Team Notes: Cornell Continues Preparation

ITHACA, NY -- With the 2011-12 season one week away, Cornell will play host to University of Guelph and Carleton University of Canadian Interuniversity Sport this weekend in its traditional pair of preparatory exhibitions. The Big Red will have plenty of new faces auditioning for spots in the lineup, as a freshman class of 10 makes its Lynah Rink debut before the season kicks off on Oct. 29 against visiting Mercyhurst.

hampionships, 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.

AMERICAN INFLUENCE
Seven of this season's 10 freshmen were born in the United States, giving the Big Red a more American feel than its seen in quite a while. Cornell has 13 players who were born in the United States, which is by far the most on a Mike Schafer-coached team at Cornell. The previous high was 10, which came in 1997-98.

SOUTHERN FLAIR
None of the other 57 schools in Division I men's hockey have as many players born in states bordering the Gulf of Mexico as Cornell. The Big Red has four players that fit into that category — Florida native Brian Ferlin and the three Texans, Locke Jillson, Keir Ross and Armand de Swardt. Northern Michigan is the only other team in the country that has three players born in Texas.

CLOSER TO HOME
Hometown fans of the Big Red got a rare treat last season when goalie Andy Iles became the first Ithaca native to play for the team since Mike Tallman in 1988-89. But when freshman Kevin Cole makes his collegiate debut, it will be the first time in at least 50 years — and perhaps the first time in program history — that two Ithaca natives have played for the Big Red in the same season. Cole was born in Ithaca and raised in nearby Lansing before heading off to junior programs in Syracuse and Cornwall, Ontario. His father, Dave, lettered for the Big Red in the 1981-82 season.

FIRST 1,000 DOWN
The Big Red's 2-1 win over Quinnipiac in game one of the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals last season marked the 1,000th victory all-time for the Cornell men's hockey program. Cornell became the 17th program to reach that milestone.

BLANK YOU VERY MUCH
It came down to the wire last season, but the Big Red was able to keep alive its streak of recording at least one shutout in a season. With a 3-0 victory over Dartmouth in the ECAC Hockey Championship semifinals — which turned out to be the team's penultimate game — Cornell has at least one blanking of an opponent during each of the last 16 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.

ANOTHER MILESTONE AWAITS
After celebrating Mike Schafer's 300th victory as a head coach and then the program's 1,000th all-time win later last season, Cornell is primed to eclipse another notable plateau in 2011-12. The Big Red enters the season with a record of 497-181-52 at Lynah Rink, meaning the team can claim its 500th all-time victory at the storied venue as early as Nov. 19.

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED
The Big Red will make its first trip to the Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo. since Dec. 28-29, 1980, when victories over Air Force and Colorado College gave Cornell the Broadmoor Classic championship. The program's only other tip to the venue was for the NCAA semifinal (4-3 win over Michigan Tech) and championship (4-3 loss to Denver) in March 1969. The loss to Denver was the Big Red's last loss for more than 20 months. In between losses: Cornell's 29-0 season and NCAA title in 1970.

UP NEXT
The Big Red gets the season started with a non-conference game on Saturday, Oct. 29 against visiting Mercyhurst. Though the schools' women's hockey teams are rivals, the men's teams have only clashed once before — a 3-3 tie on Nov. 29, 2003. Cornell then hits the road for its first ECAC Hockey action with stops at defending champion Yale, Brown, Harvard and Dartmouth.