ITHACA, N.Y. — After the Big Red narrowly defeated Niagara Friday night, Cornell stormed out of the gates and used a pair of two-goal periods to take a 4-0 decision Saturday night at Lynah Rink, thanks in large part to some younger Cornell skaters.
The freshmen class of Cornell had a say in three of the team’s four goals on the evening, including the opening tally, which came just six and a half minutes into the contest.
Anthony Angello won a faceoff clean to the left of Purple Eagles starting goalie Guillaume Therien and bulled his way to the front of the cage, where he then slipped a pass over to classmate Mitch Vanerlaan for the slam-dunk goal. With the two teams squaring off for the second consecutive night, Angello credited some of that play to their knowledge of the Purple Eagle faceoff setup.
“We saw that the three guys lined up in the slot were all rushing out and then the center wasn’t really aware of us,” said Angello. “I had the opportunity to walk in, so I faked a pass to [Jeff Kubiak] and then we went in 2-on-0.”
The recently formed trio of Kubiak, Angello and Vanderlaan struck again six minutes later, but this time the elder statesmen of the line got the goal.
Kubiak carried the puck up through the neutral zone, then sent a pass to Vanderlaan at the left point. Kubiak continued his rush to the net and received a pass from Vanderlaan by tipping it past Therien to double the Big Red advantage.
The contrast between the start of Saturday’s game in comparison with the Friday affair at Niagara was quite sharp in the mind of Cornell coach Mike Schafer, who was far more impressed with the second game.
“We had a better start tonight,” said Schafer. “Getting scored on in the first 22 seconds last night put us on our heels, but we were a totally different hockey team tonight.”
Not only was the start better, but Schafer was fond of the sustained energy.
“I was very happy with the energy we had, especially at our rink in the first home game of the season,” said Schafer.
The energy boost continued in the second frame, and it started with Kubiak. The junior forward entered his third season in Ithaca with just two career goals, but he matched his total on Saturday, and he did it once again by way of the tip-in.
With the Big Red on the power play, Kubiak deflected in an Alec McCrea wrist shot in the slot. For Kubiak, it was a matter of being in the right spot.
“It was a great shot from McCrea at the point and I really just stuck my stick out there and hoped it hit it,” said Kubiak. “Good things happen when you’re in the right places in front of the goalie.”
Not long after Kubiak’s goal, some adversity hit the Purple Eagles when Therien left the game because of a collision with Cornell forward Matt Buckles. Both of Niagara’s goalies in the lineup were freshmen, and the youth movement is something that the Purple Eagles have dealt with, according to coach Dave Burkholder.
“We’re a young team and we left some key players back home this weekend, so we had some young guys getting some quality playing time,” said Burkholder. “Those are the building blocks that we need, so that when we get into Atlantic Hockey, we’re ready to go.”
Joe O’Brien replaced Therien, and made 12 saves on 13 shots, as defenseman Holden Anderson scored late in the second period to cap the scoring for the night.
The large and physical Big Red were tough to deal with for Niagara on consecutive nights, and Burkholder noted that, but still liked his team’s pushback.
“They finish all of their checks and are very disciplined, [while] we looked a little tired as the first and second periods wore on,” said Burkholder. “I thought in the third period we hung in there and we didn’t quit.”
Cornell goalie Mitch Gillam had an increased workload in the final period, where he made 10 of his 19 stops on the net. The effort was enough to secure Gillam’s second collegiate shutout, with the first coming last season in a scoreless draw against Lake Superior State during the Florida College Classic.
