Cornell hockey hits jackpot at Lynah
The late February/early March stretch in college sports is one of the busiest times of the year with spring sports starting up and winter sports winding down. That was especially the case inside Lynah Rink over the weekend as women’s hockey began postseason play while men’s hockey ended their regular season slate.
Four games played, and four wins for the Big Red faithful to celebrate.
Starting with women’s hockey, the Big Red welcomed a familiar foe to town for the best-of-three ECAC quarterfinals series: Colgate. The same team that just two years ago knocked them out of both the ECAC and NCAA Tournaments, the Big Red did get their vengeance last year on home ice by taking down the Raiders in the ECAC Championship. There would be no counter-vengeance for Colgate as Cornell needed only two games to take care of business.
The first matchup on Friday saw the home side carry a 2-0 lead into the third period. But two goals in the final stanza—one early on the power play and one late at even strength—sent the game to overtime. It seemed like Colgate had momentum on their side, but Avi Adam had other ideas, lighting the lamp to rescue a 3-2 victory for the Big Red.
The following afternoon delivered an even more physical affair, as the two teams racked up a combined 13 penalties. Cornell once again held a 2-0 advantage in the third period, and once more Colgate got one back on the power play. But there would be no equalizer, in no small part due to the heroics of Annalies Bergmann in goal with 30 saves. An empty-netter from Georgia Schiff sealed the deal and sent the Big Red to the semifinals.
For the first time ever, the women’s ECAC semifinals and championship will be held at Lake Placid like the men have always done. The Big Red will battle Yale on Friday, and the winner will take on either Princeton or Quinnipiac on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the men’s team wrapped up the regular season with a pair of victories over its North Country foes. Up first was St. Lawrence on Friday night, where things got off to a shaky start as the team that finished second-to-last in the conference would break the scoreless deadlock in the second period. But the Big Red got its act together and unleashed an onslaught of five unanswered goals to claim victory.
The following night against Clarkson was a special one for the Big Red as five players were honored on Senior Night. Cornell avenged their early December defeat to the Golden Knights as they prevailed 2-1 in a tight affair. The star of the show was in between the pipes. Senior Remington Keopple has played second fiddle to freshman phenom Alexis Cournoyer this year. But how fitting that the senior made the play of the night, making a spectacular blocker save with under a minute remaining to ensure a strong regular season ended on a high note.
The Big Red finished tied for second with Dartmouth on 47 points, but the head-to-head tiebreaker meant Cornell would have to settle for the third seed in the ECAC Tournament. That might be for the better, because if there are no upsets during the first round of the tourney, then the Big Red would get to host… Harvard for the quarterfinals. Get your popcorn ready if that’s the case.
Cortland men’s hoops defends SUNYAC title
Let’s go back to 2013 for a hot second. SUNY Cortland men’s basketball got to host the SUNYAC semifinals and championship. The Red Dragons took down Oswego 65-54 in the semifinals then beat Plattsburgh 75-61 in the final to secure their first conference title since 2000. Maurice Kearney was a junior on that team, coming off the bench from time to time. Fast forward to this season and with Kearney now the head coach, he has once again led the Red Dragons to more SUNYAC glory.
This year was the first time since that 2013 season that Cortland won the regular season title and earned hosting rights for the semifinals and championship. What sets this year’s team apart from the one 13 years ago was that they were even more dominant in reclaiming their crown. Oddly enough, the Red Dragons also had to defeat Oswego and Plattsburgh, though in reverse order. Cortland routed Plattsburgh 96-71 in the semifinals then coasted past Oswego 84-51 to repeat as conference champions.
A couple more points to display their reign of terror over the SUNYAC: The Red Dragons lost just one conference game this year, a 79-75 setback to Oneonta. Of their 19 SUNYAC victories, only two were by single digits.
The Red Dragons now await their fate in the NCAA Tournament when the bracket is released later today. Cortland got an incredibly tough draw last year, losing to the eventual national runner-up NYU in the first round. The Red Dragons should get an easier draw, but even if they don’t, they’re a much more seasoned unit with all five starters returning and flourishing with another year under their belts.
Cornell men’s basketball goes (Ivy) Mad(ness)
Entering this past weekend, you wouldn’t have been blamed to feel quite nervous about Cornell men’s basketball. Sitting tied for fourth place in the Ivy League for the final spot in Ivy Madness, the Big Red still had work to be done if they wanted to take part in a conference tournament that they’re hosting. Most prognosticators had Friday night’s game versus Yale already chalked up as a loss, given that the Bulldogs have been one of the top mid-majors in the nation and thrashed the Big Red 102-68 when they met in Connecticut back in January.
This time around? Very different story.
Cornell got off to a much better start than their last dance with the Bulldogs, holding a 35-30 advantage at halftime and building their lead up to 13 points early in the second half. But Yale rallied back to tie things up at 69-69 with seven seconds left. With a Big Red team that lives and dies by the three-pointer, it felt very apropos that one of their sharpshooters won it from beyond the arc, as Jake Fiegen nailed the game-winner with one second remaining. Once the buzzer sounded, a rare court storm ensued inside Newman Arena.
The key to the victory was their defense, holding a Bulldogs team that average over 80 points per game to under 70 for just the fourth time this season. Defense has been a big question mark for the Big Red all season long, but it’s an encouraging sign that things are coming together on that side of the floor heading into March.
Cornell did not let Friday night’s emotional victory tucker them out too much on Saturday against Brown. It was more like a typical Big Red game this year, turning into a shootout. But Cornell prevailed 86-80 to secure its spot in Ivy Madness for a fifth straight year, this time as the hosts.
The Big Red will head to Dartmouth to close out the regular season this Saturday. But then? Another battle against Yale in the Ancient 8 semifinals on March 14. Even ore popcorn will need to be made for that one.
Other things that caught my eye
- It was an eventful week inside the MVP Arena in Albany as the state wrestling championships took place in the state capital. There were many local wrestlers who took part, and quite a few came incredibly close to winning a state title. The girls were up first on Thursday, and Groton freshman Carmen Bishop stole the show, finishing runner-up in the 132 weight class. Her teammate and junior Mya Locke went 0-2 in the 126 weight class. Also at 126, Ithaca junior Rayna Coller went 1-2. In the 94 weight class, Newark Valley eighth grader Hadley Merrill went 0-2. Spencer-Van Etten/Candor senior Tayah Beach placed fifth in the 120 weight class. Friday and Saturday featured boys wrestling, where three local athletes finished as runners-up: Lansing junior Owen Clark (150), Newark Valley senior Cadin Creeley (165) and Odessa-Montour/Watkins Glen senior Lucas Hoffman (118). Elsewhere, Ithaca senior Quentin Getzin wrapped up his high school career with a fourth-place finish at the 175 weight class, Lansing junior Evan Sheils placed fifth in the 144 weight class, and Newark Valley senior Titus Callahan finished sixth in the 190 weight class.
- The 1,000-point club has been well-populated this year in Section IV basketball. Two more local players reached that milestone this week. On Tuesday, Union Springs’ Jennie Daum surpassed 1,000 points in the Wolves’ 81-44 win over Harpursville in the first round of the Section IV Class C tournament. The senior became the fourth player in program history to achieve this feat, joining her teammate Maddy Kalet, who reached 1,000 earlier in the season. Then on Friday, Moravia’s Caraline Wasileski joined the party in the Blue Devils’ 69-49 victory over Candor in the Class C quarterfinals. The senior made history as the first player in program history to score over 1,000 career points.
- The third edition of the Section IV boys hockey championship took place a lot closer to home for Ithaca this time around. The first two editions were held at the SUNY Broome Ice Rink, both ending in Little Red victories. It was held at The Rink in Lansing on Sunday, where the Little Red made it a three-peat of sectional titles with a 6-0 victory over Broome County. Ithaca scored two goals in each period en route to a dominant performance for one of the top teams in the state. The Little Red will be right back inside The Rink this Saturday for regionals. With a well-experienced team that includes a whopping 15 seniors, this could be the year they make it back to Buffalo for their first state final four appearance since 2014.
