Cornell’s shutout streak came to an end Saturday, but the Big Red probably won’t mind so much given where they stood at the end of the night.
Cornell beat Dartmouth 3-1 Saturday to move into sole possession of first place in ECAC Hockey. The win also clinched the Ivy League title and extended the Big Red’s unbeaten streak to a nation-best ten games.
Dartmouth’s Tim Shoup scored early in the first period to end Cornell freshmen Matthew Galajda’s shutout streak at 227 minutes and 11 seconds. It was the second-longest streak in program history and the 13th longest streak in NCAA history.
The Big Red enters the final month of the season tied with Notre Dame for the top spot in the PairWise rankings.
Harvard blanked on the weekend
The Crimson threw 86 shots on goal in two games this weekend, but had nothing to show for it, as Harvard was shutout in losses to Cornell and Colgate. It entered the weekend having not been shutout this year.
Galajda continued his shutout streak Friday, making 35 saves in a 3-0 win.
On Saturday, Harvard outshot Colgate 51-21 but the Raiders defense and goalie Colton Point were outstanding. The 51 saves were a career-high for Point, and it marked the first time in seven years that the Crimson had been shutout in back-to-back games.
“Back-to-back, those are two excellent goalies,” Harvard coach Ted Donato said. “Soon, if we’re not there already, we’re at the time of year we’re we have to find a way to break through. We had some chances and he made some big saves, but it’s not good enough to say ‘hey, we ran into some good goalies and we had a lot of shots.’”
The Crimson offense will take a hit in the final month of the season when junior forward Ryan Donato leaves to represent the United States at the Winter Olympics in South Korea.
Donato leads Division I with 20 goals. No other player on Harvard’s roster has more than seven.
Union wins Mayor’s Cup
There had never been back-to-back champions in the five-year history of the Mayor’s Cup. That changed Saturday, as Union beat Rensselaer to win the game for the second straight year.
However, it wasn’t easy, as the Dutchmen jumped out to a 3-0 lead and then held off RPI to win 4-3.
Union senior Tyler Hines scored in his first game of the season. Hynes, who only played in four games last year, had not scored a goal since Feb. 28, 2015.
The win gave the Dutchmen a regular-season sweep of the series between the two teams. Union won both conference games back in October. Saturday’s game counted as a non-conference game for both teams.
