Shane Palahicky’s first collegiate goal helped lift Cornell (3-2-2) past Clarkson in the second game of the Syracuse Invitational Tournament.
While killing off a penalty, Palahicky took the puck into the Clarkson (3-3-2) zone on a 2-on-1 breakaway and took the shot on goaltender Shawn Grant. The first attempt didn’t beat Grant, but the rebound came back to Palahicky, who put a second shot between Grant’s right leg and the post, a shorthanded goal just 4:49 into the third period to give the Big Red a 2-1 victory.
The contest started with Clarkson dominating play, and the Golden Knights got on the scoreboard first with a redirection goal by Murray Kuntz. On Clarkson’s first power play of the game, Kerry Ellis-Toddington’s shot from the blue line was redirected off Kuntz in front of goaltender Ian Burt, giving Clarkson the 1-0 advantage.
Cornell came into the second period a different team, skating hard and giving Clarkson little room to maneuver.
At 15:53, Cornell evened the score at one with a goal from Ryan Vesce, who picked up his first collegiate goal with a shot from the left side of Grant. The puck went through Grant’s legs before he could close the hole, and slowly trickled into the goal.
“There’s not too many teams that could change their mindset between periods,” said coach Mike Schafer. “They totally understood what was going on, they understood how we needed to play, and they came out and executed.”
“We played unbelievable in the first period, totally dominated them, and we didn’t capitalize when we had our chances,” coach Mark Morris said of his team’s effort. “I give them a lot of credit for hanging in there and chipping away. I’m disappointed we were outplayed in the second and third periods; we dominated the first, and we let them off the hook.”
Ian Burt had 24 saves for the Big Red, while Shawn Grant stopped 19 shots. Clarkson’s only goal came on the power play as the Knights went 1-for-3, while Cornell was 0-for-4. The bulk of penalties on the evening came at the end of the contest, thanks to a post-game scuffle.
Cornell will take on Niagara in the championship of the Syracuse Invitational Sunday, while Clarkson will play Colgate in the consolation.
