Chris Abbott had a career night with two goals and two assists, while freshman defenseman Sasha Pokulok tallied the game winner as 14th-ranked Cornell opened its season with a 7-1 win over Army Friday evening at Lynah Rink.
The Big Red (1-0-0) out-shot the Black Knights (0-3-1) 49-9 and scored three times each in the first and third periods. Junior defenseman Jon Gleed, senior defenseman Jeremy Downs, sophomore right wing Mitch Carefoot and junior Shane Hynes also added goals for Cornell.
Cornell wasted little time getting on the board with Downs scoring just 2:19 into the action. It marked his first goal since Dec. 1, 2002. That marker came in a 5-1 win over Boston University.
Pokulok added the game winner just 1:12 later to earn his first career point. Junior Matt Moulson and senior captain Mike Knoepfli each got assists on the play, which came while the Big Red had a two-man advantage. At that point, sophomore goaltender David McKee had all the offense he would need.
McKee and the Cornell defense came up big, shutting the Black Knights down on a 5-on-3 in the early stages and took control of the game from that point. McKee played 50:47, making six saves before giving way to freshman Troy Davenport. He was credited with two saves.
Army netminder Treye Kettwick had a busy night. He made a career-high 42 saves, including 19 in the second period, in just his third career start. Cornell spent much of the evening on the attack and unleashed a 93-total shot barrage at Kettwick, whose defense blocked 18. The Big Red managed its first seven-goal outburst since tallying that many at Princeton last November.
Carefoot ended a long shorthanded goal drought for Cornell 4:07 into the third period. He teamed with Gleed and senior Mike Iggulden to score the team’s first undermanned tally in over two seasons, dating back to the 2002 NCAA tournament.
The Black Knights got on the board just 32 ticks into the third period to break up the shutout, when Jeff Fearing sent David Andros up the ice, and the Army senior beat McKee with a shot just inside the Cornell blue line.
In all, 12 different Big Red players scored in the game. In addition to Pokulok, fellow freshman Topher Scott also tallied his first collegiate point, assisting on Hynes’goal in the third period.
