against the Big Red, tallying three power-play goals on Feb. 14, 2009 at Harvard.

I'VE GOT THE POWER
When scoring at least one power play goal, the Big Red holds a solid 11-5-1 record. A closer look at those numbers, however, details an even more telling statistic; since the beginning of January, the Big Red is 9-1-0 when scoring with the man advantage. 

CLICKING ON ALL CYLINDERS
The Big Red finally got its power-play unit on track on Feb. 4 and 5 against Clarkson and St. Lawrence, going 4-for-9 with the man advantage on the weekend. Cornell finished the contest against the Golden Knights with three goals in five power-play chances, the Big Red's first multiple power-play goal game since Oct. 29 against New Hampshire. Cornell then followed that up with a 1-for-4 showing on Saturday against St. Lawrence. 

GETTING A CHANCE
With Mike Garman sidelined by the flu for the two games at Dartmouth and Harvard on Jan. 28-29, Andy Iles was called upon to make his first back-to-back weekend starts of the season, and the freshman from Ithaca responded with two of his strongest outings of the year. Iles stopped 31 of the 33 shots he saw at Dartmouth, then made 33 saves on 34 shots on Saturday against Harvard.

LESS IS NOT MORE
While selective shooting appears to favor the Big Red this season, taking too few shots hasn't been good for the team's results. Cornell has been held under 20 shots six times this season, and has a 0-4-2 mark when taking less than 20 attempts at the goal. 

WALK THE LINE
With John Esposito sidelined due to injury for the six games from Jan. 7 through Jan. 22, head coach Mike Schafer combined the trio of Tyler Roeszler, Greg Miller and Joe Devin, and that line immediately clicked for the Big Red. Over that six-game span, the trio combined for 21 points, nearly half of the 45 points scored by the Big Red as Cornell went 4-1-1 over that stretch. Joe Devin had four goals and two assists, Roeszler had five goals and four helpers and Miller had six assists since being put on the same offensive line, with the trio combining for seven multi-point games. The line remained intact when Esposito returned on Jan. 28 against Dartmouth, but the production continued as Devin and Roeszler combined for a goal and an assist against the Big Green, while the line combination added seven points against Clarkson on Feb. 4 and another five against St. Lawrence the following night.

TURN THE PAGE
As the calendar has turned from 2010 to 2011, so too have the fortunes of the Big Red. After finishing the 2010 season with a 4-8-1 overall mark and a 2-4 league record, the Big Red has gone 11-6-2 so far in 2011, raising the records to 15-14-3 overall and 11-9-2 in league play.

HATS OFF
Tyler Roeszler scored a hat trick on Jan. 22 against Colgate, the first three-goal performance by a Big Red player since Colin Greening on Feb. 29, 2008, a span of 97 games. Roeszler also added an assist against the Raiders, giving him the first four-point night by a Cornell player since Blake Gallagher had a goal and three assists on Jan. 30, 2010, a span of 33 games.

FIRST ONE'S IN THE BAG
Erik Axell scored his first career goal on Jan. 22 against Colgate, poking home the rebound off a Tyler Roeszler shot, for his first career tally in 20 games for the sophomore from Toronto. Axell now has one goal and three assists in 21 career contests. Classmate Vince Mihalek joined him in collecting his first career goal when he scored the game's first tally on Feb. 12 at Rensselaer in Cornell's 3-2 victory against the Engineers. 

BREAK OUT THE BROOMS
The Big Red's sweep at Princeton and Quinnipiac on Jan. 7-8 marked the first weekend sweep for the Big Red since winning the ECAC Hockey tournament last March, claiming back-to-back 3-0 wins against Brown and Union at the Times Union Center in Albany. The last time the Big Red swept a weekend during the regular season came on Jan. 29-30, 2010, when the Big Red defeated St. Lawrence and Clarkson at Lynah Rink. Cornell's last road weekend sweep came nearly two years ago when the Big Red scored a 4-1 win at Union and a 3-0 victory at Rensselaer on Jan. 16-17, 2009. Cornell added another four-point weekend with a sweep over Clarkson and St. Lawrence at Lynah Rink on Feb. 4-5.

SAVING THE DAY
Mike Garman stopped 39 of the 40 shots he faced on Jan. 7 at Princeton in a 2-1 victory. The 39 saves are tied for the 12th-highest total in a single game by a Cornell goaltender, tied with the total set by David McKee at St. Lawrence on Feb. 11, 2006.

COLLECTING HARDWARE
Andy Iles became the first Cornell hockey player to earn a medal for the United States at the IIHF World Junior Championships when he was part of Team USA that claimed bronze at this year's tournament in Buffalo, N.Y. Iles is just the second Cornell player to be a member of the United States team, joining Jean-Marc Pelletier in 1998. The last Cornell player to earn a medal for any nation at the IIHF World Junior Championships was Sasha Pokulok, who claimed gold with Canada in 2006. The bronze medal won by Iles is the first bronze of the seven medals claimed by Cornellians at the world's most prestigious junior hockey tournament.

ELITE COMPANY
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 became the 46th coach in NCAA Division I hockey 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 (468) and Rand Pecknold of Quinnipiac (317), with Dartmouth's Bob Gaudet (298) and Colgate's Don Vaughan (295) both closing in on 300 victories themselves.

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. 

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 five empty-net goals – one in each of the first three games of the year, one against Yale on Nov. 19 and one against Union on Jan. 15 – Cornell has also scored four times with the extra attacker, most recently on Feb. 5 against St. Lawrence. The Big Red also scored a delayed penalty goal on Nov. 20 against Brown.

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. Cornell hasn't had three three-game losing streaks in the same season since 1986-87.

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 year 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. Cornell has four short-handed goals this season, with Sean Collins picking up a pair, most recently against Clarkson on Feb. 4. The most recent player to score a short-handed goal was Greg Miller, who tallied one in the regular-season finale at Yale.

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 2-3-1 on the year and has seen action in seven of the Big Red's 11 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 and has a 2-3 record this year.

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.

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
The two semifinal winners will meet in the ECAC Hockey championship on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Boardwalk Hall, with the winner earning the league's automatic berth into the NCAA tournament. The two semifinal losers will play in the consolation game on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.