With their conference standing on the line, the men’s hockey team traveled west to face off against Cornell in the final weekend of the ECAC regular season Friday night. Having clinched a playoff berth the previous weekend, the Engineers knew that they could finish as high as third place or as low as ninth in the standings, and were trying to secure home ice by finishing in the top five.
As the Cornell fans mercilessly mocked the visiting team, the Big Red players controlled the puck in the opening minutes. Neutral zone passes by RPI were easily broken up, and the Engineers were forced to dump the puck in order to change lines.
Cornell kept the pressure on, and was rewarded with the first goal of the game at the 7:29 mark of the first period. As the puck squeaked out of the corner, Defenseman Larry Pierce snapped a quick shot that beat Nathan Marsters over his glove-side shoulder.
The momentum stayed in Cornell’s corner as RPI’s Chris Migliore was called for hitting from behind about two minutes later. The defense was able to kill off the penalty, and for the first time in the game, the team was able to spend some time in the offensive zone. Conrad Barnes had the best chance of the period as he took a wraparound chance with Cornell Goaltender Matt Underhill on his back and out of position. As Barnes turned the corner, Underhill was able to lift his trapper to save the goal-bound puck.
The final seconds ended in controversy when Eric Cavosie released a relatively harmless shot at Underhill. Just afterwards, a Cornell defender moved in and checked Cavosie into Underhill, causing the puck to bounce free. The puck appeared to cross the goal line, but both Referee John Murphy and the goal judge ruled that it had not.
The missed opportunities made RPI hungry for the tying goal at the start of the second. Jim Henkel scored his third goal in two games when Matt Murley sent him the puck from just beyond the center line. Henkel split the two defensemen, a technique not often seen in college hockey, and launched a puck top shelf on the stick side of Underhill.
The teams traded penalties through the remainder of the period and into the third. With 11:13 remaining in the third period, RPI converted on their second power play opportunity of the game. After Cornell Center David Kozier took a penalty at the 8:30 mark, Matt Murley scored his 22nd goal of the season. Carson Butterwick set up the screen in front, and Murley shot a screaming slapper through the screen and into the back of the net.
The goal was only the seventh power play goal scored by a Cornell opponent in an ECAC conference game. The loss gave Cornell their fifth loss in their last seven games, and along with a 3-0 win at Colgate the next night, left RPI in sixth place in the ECAC. The Engineers will begin the ECAC Tournament at Dartmouth on Friday night. The winner of that best-of-three series moves on to Lake Placid.
