Cornell Takes On Denver In Regional Final On Saturday
Rematch With Denver Of Cornell Win Last Year
Cornell Big Red Hockey advanced to the NCAA Regional Finals with a dominating 3-1 win over 6th nationally ranked Maine in the Eastern Regional Finals tonight.
The game was delayed for 90 minutes by the double overtime preceding game, where Denver beat U-Mass 2-1 in double overtime (this forced an unplanned beer run!).
Maine scored first, on what I saw as two errors by the Cornell defense – first when a defenseman took a wide angled shot on goal (instead of just dumping the puck in the corner) that went wide and his partner pinched to collect the carom off the boards and got beaten to the puck, leading to a goal scoring rush by Maine. Highly unusual for Cornell defense to make those kind of basic errors, never mind two on the same play. Cornell was lucky to score and escape that first period with a tie, 1-1.
The second period was controlled by Maine, who seemed the quicker and more organized team, but they didn’t score.
But the third period was all Cornell, as they played their classic defense (keeping pucks to perimeter and blocking shots) and advanced swift counter- offensive rushes to score 2 goals to seal the 3-1 win.
Cornell was the larger and stronger team and dominated the physical game and the boards and corners and front of the net.
The forwards showed an outstanding forecheck and quick back check that made it difficult for Maine to sustain any momentum or flow or puck control.
Cornell plays Denver on Saturday for the regional Championship and a path to the Frozen Four in Minneapolis. I was not impressed with Denver’s OT win over U-Mass, and I loathe the style they play (e.g cycling at the point by defenseman Devine. That’s not hockey, it’s more like basketball or lacrosse).
Cornell goaltender Ian Shane was spectacular again – showing why he leads the Country in goals against.
