Cornell Big Red gets shootout win in the “Big Apple”
BY ARIANA OTTRANDO — December 4TH, 2024It was a game for the books Saturday night as No. 11 Cornell Big Red hosted No. 18 Quinnipiac Bobcats for the sixth biennial Frozen Apple at “The World’s Most Famous” Madison Square Garden.
Unlike their most recent matchup just a week prior, with Quinnipiac’s 3-1 win over Cornell, this contest heightened the stakes for a much closer outcome. After 65 minutes of the intensely fought ECAC showdown, Cornell skated away with the shootout victory in front of 16,593 college hockey fans — the most in attendance for a Division I college hockey game so far this season — and bumped its Frozen Apple official record to 4-1-1.
“I think it speaks volumes of our athletic department that, to me, we have one of the best sporting events on the East Coast,” said Cornell head coach Mike Schafer. “And just very proud of where our program’s come over the years.”
The Big Red took control of the game just 2:14 into the opening period with senior winger Sullivan Mack’s goal, assisted by Jonathan Castagna and Hank Kempf.
While both teams went scoreless on the man advantage, Cornell outshot Quinnipiac 2-0 during 5-on-4 play and maintained momentum throughout. The Big Red headed back to the box to close out the frame, but junior forward Dalton Bancroft buried a shorthanded breakaway opportunity to put Cornell up 2-0 headed into first intermission.
“This is my first year on the penalty kill as a junior, so that was pretty cool to get one of those,” said Bancroft.
Shots on goal (SOG) after 20 minutes was 15-6 in favor of Cornell.
“I didn’t think our power play was very good. The shorthanded goal was embarrassing,” said Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold. “We just didn’t have enough urgency with [the power play] tonight.”
The Bobcats came into the middle frame with a newfound grit, getting on the scoresheet 14 seconds in with a power play goal by sophomore winger Andon Cerbone. By the 5:00 mark, first-year forward Aaron Schwartz tipped in the equalizer at the doorstep — assisted by Jeremy Wilmer and Mason Marcellus — and Quinnipiac had tied the game at two apiece.
“Being down 2-0 and believing that we could come back — that was the best period we’ve played all year,” said Pecknold of the Bobcats’ second period efforts.
A fourth man-advantage for Quinnipiac was halted by a penalty of its own for 4-on-4 play and a 17-second penalty kill, but the Bobcats momentum didn’t sway nonetheless.
For his first goal of the season, graduate defenseman Cooper Moore returned the favor of a shorthanded notch from the right dot at 14:00 to give Quinnipiac its first lead of the game at 3-2. After 40 minutes, total SOG sat at 20-19 Cornell as a result of a dominant second period by the Bobcats — three goals and 13 shots to Cornell’s five.
“I thought that was his best game of the year,” said Pecknold of Moore. “Great kid, great leader, and a big time goal. And Schwartz made a big time pass to set that up, so that was exciting.”
On the flip, the Big Red student sections in the Garden had died down after Cornell quickly gave up its lead and was down by one headed into the second intermission. But not for long.
Continuing the pattern of early goals, Cornell bounced back 75 seconds into the third frame to tie the game up at three. Senior forward Jack O’Leary netted the rebound attempt from the low slot past Quinnipiac’s sophomore goaltender Dylan Silverstein, with assists from Castagna and Mack.
“They can regather themselves, be resilient, and then step up to the plate in the third period,” said Schafer. “To turn it and come back, and play the kind of hockey like we did the first [period] says a lot about our players.”
While Cornell got to the net more than its counterpart in the final 20, Quinnipiac held its own and was simply unable to capitalize on its scoring chances. The Bobcats came close to reclaiming the lead late with a glove-side wrister by graduate center Travis Treloar, but Cornell’s senior netminder Ian Shane made the stretch save to keep Big Red in the game.
Quinnipiac carried that momentum into the five minute three-on-three overtime period and outshot Cornell 3-1, but the teams remained scoreless for an official tie.
Cornell came out on top of the three-round shootout with the sole goal scored by Bancroft.
Shane shut the door on all three of Quinnipiac’s attempts to commence the celebration for Big Red in the Big Apple.
“When you’re standing on the blue line for the national anthem and you hear “red” echo through the stadium, it’s going to be a good night,” said Bancroft of Big Red nation’s support for The Frozen Apple. “A really cool atmosphere, a really cool venue to play in. And obviously the boys found a way to get it done tonight.”
For its last games this weekend before the holiday break, Cornell will faceoff with Colgate in a home-and-home conference series. Quinnipiac is set to host ECAC’s RPI Friday and Union Saturday in standalone matches.
