ITHACA, N.Y. — For the second consecutive year, the Cornell men's hockey team spoiled a top-ranked Quinnipiac's 17-game unbeaten streak.
Before a raucous crowd of 3,794 at Lynah Rink on Friday night, sophomore goaltender Ian Shane stopped all 21 Bobcats shots he faced while recording his second shutout over a top-10 opponent of the season to aid the No. 16-ranked Big Red to a 4-0 shutout over the nation's top scoring offense.
Cornell, who is No. 16 in the most recent USCHO.com poll, had goals from four different players in the victory over Quinnipiac (18-2-3), who lost its first game since being shutout by Maine, also by a 4-0 score, on Oct. 22.
Senior Ben Berard was credited with the game-winner, while freshman Dalton Bancroft, and sophomores Jack O'Leary and Ondrej Psenicka lit the lamp for Cornell (11-6-1).
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"We had a lot of belief in ourselves," Mike Schafer '86, the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Men's Hockey, said. "[Quinnipiac] is the gold standard for the league. You have to come ready to play in all aspects of your game. I thought our guys took a step from BU to tonight. They were detail-oriented, followed through in the third period, didn't have many breakdowns. I thought we followed the game plan offensively."
Yaniv Perets made 18 saves for the Bobcats before being replaced for freshman Chase Clark, who stopped two of three shots in 13:10 of relief.
How it happened
Offense came at a premium in the first 13-plus minutes as the Bobcats and Big Red combined for just 10 shot attempts.
Cornell drew first blood when Berard redirected a shot from the point by senior Sebastian Dirven to put the Big Red ahead. Freshman Nick DeSantis was also credited with an assist on the goal.
DOWN GOES #1!
— ECAC Hockey (@ecachockey)
Ben Berard and the Big Red shut out the Bobcats, 4-0, to knock off the top team in the league and in the country. x
Berard and DeSantis extended their respective point streaks to six games on the opening marker.
The Big Red penalty kill, which entered the night ranking 10th nationally, killed off three Quinnipiac power plays in the first 20-plus minutes, yielding just one shot on goal while down one player.
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"They did a good job of blocking shots, getting good clears, and good 'PK' forechecks," Schafer said of his penalty killing units on Friday.
A power-play goal from Bancroft at the 8:26 mark of the second period increased the Big Red's lead to 2-0. Senior Max Andreev kept the puck inside Cornell's offensive zone on a clearing attempt by Quinnipiac. Andreev passed the puck back to Malinski, who sent a pass to Bancroft at the bottom of the left faceoff circle where he one-timed his shot past Perets.
While on its second power play of middle frame, Shane made a crucial stop of Quinnipiac's Skyler Brind'Amour on a breakaway to keep the Big Red's two-goal lead.
O'Leary increased the Cornell lead to 3-0 early in the third period when he scored on a rebound off a shot by senior Jack Malone.
Not even a minute after Quinnipiac swapped goaltenders, a lucky bounce on a dump-in from the neutral zone by Malinski enabled Psenicka to tack on an insurance marker.
Game Notes
- Friday was the 49th all-time meeting between Cornell and Quinnipiac. With the win, the Big Red improved to 26-19-4 over the Bobcats.
- Cornell's four goals were the most against Quinnipiac since posting a 9-1 victory over the Bobcats in the opening game of the 2018 ECAC Hockey quarterfinals at Lynah Rink on March 9, 2018. The Bobcats had held the Big Red to two goals or less in each of its last eight games.
- With the win, Cornell is 5-5-1 all-time against the nation's top-ranked team in the USCHO.com poll, dating back to 1997-98. It is the first time the Big Red shutout the No. 1 team in the country, as well as posted consecutive wins.
- Following Friday night's performance, Shane is 3-1-0 against Quinnipiac with two shutouts. The sophomore goaltender has a gaudy 0.49 goals-against average and .984 save percentage against the Bobcats, stopping 122 of 124 shots faced.
- DeSantis' six-game point streak is the longest by a Cornell first-year player since Morgan Barron registered points in his first seven collegiate games in the 2017-18 season.
- Berard's six-game point streak is the longest of his collegiate career, while his four-game goal streak is the longest by a Cornell player since Mitch Vanderlaan scored in six straight contests in 2016-17.
- Malinski also increased his point streak to a career-long five games. He is the first Big Red blueliner with a five-game point streak since Yanni Kaldis during the 2019-20 season.
- Despite having his six-game point streak snapped, junior forward Gabriel Seger extended his streak of 10-plus faceoff wins to four games on Friday. Seger won a Cornell-best 12 faceoff draws and is 49-of-67 (.731) over the last four games.
No more number one.
— Cornell Men’s Ice Hockey (@CornellMHockey)
