Cornell men’s hockey season starts with Sacred Heart split
As the calendar turns the page to November, that means it’s officially crossover season. As most fall sports are getting set for postseason play, winter sports get underway. Cornell men’s hockey was the latest team to get their campaign going with back-to-back home games against Sacred Heart, and it ended up being a mixed bag.
Let’s start with the good outcome with Friday night’s 5-2 victory. The Big Red would’ve been forgiven if it had gotten off to a slow start given that it was their first game while the Pioneers entered the weekend with six games under their belt. But Cornell jumped out to a 2-0 lead after one period, and it was only natural that captain Ryan Walsh netted the first two goals of the season. The Pioneers had quite the strong response coming out of the intermission, ripping off 15 straight shots. They were able to convert on two of those attempts to tie the game.
Sacred Heart easily could’ve taken that momentum into the third period to spoil the Big Red’s season opener. But Caton Ryan had other ideas, scoring a power play goal off a feed from Walsh with just nine seconds left in the stanza to go back up 3-2. That seemed to take away any winds that were in the visitors’ sails as Cornell struck twice more in the final period to send the Lynah Faithful home happy.
Those final two goals were scored by Big Red debutants: Ivan Zadvernyuk, a junior transfer from Brown, and freshman defenseman Ryland Randle. They certainly leaned on the experience of Walsh and his fellow veterans for their first competitive action with the Big Red inside Lynah Rink.
Previewing Cornell and Syracuse hoops
The first day of March Madness is widely seen as a national holiday. For many people, they treat it like one by not coming into work and instead confining themselves to their den with multiple screens to soak up all the action. While I’ll certainly back any sort of legislation that makes that day an official holiday, I think there’s another day that should earn equal attention: The first day of college basketball.
It just so happens that today is the day where all the action tips off. OK, technically there was one game that took place yesterday when Notre Dame took down Villanova in the first-ever college basketball game in Italy. But for the remaining 99.99% of Division I basketball teams, the five-month grind begins now. That includes Cornell and Syracuse, so let’s take a look at how things are shaping up ahead of tonight’s openers.
Starting with Cornell men’s basketball, they begin play inside Newman Arena at 6 p.m. against Pepperdine. Last time out, the Big Red endured a season of ups and downs. After going 7-6 in what was a streaky non-conference slate, Cornell began Ivy League play with three straight losses. They then bounced back by winning five of its next six games, then losing back-to-back contests before heading into Ivy Madness with three consecutive victories, including a dramatic buzzer-beating victory over Yale. The Big Red would face the Bulldogs in the Ivy Madness semifinals inside Newman Arena, though Yale would get the last laugh with an 88-76 victory to end Cornell’s season at 15-13.
As was the case in head coach Jon Jaques’ first year as head coach and throughout his predecessor Brian Earl’s tenure, the Big Red’s offense continued to dazzle last year, leading the nation with 21.3 assists per game and 12.9 three-pointers made per game. But the biggest drawback was their defense. While Cornell led the Ivy League with 88.3 points per game, they were bottom of the pack in allowing 83.4 points per game. If you’re into KenPom, they had a top-50 offense by that metric (46th) but were in the bottom 25 in all of Division I in defensive (343rd). Jaques is well aware that that end of the floor needs to be on point for the entire campaign.
“I’d love to improve the defense and at least have a system you can hold your hat on,” Jaques said during Ivy League Media Day. “Last year, I think we got to that by the end of the year. It probably took me too long to figure out what was good for the team, so important growth for me as a coach to figure that out. Eventually, we got there and I think that was a huge reason why we made a run at the end of the year, made the Ivy tournament, had a a good season.”
Like most teams in the NIL and transfer portal era, the Big Red will have a much different look, at least for their starting five. They only return one starter in senior guard Jacob Beccles, who led the team in assists in steals. It’ll be interesting to see who slots into the other starting spots, specifically if Jaques will go with all-guard lineup like he did for the second half of the season. With that being said, they’ll likely start off with some size in the frontcourt, namely senior and top rebounder Kaspar Sepp. Freshmen forwards Quinn Gibson and Mikehi Williams could make an impact straight away, while junior forward Gio Panzini and junior guard Anthony Nimani are poised to see increased playing time.
Cornell was picked to finish outside of the top four in the preseason Ivy League poll, sliding into the fifth spot behind Princeton. The top three teams—Penn, Harvard, and Yale—all took part in Ivy Madness last year and are expected to be back this time around. The defending champions Quakers still have TJ Power, whose 44 points in their overtime win in the championship is an Ivy Madness record. The Crimson returns four of their five starters. While the Bulldogs lost four starters, you can never count out a James Jones-led team from having a successful season. The same goes for the Tigers under Mitch Henderson.
There are so many unknows with the Big Red, but whoever steps up into the starting five will undoubtedly fit right into the high-scoring system. Again, it’s a matter of if they can find their stride on the other end of the floor.
I still cannot get over the fact that Cornell women’s basketball is beginning it season with a trip to UConn today for at 5 p.m. tip. While most teams would cower in fear going up against the pinnacle of women’s college hoops, it’s clear head coach Emily Garner does not shy away from a challenge. Much like their venture to Stanford last year, this will undoubtedly be a great opportunity for the Big Red to face some adversity before conference play.
Looking back at last year, the Big Red had an encouraging start to the year at 4-3 but slumped heading into conference playing slate with five straight losses. While they ended up going 4-10 in the Ancient Eight and finished in sixth place, there were some positive performances laced through a tough slate. Beating the eventual WBIT champions Columbia in their Ivy League opener was quite the statement. They even had an eight-point halftime lead over eventual Ivy League champs Princeton before the Tigers rallied back.
Princeton and Columbia were two of the four teams that Cornell watched from the Newman Arena stands at Ivy Madness last year alongside Harvard and Brown. It would be foolish to think that did not light a fire under the Big Red and seeing firsthand what it takes to become a tournament-caliber team.
It will be an uphill battle once again as Cornell was picked to finish sixth in the preseason poll, but one thing that will help them defy expectation is their continuity. The Big Red retains 80% of its scoring from last year and four of its five starters, only losing Emily Pape to graduation. The returning starters are senior guard/forward and top scorer Rachel Kaus, senior guard and top rebounder Clarke Jackson, junior guards Kelsey Langston and Paige Engels. As previously stated, continuity is a rarity in the new age of college hoops, so that could very well power the Big Red to an improved campaign.
A new era for Syracuse men’s basketball begins tonight at 7 p.m. when New Haven rolls into the Dome. After a disappointing three seasons with Red Autry at the helm, the Orange picked another Orange from the Jim Boeheim coaching tree with 2003 national champion and former assistant coach Gerry McNamara returning home after leading Siena for the past two seasons.
That Saints team nearly pulled off a seismic upset in March Madness last year against Duke. Their star player Gavin Doty joined McNamara in the journey to Syracuse and will be slotted right into the starting five. A new cast of characters makes up the rest of the lineup. At point guard will be Garwey Dual, a senior transfer now on his fourth different team in four years, most recently playing at McNeese State. Joining him and Doty in the backcourt is Aiden Tobiason, a junior transfer from Temple. The frontcourt will feature junior center and Appalachian State transfer Luke Wilson and sophomore forward Sadiq White Jr. Fifth year Quinnipiac transfer Amarri Monroe could also seeing some starting time. And of course, Kiyan Anthony is back and aiming for a sophomore surge.
Tonight won’t be the first time fans see the Orange take the court, as they have three exhibition games under their belt. A 20-point loss to national runner-up UConn is understandable, though there were some concerns by only beating Siena by five points. If you’re one of the few people that actually take these results seriously, then have no fear: They beat Niagara by 13 points! Progress!
And as for Syracuse women’s basketball, they’ll have one more night’s sleep before they get underway as they host Sacred Heart tomorrow at 6 p.m.. Speaking of exhibitions, they fell to UConn 88-60 in their lone tune-up game. Head coach Felisha Legette-Jack might be sick and tired of facing the Huskies in the NCAA Tournament, but there’s no harm in playing them in October rather than March to help them prepare for a new season.
Brewers win the World Series… now what?
As the NBA and NHL have recently gotten their respective seasons underway, it was the end of the road for MLB with the World Series wrapping up last week. In what was a highly-anticipated matchup between the two teams with the best regular season records in their respective leagues both looking for their first Fall Classic titles, what transpired was just a tad underwhelming.
I do not mean that in terms of their style of play or that they both lacked “superstar” names. Instead, it was a shame that this series did not go six or seven games. But I give my congratulations to the Milwaukee Brewers for pulling off what will surely be remembered as one of the most dominant postseason runs in recent memory.
The Brewers went 11-2 in the playoffs, with their only two defeats being one-run games. The most impressive of which was sweeping the big, bad wolves in the back-to-back champion Dodgers. After exorcising the demons of 2018 and 2025, that set up a date with the Rays for a matchup featuring two small-market and small-payroll (more on that later).
Game 1 came right down to the wire, but the Brewers fended off a ninth inning comeback attempt to prevail 3-2. In Game 2, it seemed like Tampa would even up the series with a 4-0 lead right from the get-go. But Milwaukee immediately responded with two runs and were eventually able to pull off the rally with a 5-4 victory. As the weather got warmer heading into Florida for Game 3, the Brewers’ bats got even hotter. More specifically, that eight-run eighth inning powered them to a 10-1 win and an insurmountable 3-0 series lead.
Yes, Tampa Bay was able to get one game on the board and at least make their home fans happy, though it did sound like a Brewers home game at times. The Rays extended the series thanks to a 12-inning instant classic. But the Brewers were undeterred with ace Jacob Misiorowski back on the bump for Game 5. Aided by pair of RBIs from rookie breakout sensation Cooper Pratt, an RBI double from World Series MVP William Contreras, and an RBI single from unsung hero David Hamilton sealed Milwaukee’s first-ever title.
The Brewers were able to overcome the odds in a sense by being from the smallest-ranked market in the majors along with the 19th-highest payroll and built a team capable of sustaining this level of success. A combination of homegrown talent and savvy free agent signings and trade with a limited budget paid off immensely. Perhaps the Yankees and Mets can learn a thing or two from teams like Milwaukee and Tampa Bay.
That brings us to the elephant in the room: the impending lockout. The biggest talking point, of course, is whether or not MLB should implement a salary cap. After seeing what just transpired in the postseason—namely the two teams that took part in the Fall Classic—it might seem like the owners lost its biggest bargaining chip for a salary cap. The MLBPA can argue that teams like the Brewers and Rays can compete and even take the bigger-market and bigger-payroll teams. However, the counterargument from the owners will be that most teams who make the postseason have higher payrolls and that the postseason itself is a crapshoot. After all, eight of the 12 postseason teams had top-10 payrolls. It is also true that anything can happen when it comes to October baseball.
With that in mind, the result of the World Series won’t seem to move the needle one way or the other when it comes to negotiations. Get ready for an exhausting next few months of bickering between both parties with very little (if any) progress being made. That is to say, soak up what you just saw in the World Series, because it could be even longer than usual before baseball is back in action.
Other things that caught my eye
- Father Time has not caught up with Kyle Dake one bit. At 35 years old, the two-time bronze Olympic medalist won his fifth world championship on Saturday in Kazakhstan. The Lansing native and Cornell standout defeated Azerbaijan’s Arsenii Dzhioev in the 86-kilogram weight class via a 3-2 decision. He becomes the oldest American wrestler to win a senior world title. He’s also the only American wrestler to capture world titles in three different weight class. This has already got me thinking about the next Olympics in Los Angeles. I know Dake will be 37 by then, but he has shown no signs of slowing down. Who’s to say he can’t run it back for one more medal attempt?
- Speaking of history, Cornell volleyball had quite the memorable performance on Friday night against Princeton. It was the first nationally-televised home game for a Cornell women’s sport as the match aired on ESPNU. The Big Red took care of business with a four-set win, highlighted by freshman Nevaeh Tien filling in for two injured setters and racking up 43 assists. That was the latest stop in what’s been a stellar season for the Big Red. They’re currently top of the Ivy League at 9-1 with four matches remaining. They’ll look to join men’s soccer and earn hosting rights for their conference tournament.
- It was deja vu all over again for Cornell football. Last week, the Big Red held a 14-point lead at Brown, only for the Bears to come back and win it in overtime. Cornell remained on the road to battle Princeton, and once more the Big Red had a two-score lead in the second half. Up by 13 points in the third quarter, the Tigers scored two touchdowns—including the game-winner with 1:33 remaining—as the Big Red gets stunned again. Cornell (3-4, 1-3 Ivy) is back at Schoellkopf Field this Saturday to host Penn.
- Ithaca College and SUNY Cortland football got back to regularly scheduled programming as both teams notched blowout wins on Saturday. The Red Dragons’ 80-7 drubbing of Alfred State broke the record for most points scored in a single game, while the Bombers blasted Buffalo State 65-14 on the road. It’ll be a lot tougher for both teams next week. Cortland (8-0, 6-0 Empire 8) heads to Brockport, while Ithaca (7-1, 6-0 Liberty League) hosts RPI in a de facto conference championship game.
- There’s not much to talk about when it comes to the Bills‘ 36-10 rout of the Ravens. Lamar Jackson getting hurt on the first offensive play dashed any hopes of this game being close. I’ll give credit to Buffalo for not playing down to their competition and not giving their fans any heart palpations for the first time in what seems like ages with an easy win. As for the Jets? The less said, the better. A 38-33 loss to the Raiders. 2-6 on the season. Even more calls for Aaron Glenn to be fired. As their own safety Minkah Fitzpatrick perfectly summed up: “Jets being Jets.”
- While most classes in Section IV football wrapped up their regular seasons this past weekend, Class D began postseason play. The playoff expansion to eight teams meant quarterfinal action needed to be carried out. Three local teams took part with one coming out on top. That would be Watkins Glen/Odessa-Montour, and it wasn’t particularly close. The third-seeded Schuyler Storm destroyed #6 Sidney 49-6. They led 42-0 at halftime and were led by Hunter Mowry’s three passing touchdowns. They’ll take on Tioga in the semifinals Saturday at 3 p.m. at Union-Endicott. The second-seeded Tigers ended #7 Trumansburg‘s season with a 44-14 result. #5 Groton had a heartbreaking way to end such a strong season. The Red Hawks held a 24-6 lead over #4 Deposit-Hancock, only for the Eagles to soar back and fly away with a 34-30 victory. Three other local teams have semifinal action later this week. On Friday, Ithaca heads to Corning for the Class AA semifinals for a 6 p.m. kickoff. The Little Red beat Binghamton 16-13 on Thursday to head into the playoffs with back-to-back wins. While they fell to the Hawks 45-14 in their regular season meeting, they were short-handed in that game. They’ll hope to make it more competitive at full strength. In 8-man, Moravia and Lansing square off Saturday at 3 p.m. at Ithaca High School. It will be their third meeting of the season, with the Blue Devils winning the first matchup 16-14 before the Bobcats prevailed 36-22 the following week.
- Six local soccer teams took part in Section IV championship games last week. Unfortunately, all six teams lost. I recapped five of those teams (all from Tompkins County) here. The only team not included was Marathon boys soccer, who lost to Edmeston 1-0 in Class D.
- IAC champions were crowned in cross country and volleyball last week. On the course Wednesday in Marathon, Southern Cayuga sophomore Alexandria Morgan won the girls individual title with a time of 20:45.00, while Elmira Notre Dame senior Gavin Meier took home the gold in the boys individual race with a time of 18:06.70. Odessa-Montour girls repeated as league champions, and Watkins Glen boys won their first title since 2019. Then on the court Friday night at Tompkins Cortland Community College, Newfield took down Candor in five sets in the Small School championship, avenging last year when they got swept by the Coyotes. Then in the Large School championship, Lansing outlasted rivals Trumansburg in a five-set thriller to claim their first IAC crown since 2022.
